Old Town sn 71442

whalen

Will canoe, and have been canoed,
Folks,

The SN was pretty much obliterated but I believe it to be 71442. The canoe is 16 ft.

Thanks,

Bill Whalen
 
The Old Town canoe with serial number 71442 is a 16 foot long, AA (or top) grade, Ideal model with red western cedar planking, open mahogany gunwales, mahogany decks, mahogany thwarts, mahogany seats, half ribs, and a keel. It was built between April, 1922 and March, 1923. The original exterior paint color was similar to the one shown on the left side of the image at http://www.wcha.org/catalogs/old-town/covers/large-23.gif which was the cover of the 1923 catalog. It was shipped on March 29th, 1923 to Syracuse, New York. A scan of this build record can be found by following the link at the attached thumbnail image below.

This scan and several hundred thousand more were created with substantial grants from the Wooden Canoe Heritage Association (WCHA) and others as you probably know well. A description of the project to preserve these records is available at http://www.wcha.org/ot_records/ if you want more details. I hope that you will join or renew your membership to the WCHA so that services like this can continue. See http://www.wcha.org/about-the-wcha/ to learn more about the WCHA and http://store.wcha.org/WCHA-New-Membership.html to renew.

It is also possible that you could have another number or manufacturer if this description doesn't match your canoe. Please attach a picture if the original design is still showing. Feel free to reply here if you have any other questions.

Benson
 

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Hey Benson what indicates it is the paint color on the left and also what is the significance of the M on the bow

Thanks
Sam
 
The canoe on the right at http://www.wcha.org/catalogs/old-town/covers/large-23.gif would have been described as having a border stripe with T. D. (turned down) ends. This is shown at https://www.wcha.org/forums/index.php?attachments/42411/ for example. I have no idea why the M is on the bow but it probably had some significance to the first owner of the canoe. Fancy initials and designs were common in the early 1900s as shown at http://www.wcha.org/forums/index.php?attachments/10122/ in a Robertson catalog. Let me know if this doesn't answer your question.

Benson
 
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