How about Old Town #44566?

The Old Town canoe with serial number 44566 is a 17 foot long, AA (or top) grade, HW (Heavy Water) model with red western cedar planking, closed spruce gunwales, mahogany decks, mahogany thwarts, mahogany seats, a keel, outside stems, a floor rack, sponsons with mahogany panels on top, two number one grade spruce paddles with seven inch blades that were five feet long, and one mahogany back rest. It was built between August, 1916 and May, 1918. The original exterior paint color was dark green with a "M. L. W." monogram in gold on the left bow and right stern. It shipped on June 11th, 1918 to Friendship, New York. A scan showing this build record can be found below.

This scan and several hundred thousand others 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/catalogs/old-town/records/ if you want more details. I hope that you will donate, join or renew your membership to the WCHA so that services like this can continue. See https://www.woodencanoe.org/about to learn more about the WCHA and https://www.woodencanoe.org/shop to donate or join.

It is also possible that you could have another number or manufacturer if this description doesn't match your canoe. Feel free to reply here if you have any other questions. Good luck,

Benson

 

See https://adirondack.pastperfectonline.com/webobject/C393E280-CAB1-4CCA-A7D8-465104739023 for some pictures of them on an HW with long decks in the collection at the Adirondack Museum. I have seen them on at least one canoe during the Assembly. Good luck,

Benson

 

There doesn't appear to have been a standard. Some things like sign canoes and models would often get uniform transfer letters but monograms like this tended to be more free form. See http://www.wcha.org/forums/index.php?threads/5524/ and http://www.wcha.org/forums/index.php?threads/4709/ along with the images below for some examples. Let me know if this doesn't answer your question.

Benson