Old canoe, looking for info

[Shauna Harding]

We recently received a old canoe, and it has the serial number 1166 with 18 underneath it stamped in a brass oval at the bottom of the canoe. It also has a 15 stamped in the wood right next to the oval. We do not know the make or model, nor the year of it. Looking for any information that is available.

 

[Benson Gray]

It will take more than a serial number alone to identify this canoe since most records don't go down that low. Can you attach some pictures of the numbers, the decks, and the interior details of this canoe? Thanks,

Benson

 

[Shauna Harding]

Here are a few pictures. Looks like the stamped number is a 18 not a 15. I tried getting a good picture of the brass plate. It has definetley been redone a few times, its been fiberglassed then painted red on the outside. Looks possibly green to begin with.

 

[Dan Lindberg]

And the winner is - Shell Lake.

 

[Benson Gray]

The Shell Lake canoe with serial number 1166 18 is shown in the first volume of the Shell Lake ledgers. This was assigned to a 16 foot long Guide model. It shipped to Minneapolis, Minn. on June 20th, 1942.

The scan of this build record can be found by following the link at the attached thumbnail image below. These original Shell Lake records are reproduced through the courtesy of the Washburn County Historical Society Museum.



The pictures of these records were created with substantial efforts from Barry Christenson and the Wooden Canoe Heritage Association (WCHA). A description of a project to preserve other records like these can be found at http://www.wcha.org/catalogs/old-town/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-wcha to learn more about the WCHA and http://www.wcha.org/store/membership to join.

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

Benson

 

[Dan Lindberg]

So Barry did get the records copied, ya.
Note that the link is very slow to load, I assume it is a large file, can it be resized/formatted to improve loading?

Dan

 

[Benson Gray]

Note that the link is very slow to load, I assume it is a large file, can it be resized/formatted to improve loading?

Yes, I have resized the images to load faster and Barry was a huge help in getting the first ledger photographed. Now the museum just needs to locate the other two so we can finish the job. Great stuff,

Benson