Carleton canoe (?) Serial Number 19393 - information please

[Lolo]

Hello.

I have what appears to be a Carleton wood and canvas canoe with the serial number 19393. Canoe measures 17' 4". There is no builder's plaque, but there are four very small nail holes in the forward deck where the plaque must have been. Heart-shaped decks, diamond fasteners, and curved carrying thwart/handle made me think it is a Carleton.

I purchased this canoe in 1989 and used it quite a lot in the 1990s. For the past 10+ years it has been rarely used, kept indoors. I am planning to recanvas this canoe myself, as the canvas has cracked and peeled over the years. All wood is intact.










Any information you can provide would be very much appreciated. Thank you.

 

[Benson Gray]

The Carleton canoe with number 19393. This is an 17 foot long, Indian Princess (or top) grade, Carleton model with open mahogany gunwales, mahogany decks, mahogany thwarts, mahogany seats, half ribs, a keel, and outside stems. It was built between May, 1926 and January, 1927. The original exterior paint color was dark green. It shipped on July 7th, 1928 to Philadelphia, Penna. A scan of this build record can be found by following the link under the thumbnail image attached below.

This scan and several hundred thousand more were created with substantial grants from the Wooden Canoe Heritage Association (WCHA) and others. 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 join.

It is possible that you could have another number or manufacturer if this description don't match your canoe. Feel free to reply here if you have any other questions. Congratulations and good luck with the restoration.

Benson

 

[Lolo]

THANK YOU very much Benson! What a treat to see that original manufacturing paperwork 90 years later.

We've always wondered about the origins of our canoe, so it's really nice to know more about its history. My brother and I bought this canoe when we were in high school, and it got a lot of use on lakes, reservoirs and rivers of North Jersey. It even went on a 3-day journey down the upper Delaware River with me and my dad.

Now that I have kids it'll be making more journeys once it's been repaired a bit.

Thanks again.