Serial # search help .

Nessmuck

Enthusiastic about Wooden Canoes
I have a canoe with ( as far as I can make out) a serial # 5302.. Hopefully it's a good number ...and thanks for any input .
 
I usually takes more than a serial number alone to identify an old canoe, especially one with four digits or less. The Old Town canoe with this number is a 15 foot long HW model that shipped in 1906, the Carleton with this number shipped before Old Town purchased them in 1910 so no records are available, and Kennebec assigned this number to a 17 foot long canoe in 1911. Can you provide some pictures, dimensions, and other details?

Benson
 
It has an Old Town plate on the front deck ...and also has a triple keel.Is that triple keel original ??
 
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What is the proper way to measure a canoe ??

The extreme overall length in a straight line is usually the most helpful. This often requires two people, plumb lines, and a tape measure. The same procedure will work for the width.

It has an Old Town plate on the front deck ...and also has a triple keel.Is that triple keel original ??

The Old Town decal introduced in 1906 is shown at http://www.wcha.org/catalogs/old-town/covers/large-06.gif from that catalog cover and the brass name plate shown at http://www.wcha.org/catalogs/old-town/covers/large-79.gif was introduced in 1979 as shown on that catalog cover. They also had a variety of other name plate styles in the early years. This is another case where pictures can help.

Triple keels were known as bilge keels on the build records as shown at http://forums.wcha.org/attachment.php?attachmentid=31392&d=1430946648 for example.

Your pictures show a modern name plate from after 1979, diamond headed bolts from after 1923, Otca style decks from after 1908, and a canoe that looks more than 15 feet long. My guess is that there are more digits in this serial number. The tricks at http://forums.wcha.org/showthread.php?791 may help you find them.

Benson
 
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Looks like you've got an Old Town Otca in CS grade from the 20s or 30s, so you're probably missing a digit or two in the serial number. No utside stems (at least not now), and it appears to have been shipped with a floor rack.
 
My question is what is that black and white UFO casting a shadow near the bow?

Or did you go from being #06 to #0?
 
It measured 17 feet......serial # 15302...... Tough to see the (1) ....but does that serial # compute ?? Thanks Everyone !!!
 
It measured 17 feet......serial # 15302...... Tough to see the (1) ....but does that serial # compute ??

No, the Old Town with that number is 16 feet long and the Carleton isn't a good match either. I've tried several likely similar numbers (15302x, 15802x, 75302, 75802, and others) without any better matches. Can you take some pictures of the numbers and surrounding area from each end and post them here? Some paint thinner or varnish stripper may also help. Thanks,

Benson
 

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I will have to get a better measurement ...with two people....to be continued..Thanks !!
 
You really should try Benson's suggestion - put a little stripper on the stem and remove that varnish to show the serial number clearly (don't sand, given how faint it is already). Getting the varnish off of there should make the serial number much clearer. There's got to be another digit there. 15302 puts it in the early teens, but this isn't an early teens Old Town. Looks like there might be another "1" there, making it something like 115302. This would put the canoe in the late '30s, and that looks spot on. A late-'30s Otca would look just like this.
 
My guess is that you have the Old Town canoe with serial number 115302 as others have suggested. This is a 17 foot long, CS (common sense or middle) grade, Otca model with red western cedar, open spruce gunwales, twenty inch oak decks, oak thwarts, oak seats, and a keel. It was built between January and June, 1935. The original exterior paint color was light green. It shipped on June 12th, 1935 to Ware, Mass. and returned to the factory on September 3rd, 1935. A poor scan showing this build record can be found by following the link behind 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.

You may have another number or manufacturer if this description doesn't match your canoe. Most strippers can be wiped off with a rag or rinsed off with water. The label will usually have more detailed instructions. Please reply here if you have any other questions.

Benson
 

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