It’s 1938 Today And You Are At The Chris – Craft Dealer.
The new 1938’s are here and so are you!
You just drove up in your DeSoto with the family and kids. Your wife Darlene is very excited because you are gonna look at Chris Crafts. Now, the dealer may also be a ford dealership and sell farm equipment, or maybe its a wonderful marine dealership in your area. Chances are you will see it in the showroom, and possibly, most likely order one. Well, you see this brochure and bam! you are hooked. THink about it, while other companies are cranking out BW one pagers, Chris Craft has this amazing 4 color large brochure.
Yellow is big this year. Love this color. History is not all BW.
Okay, some of it is
Some more BW than others
Once again, backing up my claim that great marketing was the key to Chris Craft’s iconic status. They always had the best of the best working for them. 5 Minutes with the Late, Herb Pockington and you see it. Smart and sharp at an old age. He taught me a couple things and I only worked with him once on the statue in Algonac Project. Anyway,
Stinky on the left! Thats a left over shot from 1937 – I am not sure its good for my brain that I know that sort of stuff though
How about a large 24 Utility Cruiser
Then you go out the door of the dealership and see this across the street.. OHHHHHHHHHH! MOMA MIA
“Miss Liberty IV” built by the Ramaley Boat Company in 1938.
Then pop over to Gar Wood Marysville Plant 1938
But those Chris Craft brochures keep you coming back. Because its an emotional sell. And these are priced right, Not like Miss Liberty, you can afford this one. And Darlene is back by your side from being mad and sitting in the Desoto.
maybe a 19 ft Sportsman. Oh ya!
Oh the babes will love ya… OH wait, Babes, Babies, Darlene? My Babies, Screaming.. POOF! back to reality!
And after all that, you buy a Model B cause , “she” said it was cute and your brat kids were getting antsy and wanted to go see the new Snow White Movie that just came out….. In color!
THE END!
And if you need to buy the big color brochure, kiss it it? No Judging here, ON EBAY HERE
I’ll take the 27′ Custom Runabout with an A-120 please. Although if I’m pulling up in a DeSoto, it’s probably out of my league.
Marketing! Chris Craft was brilliant at it. Notice that women are heavily featured in their adds. And not just as pretty background either. They would be at the helm running the boat, or in some of the cruiser adds, just women together having a good time. No men in sight. I think CC was ahead of their time in realizing how important it was to get both the wife and the husband on board. Happy family makes for Happy Boating. And, Oh Man, they were certainly successful at selling boats.
On Lake Hopatcong you would see the ad in the Lake Hopatcong Breeze and head right over
I’m sure Bob knows this but Hockenjos Boat Company became Katz’s second facility after Wayne’s old shop on Henderson Cove. It was the one that collapsed under that monster snowstorm four years ago and kind of a neat old place with both indoor and outdoor launch wells and chainfall lifts on tracks to manhandle the boats into the back corners of the lofts.
Question for Bob: How many CC dealers were there on Hopatcong? My wn D17 came from Nolans Point Marina
You missed the trip to Mt. Clemens….I don’t see a Hacker in here!!
Shipped from Algonac 11/22/37. Owned by us since 1989. Original named Dorothy W. of Northport (small town on the Bay of Quinte. Namesake was Dorothy Wills. To be re-launched in 2020. Hubba Hubba.
I’ll take a 1938 Custom please.
Thats because the best are saved for last.
Oh ya! Darlene’s gotta go! She complains too much. Jesus, how many shirts and shoes do the kids really need. They can all live in the boathouse I built fromselling all the furniture, In my day, I didnt wear shoes, and had one hand me down shirt. And they could use old crates as chairs. Come on, the war is gonna start in a couple years anyway. Right?
He just needed to explain to Darlene that ” the Hacker 28 footer is, all told, a strictly practical boat”…
He should put Darlene in that Mother-In-Law seat in the back of the 19′ Sportsman….problem solved!
1938 is a great year for Swedish boating too, both of our family boats derives from this year. 42 ft motoryacht ”SALT”, and Essboat ”Relda”.
Would you like to see more pics from Swedish wooden boats, please visit my tumblr page http://boatfreak.tumblr.com/
The mid 30’s boats have the best design in my opinion and are a good place to put your play money into. The design shape with long decks , thin widths , high crown decks, tumble home, and segregated and multiple cockpits is and will be appealing to all artisans for many years to come.
Agree, Steve. that mid-30’s styling was classic. add pointed bow, almost vertical stem, with the tumblehome being not too severe, and a sense of proportion that hasnt been topped yet, imho.