![]() During the pre-war period, Chris-Craft reverted back to its originally boat designs for runabouts and began selling them cheaply to stay afloat. Jay Smith led the company through the hardships of the Great Depression, but due to a continued legacy of good leadership and excellence in boat building the company survived. Chris Smith’s son, Jay Smith, took over the family business in 1927 and soon after, Chris Smith passed away in 1939. These mahogany dreams were so popular that dignitaries such as William Randolph Hearst and Henry Ford had their own Chris-Craft. At this point, Chris Smith had many different types of hull designs for different purposes including pleasure cruising and speed boating. In 1922 the company name was changed to Chris Smith & Sons Boat Company. ![]() In the year 1910 the two brothers joined up with other partners to create the Smith Ryan Boat Company which continued to focus on economically priced runabout boats. The boats that the brothers specialized in making were runabouts which aimed to be fast and elegant yet sold at an economic price. To meet the ever growing demand, Chris Smith teamed up with his brother Hank and thus created the foundations for the future Chris-Craft company. Word began to spread throughout the Detroit area and Chris Smith found himself a niche in the market for recreational boat building. However, his natural talent for woodworking led to his reputation as a master boat builder. It was intended to simply be his personal recreational boat to be used for duck hunting, racing, and enjoying the spray of the open waters in Algonac, Michigan. It all began in 1874 when Christopher Columbus Smith built his first wooden boat by hand at the age of 13. Now Chris Craft is one of the few recreational boat manufacturers that can claim their products have been tested under live fire.īrief History of Chris-Craft Boats Christopher Columbus Smith enjoying a ride on one of his famous runabouts (2) Eventually, Chris Craft began fulfilling contracts for marine engines U22 utility boats, picket boats, landing craft, command boats, target boats, and quartermaster ships. They competed against other boat companies, such as Higgins and Gar Wood, for government military contracts. After struggling through various hardships in the 1930s, Chris Craft shifted its focus to aid the war effort during World War II. Chris Craft is a luxury boat company that specialized in making fine wooden boats for all types of recreational use.
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