History

Smith built his first wooden boat in 1874 when he was 13 years old. He soon began to build more boats and joined his brother Henry in 1881 to begin producing boats full time. In 1910, the brothers joined with other partners to form the Smith Ryan Boat & Engine Company. The company name was changed to Chris-Craft in 1924.

The Detroit area company became well known for their sleek racing boats in the 1910s and 1920s. Chris-Craft sold high end powerboats to wealthy patrons such as Henry Ford and William Randolph Hearst. In the late 1920s, Chris-Craft extended its market into the middle class when it became one of the first mass producers of civilian pleasure boats. The company began assembly line production at their Algonac, Michigan plant dramatically lowering productions costs. Until then, most powerboats had been built by hand.

In 1927 the company introduced the Cadet, an affordable 22' runabout. At the time, the domain of speed boats was largely confined to the wealthy. Its innovative advertising campaign promised a piece of "the good life" to the growing American middle class. The fact that the company sold its boats on installment made them among the first powerboats available to the general population.

The Great Depression robbed many Americans of discretionary income and Chris-Craft sales suffered. The company introduced a line of low priced powerboats to stay solvent. By 1935, a 15.5' Utility boat could be bought for as little as US$406. During World War II, the company produced small patrol boats and launches for the U.S. Navy.

After the war, Chris Craft introduced an all new lineup of civilian pleasure boats just in time for the massive American consumer expansion of the 1950s. That decade marked the height of company prestige and the brand name Chris-Craft became virtually synonymous with pleasure boating. The company offered 159 different models and was the sales leader in many categories of small civilian powerboats.

The company sold high end boats to famous customers and Hollywood stars such as Dean Martin, Katharine Hepburn, Frank Sinatra, and Elvis Presley. Their boats were often made from the finest mahogany and were considered to be among the best available. They were also easy to operate, a must for their "weekend sailor" owners. In some circles, owning a Chris-Craft was considered de rigueur. Even their lower priced boats were considered to be of high quality, often featuring such luxury items as a liberal use of as mahogany, teak, and brass.

The company continued to be independent until it was acquired by Shields & Company and National Automotive Fibers in 1960. They renamed the company Chris-Craft Industries, Incorporated.

Between the 1960s and 1980s, Chris-Craft lost market share as competitors with more innovative designs and less expensive manufacturing techniques such as fiberglass hulls came on the scene. Chris-Craft ended production of its last mahogany hulled boat, the 57' Constellation, in 1971.

The company's ownership changed several times during the next several decades until it was purchased by partners Stephen Julius and Stephen Heese in 2001.

Chris-Craft Industries Today

The company currently offers eight models ranging from 22' to 43' with MSRPs starting at around US$60,000. The management plans to continue to expand the model range in the future.

The Chris-Craft name and distinctive look of its mahogany hull has become such American icons the boat has been used in numerous films. The boat was featured in the House Boat, Donavan's Reef, Back to School, Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade, The Godfather II, On Golden Pond, The Dirty Dozen, and Striking Distance. A Chris-Craft also made an appearance in the film Pearl Harbor, but experts note that the film, set in 1941, anachronistically featured a 1950's era Capri.

Chris-Craft/United Television

In the late 1950s, Chris-Craft expanded its business portfolio with television broadcasting. Chris-Craft purchased its first TV station, KCOP in Los Angeles, in 1957. Two years later KPTV in Portland, Oregon, was acquired. Chris-Craft owned only these two stations for nearly a quarter-century (they were joined by a Minneapolis station for eight years) before merging them with three stations owned by United Television in 1981 (see chart below). United Television then became a subsidiary of Chris-Craft Industries, and the group (which also went by the name BHC Communications) became one of the country's leading operators of independent television stations.

In January 1995, Chris-Craft/United affiliated all of its independent stations with the newly-launched United Paramount Network, which it co-owned (50 percent) with Viacom. Chris-Craft however, suffered large financial losses attributed to UPN, and in 2000, Viacom bought out Chris-Craft's share of the network. Shortly thereafter, Chris-Craft announced that it was getting out of broadcasting. Many industry observers thought Viacom would end up getting the stations, but Viacom's bid lost out to News Corporation's Fox Television Stations, resulting in a sale which closed in 2001.

Former Chris-Craft/United television stations

Footnotes:

• ¹ KUTP is the only station built and signed-on by Chris-Craft/United.
• ² KMSP-TV, KTVX, KETS-TV and KMOL-TV were owned by United Television prior to its merger with Chris-Craft in 1981.

External link

• Chris-Craft boats