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58:. Founded by brothers Peter and Christ Thompson in 1904, the company became prominent in the field and built boats for nearly one hundred years. The Thompson Antique & Classic Boat Rally celebrates the company's history with a boat show every other year and in 2013 the Thompson Brothers canoe was celebrated at the Annual Assembly of the Wooden Canoe Heritage Association.
247:. The financial loss was significant. The company went from one of the most successful in the industry to just barely hanging on in a matter of a few years. The rebuilding took many years. Today, this is the only Thompson originated boat firm that still operates. It is called Cruisers Yachts and is a division of KCS International.
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Thompson marketed boats of types that reflected the evolving desires of consumers: skiffs, duck boats, a variety of fishing boats, racing boats, sailboats, various boats for the military during World War II, and small cruisers. Their signature boat was the lapstrake lake runabout of the 1950s and
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The revitalized
Thompson Boat at St. Charles slowly rebuilt, but bankruptcy was declared in 1993. A new owner came in and got the firm going again. By about 1997 regular production ceased and all boat production stopped by 2000 or 2001. A liquidation auction in 2002 signaled the end of almost 100
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to have the latter make fiberglass boats for them. This was a low-cost means for
Thompson to get an abbreviated line of fiberglass boats to supplement their wooden boat line. The arrangement did not last long as Crownline was having major financial difficulties. When Crownline closed down, Peter
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Effective 1 January 1959 the three boat operations owned by the
Thompson family at Peshtigo, Cortland, and Oconto were split amongst family branches. Thompson Bros. Boat Mfg. Co. at Peshtigo became property of Ray Thompson and family. The former branch at Cortland, New York became Thompson Boat
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Cruisers, Inc. also resisted the change from wood to RFP. Grant
Thompson researched markets, production methods, designs, and costs. Slowly they began making some fiberglass products. The relationships they had made with other boat makers over the years paid off. Cruisers, Inc. was able to get
138:. Cruisers was formed with the full knowledge, encouragement, and cooperation of the elder Thompson men and Thompson Bros. Boat Mfg. Co. In fact, for the first year of operation, Cruisers, Inc. made boats for Thompson Bros. Boat Mfg. Co. which were badged with the "Thompson" logo.
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complex was built within the city limits of
Peshtigo in 1912 and the operation was moved from the cramped quarters at the Thompson farm, a few miles north of town. Thompson soon became the largest builder of outboard boats in the world and in 1924 a branch factory was secured in
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in
January 1962 and it became a wholly owned subsidiary. An immediate program of fiberglass boat development began. This initiative created the Corsair fiberglass division of Chris-Craft. The Corsair boats were made by Thompson Boat Company of New York in Cortland.
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at all the
Thompson operated boat firms was difficult. The family resisted the switch and felt that any high quality wooden boat could out perform, outlast, and outsell fiberglass; however, the 1960s consumer shied away from wood and purchased fiberglass or
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Company of New York, Inc. with ownership in the hands of brothers Bob and Ted
Thompson, Jr. and their cousin Glenn Thompson. Brothers Roy and G.Grant Thompson gained sole ownership of Cruisers at Oconto. All three firms made wooden lapstrake outboard boats.
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The
Thompson Brothers firm started operations at Peshtigo in the early months of 1904. Peter and Christian (Christ) Thompson, the elder brothers of a large family, made their first wooden boat in the
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T & T Boats of
Wausaukee never made fiberglass boats. A liquidation auction in May 1965 signaled their demise. Chris-Craft closed the Cortland plant in 1974 which had been a Thompson operation.
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Thompson Bros. Boat Mfg. Co. was incorporated in 1912. By that time, six Thompson brothers were involved: Peter, Christ, Edward, Theodore, Adolh (Tom), and Richard. Their sister Hanna (Johanna) was
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Thompson - the grandson of the original Peter Thompson - and another team member went to Cairo and retrieved the Thompson molds and tooling. It was too little and too late. The Thompson
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in 1966 forced the sale of the company and Saul Padek got control of all the stock for less than $ 4,000 cash layout. The Thompson family was out of the boat business at Peshtigo.
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licensing deals with other entrenched fiberglass builders. This helped ease them from wood to glass. By 1967 they had dropped all wooden boats from their
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In 1953 second generation Thompson family men (Ray, Glenn, Roy, Grant, Bob, and Ted, Jr.) started Cruisers, Inc., a builder of wooden lapstrake boats at
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in September 1966. Padek began the slow painful switch from wood to fiberglass and by 1969 the last wooden boat rolled out of the plant at Peshtigo.
312:... graceful bow lines, combined with ruggedness and safety, made it a favorite for a variety of water sports, fishing, or just cruising the shore.
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Miller, Daniel, Dragonfly Canoe Works: Discovering the History of Wooden Canoes, Thompson Brothers (citation applies to all Thompson models).
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Video documenting the 2013 Assembly of the Wooden Canoe Heritage Association, which featured the Thompson Brothers canoe.
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In late 1964 Thompson Bros. Boat Mfg. Co. at Peshtigo, Wisconsin subcontracted with Crownline, Inc. of
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area bought the assets from the bankruptcy court and the entire operation was moved from Peshtigo to
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The 2013 Assembly of the Wooden Canoe Heritage Association featured Thompson Brothers canoes.
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By the mid 1950s Thompson Bros. Boat switched from primarily making cedar strip built hulls to
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of the family barn in early 1904. Local lumber was used, harvested in along the banks of the
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and venture out on his own. He established T & T Boats, Inc. and a factory was built in
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Built on the same mold as the Indian Model; has half ribs with ends covered by a stringer.
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Rhude, Andreas Jordahl. "Thompson Boats: From Working Class Hero to Treasured Classic".
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outboard motors were better suited to the very strong yet lightweight lapstrake hulls.
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Rhude, Andreas Jordahl. "The Thompson Boat Company: Celebrating a 98 Year Tradition".
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Thompson Boat at Peshtigo went bankrupt and closed in 1980. A Thompson dealer in the
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Thompson Boat Company of New York, Inc. of Cortland, New York was purchased by
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to embrace the new inboard/outboard propulsion unit that was introduced to the
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that year. 76 years of boat building tradition at Peshtigo came to an end.
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Under Padek's ownership Thompson Bros. Boat Mfg. Co. declared chapter 11
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of Sweden was the first to make a practical inboard/outboard engine and
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79:. About 1899 they moved to undeveloped farmland near Peshtigo.
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Rhude, Andreas Jordahl. "Thompson-Cruisers Boats Gather".
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Defunct manufacturing companies based in New York (state)
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Rhude, Andreas Jordahl. "The Thompsons and Their Boats".
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inside of Hiawatha model showing half-ribs and stringers
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Thompson Bros. Boat at Peshtigo was one of the earliest
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Rhude, Andreas Jordahl. "Thompson Marine Enterprises".
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Rhude, Andreas Jordahl. "Thompsons and Their Boats".
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164:. T & T also made wooden lapstrake outboard and
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Vehicle manufacturing companies established in 1912
580:Defunct manufacturing companies based in Wisconsin
183:public at the New York Boat Show in early 1959.
94:, dubbed the "Anti-Leak" canoe by the brothers.
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515:"Exceeding Expectations and Building Dreams".
172:auction signaled the firm's end in May 1965.
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536:Thompson Antique and Classic Boat Rally Inc.
156:In 1960 Glenn Thompson decided to return to
44:Thompson Brothers Boat Manufacturing Company
288:Standard Thompson model, without half ribs.
374:Rhude, Andreas Jordahl. "Thompson Rally".
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207:pleasure boats, and sales plummeted.
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427:, September/October 1999, pp. 10–15.
125:alternate deck style: a simple curve
378:, November/December 2006, pp.12–15.
365:, January–February 2003, pp. 24–29.
168:/outboard boats. It lasted until a
90:. The first product was a modified
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300:This model has a very flat sheer.
265:years of boat building history.
101:Thompson badge on ogee-style deck
570:1912 establishments in Wisconsin
565:Companies disestablished in 2002
71:The Thompson family came from
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145:lapstrake boats. The greater
38:Thompson Hiawatha model canoe
575:Marinette County, Wisconsin
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447:Marinette County Historian
405:, Summer 2005, pp. 12–13.
462:, April 1998, pp. 12–15.
555:American boat builders
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217:Chris-Craft Industries
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50:was a manufacturer of
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530:The Thompson Dockside
500:The Thompson Dockside
449:, Fall 2004, pp. 1–5.
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272:Thompson canoe models
259:St. Charles, Michigan
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473:Vintage Boating Life
363:Vintage Boating Life
194:The transition from
162:Wausaukee, Wisconsin
391:Scroll to poster at
337:"Thompson Brothers"
48:Peshtigo, Wisconsin
341:dragonflycanoe.com
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116:Cortland, New York
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77:Racine, Wisconsin
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107:office manager
88:Peshtigo River
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345:. Retrieved
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130:Middle years
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185:Volvo Penta
170:liquidation
67:Early years
549:Categories
403:The Rudder
323:References
237:bankruptcy
200:fiberglass
147:horsepower
292:Hiawatha:
230:creditors
158:Wisconsin
205:aluminum
189:outdrive
109:. A new
517:C-Views
298:Ranger:
286:Indian:
255:Detroit
181:boating
166:inboard
143:plywood
111:factory
84:hayloft
73:Denmark
62:History
343:. 2015
319:60's.
56:canoes
349:2015
196:wood
54:and
42:The
198:to
46:of
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339:.
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20:)
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