Tomahawk

Thanks to Dan Walters</b>
Franklin Winter founded Tomahawk Boat Co. in Tomahawk, WI, in 1940s and at first the firm made wooden boats, primarily of cedar strip construction but eventually of plywood. Sometime in late 1940s or early 1950s, Winter began experimenting with then-new fiberglass, at first using it to seal wooden boat hulls, and eventually to build entire boats from molds. Winter is considered to be one of the pioneers of what became an explosion of middle-class boating after World War II, thanks to the advent of relatively inexpensive fiberglass boats.

US Rubber in Naugatuck, CT, was the source of resin and Fero in Nashville, TN, was the source of fiber for the early glass experiments. When the market fell apart one year and nobody was buying boats, the plant found work in other products. Winter designed a fiberglass golf cart marketed by Harley-Davidson (examples are very rare today and much prized by H-D collectors) and the boat company also made milk storage outer shells for Solar, Papermill hoods, frames for billboards, Hough cabs (driver shells), Santa sleds, stage coaches, and fiberglass signs.

One of the non-boat products was saddlebags for H-D motorcycles. Harley bought 51 percent of the company circa 1960 remainder shortly thereafter. H-D marketed Tomahawak fiberglass boats under its name for one year – another scarce collectible – but quickly abandoned the boat business. It still manufactures saddlebags in its "Tomahawk Division." After selling to H-D, Winter founded Lake Tomahawk Boat Co. and continued to manufacture traditional wooden boats until his death in the 1990s.

During the heyday of its fiberglass boat business in the 1950s, Tomahawk was one of the country’s leading manufacturers. Evinrude used Tomahawks exclusively in its catalog one year, the U.S. pavilion at the Brussels World's fair had a Tomahawk fishing boat, and Winter’s futuristic racing boat "On Target" (which is still maintained by the local historical society in Tomahawk) was featured in Newsweek on the Today television show during a boat show in New York City. "On Target," with its fighter-plane-like fuselage, was part of Winter’s extensive involvement in boat racing. And Tomahawk advertising brochures of the period almost always used pictures of its boats with Winter’s children at the controls and/or riding.

1959 In use: