Red Fish - Revision history

HandyAndy: added link to David Beach

2017-02-26T18:34:31Z

added link to David Beach

HandyAndy: added 1956 ad, fixed boats in use link

2012-02-09T00:02:06Z

added 1956 ad, fixed boats in use link

HandyAndy: added 1959 ad and article

2011-08-02T20:07:03Z

added 1959 ad and article

HandyAndy: moved 1955 article to 1955 info section

2011-04-03T17:37:59Z

moved 1955 article to 1955 info section

HandyAndy: added 1960 Red Fish stockholder letter from forum

2011-04-03T17:27:40Z

added 1960 Red Fish stockholder letter from forum

HandyAndy: added links to IMP

2011-02-24T18:14:44Z

added links to IMP

HandyAndy: added categories

2010-11-29T03:45:24Z

added categories

HandyAndy: added categories and boats in use

2010-06-10T19:33:00Z

added categories and boats in use

HandyAndy: added 1959 ad

2010-05-25T19:18:14Z

added 1959 ad

HandyAndy: Added 1958 to 1961 model info

2010-05-07T15:17:19Z

Added 1958 to 1961 model info

@@ Line 42: / Line 42: @@
 <br><br>
-This is where John Franklin really helped out. As it turns out, in 1960 McCulloch contracted with the Redfish Boat Company to develop a line of boats designed by David Beach, Naval Architect. These boats were designed specifically to be sold with the Scott line of engines and came complete with every optional boating accessory imaginable. They even had custom trailers. There were 12 models utilizing 14’ and 17’ hulls. The 17’ boats were produced in the Clarksville plant and the 14’ boats were built at the Iola facility. All of the molds were built in the Clarksville plant, with John Dial overseeing their production (see [[Scott|Scott Boats]] for further information).
+This is where John Franklin really helped out. As it turns out, in 1960 McCulloch contracted with the Redfish Boat Company to develop a line of boats designed by [[David Beach]], Naval Architect. These boats were designed specifically to be sold with the Scott line of engines and came complete with every optional boating accessory imaginable. They even had custom trailers. There were 12 models utilizing 14’ and 17’ hulls. The 17’ boats were produced in the Clarksville plant and the 14’ boats were built at the Iola facility. All of the molds were built in the Clarksville plant, with John Dial overseeing their production (see [[Scott|Scott Boats]] for further information).
 <br><br>

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 '''1955 Information'''
 <gallery>
 File:Red2.jpg | May 6, 1955 News Article in The Clarksville Times, Clarksville, TX
 </gallery>
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-[http://www.fiberglassics.com/site-search/Red%2BFish.html?ordering=newest&searchphrase=exact&limit=20 Red Fish Boats in Use]
+[http://174.122.107.26/site-search.html?searchword=Red+Fish&ordering=newest&searchphrase=exact Red Fish Boats in Use]

@@ Line 102: / Line 102: @@
 File:Redfishb59002.jpg | 1959 Brochure p2
 File:Redfisha59001.jpg | 1959 Red Fish Ad
 </gallery>
@@ Line 152: / Line 154: @@
-[http://www.fiberglassics.com/site-search-2?ordering=newest&searchphrase=exact&searchword=Red+Fish Red Fish Boats in Use]
+[http://www.fiberglassics.com/site-search/Red%2BFish.html?ordering=newest&searchphrase=exact&limit=20 Red Fish Boats in Use]

@@ Line 66: / Line 66: @@
-'''A photo of the plant & a rare images of Red Fish Stock!'''
+'''A photo of the plant'''
 <gallery>
-File:Plant.jpg | The plant
+File:Plant.jpg | An image of the Red Fish plant
 </gallery>
-'''More items:  Clarksville Newspaper, May 6th, 1955  Clarksville TX.'''
+'''Model Information'''
 <gallery>
-File:Red1.jpg | Scan of newspaper
+File:Redfishbb001.jpg|1958 to 1961 Red Fish models
-File:Red2.jpg | Scan of newspaper
+File:Redfishbb002.jpg|1961 to 1962 Red Fish models
 </gallery>
-'''Model Information'''
+'''1955 Information'''
 <gallery>
-File:Redfishbb001.jpg|1958 to 1961 Red Fish models
+File:Red1.jpg | May 6, 1955 News Article in The Clarksville Times, Clarksville, TX
-File:Redfishbb002.jpg|1961 to 1962 Red Fish models
+File:Red2.jpg | May 6, 1955 News Article in The Clarksville Times, Clarksville, TX
 </gallery>
@@ Line 108: / Line 107: @@
 '''1960 Information'''
 <gallery>
-File:Redfishletter001.jpg|1960 Shareholder Letter
+File:Redfishletter001.jpg|April 1, 1960 Shareholder Letter
 </gallery>

@@ Line 103: / Line 103: @@
 File:Redfishb59002.jpg | 1959 Brochure p2
 File:Redfisha59001.jpg | 1959 Red Fish Ad
 </gallery>
@@ Line 146: / Line 152: @@
-[http://www.fiberglassics.com/site-search-3?ordering=newest&limit=20&searchword=red+fish Red Fish Boats in Use]
+[http://www.fiberglassics.com/site-search-2?ordering=newest&searchphrase=exact&searchword=Red+Fish Red Fish Boats in Use]

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 It was an interview that I’ll never forget. It was my first interview with Robert Hammond, founder and former president of [[Glastron]]. I was researching my first article for Boating World back in 1993 and was just beginning to understand what the industry was all about during the “recreational revolution” of the fifties. To say that I was nervous would hardly do the word justice. Bob had filled me in on the early days of his career and the parallel story charting the growth of Glastron into the powerhouse of the industry.
 <br><br>
-I had worked my way through the interview, trying hard not to show just how stressed I was (I think he knew!), when I chanced to ask Bob just what was the relationship between Glastron and the Redfish Boat Company. I mean, there was more than just a passing resemblance. No sooner had the question come out of my mouth when I realized that there was a strange silence coming from the other end of the line. Mr. Hammond had been very quick with his responses through the whole interview. This was an eerie, awkward silence. I broke in, alluding to the similarity of the two boats in hopes of bringing this one back. Still more silence. Finally, Bob spoke; “you know, that is one of the things that still burns me about this business. The Walters brothers took one of our boats, puttied it up and pulled a mold off of it. Added a little bit here and took a little off there and went into production just like that! Planned obsolescence had very little to do with the changing of our styling from year to year....we were trying to keep ahead of the copies that were coming from everywhere!” I decided then and there never to visit Redfish with Bob again.
+I had worked my way through the interview, trying hard not to show just how stressed I was (I think he knew!), when I chanced to ask Bob just what was the relationship between [[Glastron]] and the Redfish Boat Company. I mean, there was more than just a passing resemblance. No sooner had the question come out of my mouth when I realized that there was a strange silence coming from the other end of the line. Mr. Hammond had been very quick with his responses through the whole interview. This was an eerie, awkward silence. I broke in, alluding to the similarity of the two boats in hopes of bringing this one back. Still more silence. Finally, Bob spoke; “you know, that is one of the things that still burns me about this business. The Walters brothers took one of our boats, puttied it up and pulled a mold off of it. Added a little bit here and took a little off there and went into production just like that! Planned obsolescence had very little to do with the changing of our styling from year to year....we were trying to keep ahead of the copies that were coming from everywhere!” I decided then and there never to visit Redfish with Bob again.
 <br><br>
 But he had given me an important clue: the Walters brothers. When Bob Hammond mentioned the name, it became lodged in my memory file, way in the back, where it would remain for a long, long time. I had a couple of pieces of Redfish literature in my collection from 1958 and 1959. The company was located in Clarksville, Texas. There was even a somewhat crude pencil drawing of the Redfish plant on the back of the 1958 brochure. Also in my Redfish file was a single page flyer of the 1963 Regal 17 by the Redfish Boat Company/Iola Molded Plastics, Inc. of Iola, Kansas. This was an interesting link, one that would tie it all together for me later.
@@ Line 21: / Line 21: @@
 <br><br>
-John Franklin was one of the original founders of Iola Molded Plastics. He told me that Redfish had been originally founded in 1957 by H.A. Walters, president, and his brother Herman Walters, vice-president, in Clarksville, Texas.
+John Franklin was one of the original founders of [[IMP|Iola Molded Plastics]]. He told me that Redfish had been originally founded in 1957 by H.A. Walters, president, and his brother Herman Walters, vice-president, in Clarksville, Texas.
 <br><br>
@@ Line 30: / Line 30: @@
 <br><br>
-Shortly after Glastron introduced their 17’ hull in early 1958, amazingly enough, Redfish came out with a new 17’ hull of their own. The similarities between these two boats can be explained by Bob Hammond’s long silence during our phone conversation a few years earlier. This new boat was called the Sea Shark and was available with an optional hardtop, that when ordered, made the Sea Shark even more closely resemble the 1958 Glastron Seaflite than it already did. But the Redfish boats were selling everywhere they were offered. They featured a balsa core hull that was extremely rigid for 1958 production. In late 1958 Redfish discontinued wood boat production in favor of the better selling fiberglass boats.
+Shortly after [[Glastron]] introduced their 17’ hull in early 1958, amazingly enough, Redfish came out with a new 17’ hull of their own. The similarities between these two boats can be explained by Bob Hammond’s long silence during our phone conversation a few years earlier. This new boat was called the Sea Shark and was available with an optional hardtop, that when ordered, made the Sea Shark even more closely resemble the [[Glastron|1958 Glastron Seaflite]] than it already did. But the Redfish boats were selling everywhere they were offered. They featured a balsa core hull that was extremely rigid for 1958 production. In late 1958 Redfish discontinued wood boat production in favor of the better selling fiberglass boats.
 <br><br>
-In 1959 Iola Molded Plastics signed an agreement to produce Redfish boats for the market located to the north of their location in Kansas. The Clarksville plant supplied all molds, jigs, and hardware, and Iola Molded Plastics paid a royalty on each boat sold. The primary market for Iola Molded Plastics was initially Kansas, Missouri and the Oklahoma areas, later spreading to cover all of the Upper Midwest as their dealer network expanded. The IMP Redfish boats had serial numbers beginning with KS and the Clarksville boats serial numbers began with TX.
+In 1959 [[IMP|Iola Molded Plastics]] signed an agreement to produce Redfish boats for the market located to the north of their location in Kansas. The Clarksville plant supplied all molds, jigs, and hardware, and Iola Molded Plastics paid a royalty on each boat sold. The primary market for Iola Molded Plastics was initially Kansas, Missouri and the Oklahoma areas, later spreading to cover all of the Upper Midwest as their dealer network expanded. The IMP Redfish boats had serial numbers beginning with KS and the Clarksville boats serial numbers began with TX.
 <br><br>
@@ Line 39: / Line 39: @@
 <br><br>
-I was interviewing Bud Hall of McCulloch Corporation back in 1994 while doing the research on the Flying Scott boats of the early 60’s, and I asked him if McCulloch were actually building the boats themselves. He said that “some outfit out of Clarksville, Texas was actually building them.” When I mentioned Redfish, he exclaimed, “that’s it! That’s the one!” Bud had no other recollection about the boats or the Redfish connection other than the little that he had already told me. It was another piece of the puzzle though, and while it didn’t really fit anywhere, it was important in the history of Redfish.
+I was interviewing Bud Hall of McCulloch Corporation back in 1994 while doing the research on the [[Scott|Flying Scott]] boats of the early 60’s, and I asked him if McCulloch were actually building the boats themselves. He said that “some outfit out of Clarksville, Texas was actually building them.” When I mentioned Redfish, he exclaimed, “that’s it! That’s the one!” Bud had no other recollection about the boats or the Redfish connection other than the little that he had already told me. It was another piece of the puzzle though, and while it didn’t really fit anywhere, it was important in the history of Redfish.
 <br><br>
@@ Line 54: / Line 54: @@
 <br><br>
-Iola Molded Plastics were in much better financial shape than the Walters had been. They found themselves now owning the molds, they still had their northern and Midwest dealers in line, and immediately set up to produce their own line of boats. They had been slowly expanding their lapstrake boat line on their own while the Clarksville plant was busy with the Scott orders. On the last page of the 1963 IMP catalogs was the final epitaph: Formerly Red Fish Boat Company of Kansas, Inc.
+[[IMP|Iola Molded Plastics]] were in much better financial shape than the Walters had been. They found themselves now owning the molds, they still had their northern and Midwest dealers in line, and immediately set up to produce their own line of boats. They had been slowly expanding their lapstrake boat line on their own while the Clarksville plant was busy with the Scott orders. On the last page of the 1963 [[IMP]] catalogs was the final epitaph: Formerly Red Fish Boat Company of Kansas, Inc.
 <br><br>
-As we see another of our fiberglass boat producers of the 50’s drop from the market, miraculously two more successful boat manufacturers rise from the dust. Kingfisher would build boats up until the early 90’s when John Dial decided that enough was enough and got out of the business. Iola Molded Plastics thrived and continues to build boats to this day. The continuing story of these two companies will come later as time allows.
+As we see another of our fiberglass boat producers of the 50’s drop from the market, miraculously two more successful boat manufacturers rise from the dust. Kingfisher would build boats up until the early 90’s when John Dial decided that enough was enough and got out of the business. [[IMP|Iola Molded Plastics]] thrived and continues to build boats to this day. The continuing story of these two companies will come later as time allows.
 <br><br>

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 [[Category:Texas]]
 [[Category:Fiberglass]]
 [[Category:Fins]]

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 I would like to sincerely thank Jim Huddleston, Mrs. John Dial, and mostly John Franklin for helping me with this history. I also have to thank Bob Hammond for initially planting the seed about the Walters brothers with his resounding silence, and I can’t forget to thank the late Bob Speltz for being who he was and encouraging me all that he did.
 <hr><br>
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 </gallery>
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