“Sue”, 19-foot runabout, 1935
Chris-Craft Corporation
Algonac, Michigan

Those fortunate enough to own a Chris-Craft runabout never seem to lack for friends to take a spin along the shore or out to sea. “MotorBoating Magazine”, 1927 In the early 1920s, Chris Smith had begun to move away from producing high-speed racing motorboats to building pleasure boats for the public. By the mid thirties, Chris-Craft was producing a variety of high quality runabouts and commuter craft.

Even as the Depression began in 1929, Chris-Craft directed their advertisements at the average household touting,
“Chris-Crafting is recreation in itself. It recreates those who use it both in body and mind.”