T & T Boats, Inc. was formed in 1960 by Glenn Thompson and his son Kenny. They were located at Wausaukee, WI - just a few miles away from Peshtigo. Glenn was second generation of the Thompson boat building clan, son of Edward.
Glenn had been general manager of Thompson Bros. Boat Mfg. Co. at Peshtigo, WI in the 1950s. He was also, at the same time, vice president of Cruisers, Inc. at Oconto, WI. He was not active in Cruisers' operation, however.
Effective 01 January 1959 Glenn became an owner of the newly created Thompson Boat Company of New York, Inc. at Cortland, NY and relinquished any ownership stake in Thompson Bros. Boat Mfg. Co. of Peshtigo, WI. He was also president of Thompson Royal-Craft, Inc. at Cortland, the maker of rubber boats (not fiberglass). He and his wife moved to Cortland. They did not like NY and wanted to get back to WI.
Since he no longer had a spot at Thompson Boat in Peshtigo, Glenn decided to strike out on his own in 1960. That was the start of T & T. They made plywood lapstrake outboard and inboard/outboard boats. The hull design and shape of the T & T's was a step ahead of all the other Thompson owned boat operations.
T & T never had any connection to Chris-Craft.
The company struggled financially from the start. Just imagine starting a wooden boat firm when wooden boat markets were hitting the skids. They were also under capitalized and some bad management decisions caused major problems. By 1963 Glenn wanted out. He sold the company for $1.00 to local investors who assumed all the debt. They promoted plant manager Alvin Tonn to Vice President and General Maanger. He very quickly got the firm into the black. Sadly, the new owners hired a "time study" firm to streamline production. This was against the recommondation of Mr. Tonn. It was a very high cost for this study. Tonn resigned in protest (and moved to be foreman at Grady White Boats in North Carolina). Glenn Thompson came back as an employee to run things.
The end came very quickly. Production ceased in late 1964 and a liquidation auction was ordered by the receiver in May 1965. My father went to that auction and purchased two unfinished boats for $300! Components from both were used to finish one and that became "My 5 Sons", our family boat. My parents still have her altho her name was changed in 1967 to "My 6 Sons".
I highly recommend going to www.thompsondockside.com for Thompson, Cruisers, T & T, Grandy-White, et.al. information.
Also, brochures for all these firms (not Grady-White) can be purchased on a CD-ROM at www.wcha.org
Andreas
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