All Things A&T

[Dave Petersen]

 

[Dave Petersen]

 

[sjjohnston]

FWIW, A&T (nee Anderson & Thompson, in Seattle) did actually make skis, but wooden ones, way back in the '30s through the '50s. It was among the first companies to produce laminated wood skis: depending on who you ask, maybe the first, or maybe tied for first. It also made steel poles, cable bindings, ski racks and assorted other items (including rope tow grippers!).

By the '60s, it was primarily a distributor of other company's (generally foreign) products. A 1965 Seattle Times article says it was "importing skis made to its specifications in Europe and Japan." I'm not sure how much specifying the did, and how much they just imported what was made abroad. By then, the people who had established the ski-making were dead or long gone. The same 1965 articles says, "At the time of this article's publication, only the D-2 glass-epoxy ski made on Vashon Island is not imported." Apparently, the reporter and the copy editor let that "D" that was supposed to be a "K" slip by.

I suspect they did make (or have made for them domestically) the A&T ski poles and ski racks. The car ski rack seems kind of a quintessentially American product. My family had an A&T rack back in the '60s.

Branding of products was kind of odd back in the '60s and '70s, and US distributors would often overlay their own brand onto foreign products they imported. Pentax cameras, for example, were labeled "Honeywell Pentax" in the US, even though Honeywell had nothing to do with designing or making them. Beconta was another importer of ski equipment (among other things). Of course, nowadays, the US companies whose brand names are on all sorts of products often have little to do with actually making them, though they are generally at least the principal designers.

 

[Dave Petersen]

FWIW, A&T (nee Anderson & Thompson, in Seattle) did actually make skis, but wooden ones, way back in the '30s through the '50s. It was among the first companies to produce laminated wood skis: depending on who you ask, maybe the first, or maybe tied for first. It also made steel poles, cable bindings, ski racks and assorted other items (including rope tow grippers!).

By the '60s, it was primarily a distributor of other company's (generally foreign) products. A 1965 Seattle Times article says it was "importing skis made to its specifications in Europe and Japan." I'm not sure how much specifying the did, and how much they just imported what was made abroad. By then, the people who had established the ski-making were dead or long gone. The same 1965 articles says, "At the time of this article's publication, only the D-2 glass-epoxy ski made on Vashon Island is not imported." Apparently, the reporter and the copy editor let that "D" that was supposed to be a "K" slip by.

I suspect they did make (or have made for them domestically) the A&T ski poles and ski racks. The car ski rack seems kind of a quintessentially American product. My family had an A&T rack back in the '60s.

Branding of products was kind of odd back in the '60s and '70s, and US distributors would often overlay their own brand onto foreign products they imported. Pentax cameras, for example, were labeled "Honeywell Pentax" in the US, even though Honeywell had nothing to do with designing or making them. Beconta was another importer of ski equipment (among other things). Of course, nowadays, the US companies whose brand names are on all sorts of products often have little to do with actually making them, though they are generally at least the principal designers.

Good info - Thanks!

 

[Dave Petersen]

 

[Dave Petersen]

 

[Dave Petersen]

 

[Dave Petersen]

 

[Sethmasia]

FWIW, A&T (nee Anderson & Thompson, in Seattle) did actually make skis, but wooden ones, way back in the '30s through the '50s. It was among the first companies to produce laminated wood skis: depending on who you ask, maybe the first, or maybe tied for first. It also made steel poles, cable bindings, ski racks and assorted other items (including rope tow grippers!).

By the '60s, it was primarily a distributor of other company's (generally foreign) products. A 1965 Seattle Times article says it was "importing skis made to its specifications in Europe and Japan." I'm not sure how much specifying the did, and how much they just imported what was made abroad. By then, the people who had established the ski-making were dead or long gone. The same 1965 articles says, "At the time of this article's publication, only the D-2 glass-epoxy ski made on Vashon Island is not imported." Apparently, the reporter and the copy editor let that "D" that was supposed to be a "K" slip by.

I suspect they did make (or have made for them domestically) the A&T ski poles and ski racks. The car ski rack seems kind of a quintessentially American product. My family had an A&T rack back in the '60s.

Branding of products was kind of odd back in the '60s and '70s, and US distributors would often overlay their own brand onto foreign products they imported. Pentax cameras, for example, were labeled "Honeywell Pentax" in the US, even though Honeywell had nothing to do with designing or making them. Beconta was another importer of ski equipment (among other things). Of course, nowadays, the US companies whose brand names are on all sorts of products often have little to do with actually making them, though they are generally at least the principal designers.

For the full story on the founding of A&T -- and the first laminated skis -- see The Splitkein Patent in Skiing History magazine

 

[Sethmasia]

Anderson & Thompson (A&T) was founded in Seattle in 1932 to manufacture a patented laminated ski created by Norwegian immigrant George Aaland. For the full story see https://www.skiinghistory.org/history/splitkein-patent

After WWII the company dropped out of ski manufacturing and under John Woodward (of 10th Mountain Division fame) became a leading importer of skis, boots and bindings. For the story see https://books.google.com/books?id=e...Ut7DJwQ6AEwAXoECAEQAg#v=onepage&q=A&T&f=false

 

[Vintageski808]

Here's two A&T skis from the 60s on the right.