Chris-Craft sold high-end powerboats to wealthy patrons such as Henry Ford and William Randolph Hearst.

In the late 1920s, Chris-Craft extended its market into the middle class when it became one of the first mass-producers of civilian pleasure boats.

Its innovative advertising campaign promised a piece of "the good life" to the growing American middle class.

After the war, Chris-Craft introduced a new lineup of civilian pleasure boats in time for the massive American consumer expansion of the 1950s.

That decade marked the height of company prestige, and the Chris-Craft brand name became virtually synonymous with pleasure boating.

Chris Crafts were considered to be among the finest available, popular with famous customers such as Dean Martin, Katharine Hepburn, Frank Sinatra, and Elvis Presley.

Outboard Marine Corporation acquired the boat company in 1989, then went into bankruptcy in 2000 and was purchased by Genmar Holdings.