Mercury marine history.

[Steve A W]

Thanks for the suggestions.
The library didn’t have the books, so Amazon to the rescue.
It works out for me as I have been wanting to read Iron Fist
anyway. 😀
While we wait I’ll start her with the Old Outboards book.
Thanks again.

Steve A W

Member of the MOB chapter.
I live in Northwest Indiana

[richardg]

One point I would like to volunteer came from a local Mercury Outboard/Boat Dealer.

He had attended Carl’s dealer meetings and he deeply felt that Carl really cared about his individual dealers.

When I asked him what has changed over the years as a motor/boat dealer he volunteered that in the early years he would be periodically selling to the same families time after time and a big part of the work came from fitting out the boat they purchased with the motors they purchased separately. All that changed with companies like Bayliner came along that sold the boat/motor/trailer packages ready to go.

[billw]

I also knew someone that attended a dealer meeting with Carl. One dealer asked if the automatic transmission engines were ever going to be switched over to a "normal" water pump. This guy said that Carl went into a tirade like he had never seen, as if his head was going to explode, saying things like, "Don’t you guys understand that you sell the finest outboards ever built," blah, blah, blah….. Apparently the guy that asked the question wanted to crawl under his seat and die…..

Long live American manufacturing!

[labrador-guy]

I need to get my two cents in on this tread. I hope your daughter is old enough to understand Elmer’s dark side. His name is Elmer, in the fifty’s he changed it to Carl because he thought "Elmer" was beneath him. When you read "Iron Fist" you will be amazed at the changes in emotions the reader will have. This guy put work first always, family last. One chapter you will be laughing and the next crying. His dealings with his family, in my opinion, is so sad. His dealings with his son Freddy made me quit reading for awhile. I think his engineering people were the real reason for the success of the product that they produced. Engineers did things behind Elmer’s back to put out a good product but that is a whole different story. Family is the important thing in anyone’s life. Pursuit of the almighty dollar is somewhere down the line.

dale

[Mumbles]

Besides being a shrewd and savvy businessman, Elmer was known to dress cosplay and act strangely while performing strange rituals when he was off his meds and in the company of any OMC products.

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[vintin]

Iron fist is a very enjoyable read but it is for adults only, IMO. I’ve read it twice.

Carl was a unique individual and excelled in several important areas and failed in others. I don’t hold his failures against him.

Charlie Strang is the unsung hero. I love that guy!

As Carl’s is named ‘Iron Fist’, Charlie’s biography could be named ‘Velvet Gloves’. It would make an equally interesting read.

[20mercman]

I think that Charlie Strang is still with us. Unless I missed it, I thought he was going OK. He would be 94 I think.

Steve

[garry-in-michigan]

Dad met Charlie Strang when He bought a 460 for intercollegiate boat racing. Jim Webb wanted to be sure that it was set up on the boat properly. Dad was very favorably impressed . He said that there was only a little Charlie was unfamiliar with and in most cases he was ahead of the game. Dad was very happy when Charlie left Brunswick and knew that Ralph Evinrude wanted to get him into OMC. Jim Webb, Ralph and Dad had long been trying to get Evinrude into racing competition with Mercury. Dad felt getting Charlie on board was the way the do it.

I would certainly buy a copy of "Velvet Gloves" when it became available. . . 😉

[20mercman]

quote labrador guy:

I need to get my two cents in on this tread. I hope your daughter is old enough to understand Elmer’s dark side. His name is Elmer, in the fifty’s he changed it to Carl because he thought “Elmer” was beneath him. When you read “Iron Fist” you will be amazed at the changes in emotions the reader will have. This guy put work first always, family last. One chapter you will be laughing and the next crying. His dealings with his family, in my opinion, is so sad. His dealings with his son Freddy made me quit reading for awhile. I think his engineering people were the real reason for the success of the product that they produced. Engineers did things behind Elmer’s back to put out a good product but that is a whole different story. Family is the important thing in anyone’s life. Pursuit of the almighty dollar is somewhere down the line.

dale

I too was taken aback by reading on how Carl treated his family. especially his wife! It made it hard to respect the guy when he had so many character flaws. Then you read about how when he heard that one of his employees daughters was resigned to let pass from anorexia, (It wasn’t called that then,) He offered to fly her to Rochester Mn., but she was too weak to fly, they would have to drive. At that he purchased a new Pontiac station wagon with the largest engine and told the guy to go pick it up and drive her to Mayo. She survived and is still with us today.

In the book, it was when they were getting an "E" award from the army for saw motor production during WWII when they introduced "Carl Kiekhaefer". His wife was looking around, "Who’s Carl?" From that point on, he was Carl, not Elmer. A real enigma…..

[Steve A W]

After reading all these reply’s, she will just use the book for reference.
She’s only 11 so she’s not ready for this kind of book anyway.
Thanks for all the help.

Steve A W

Member of the MOB chapter.
I live in Northwest Indiana

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