1973 - FROM PLANES TO BOATS
Awlgrip started in 1973 when two Eastern Airlines pilots approached Merritt Boat and Engine Works about using US Paints’ Alumigrip Paint on their boats. At this time, Alumigrip had only been used on airplanes.
Alumigrip looked beautiful on the Eastern Airlines pilots’ boats, which lead to US Paints deciding to market the product as a boat paint. But the feedback from the market told them they needed a different name because Alumigrip sounded too much like a product made specifically for aluminum.
Bob Grow, founder of Grow Chemical and Joe Dilschneider, founder of U.S. Paint (which was a subsidiary of Grow Chemical), sat around a bar room table in 1973 trying to come up with a name for this airplane paint they wanted to sell to the marine industry. After the brainstorming session, the name Allgrip was chosen, implying that it was suitable for all substrates. But as the story goes, the handwriting on the bar-room napkin was so bad that when the secretary typed it out the next day, one of the L’s got converted to a “W.” The name stuck and Awlgrip was born!
US Paint manufactured and marketed Awlgrip from its headquarters and factory in St. Louis, Missouri, U.S.A., as the brand continued to grow during the 1970s. In 1979, a decision was made to focus on the pleasure marine/yacht market. Consequently, sales and brand awareness grew rapidly facilitated by an expansion of the product line to include a varnish and an antifouling line in addition to more surfacers and fillers along with expanded distribution. During the 1980s, Awlgrip began the process of truly becoming a global brand.
