The Brunswick Story
Authentic American
At the young age of just 14, John Moses Brunswick emigrated from Switzerland to make a new life in the U.S. What began as humble ambition, blossomed into a business that would go on to forever change the course of recreation. After moving to Cincinnati, Brunswick was exposed to an exquisite billiards table from esteemed London manufacturer, John Thurston. In 1845, the J.M. Brunswick Manufacturing Company, which was mainly in the business of carriage making, produced its first billiards table. Brunswick opened an office in Chicago in 1848 as the business grew and gained popularity. In 1850, Abraham Lincoln purchased a table and became one of the many historic figures to own a Brunswick.
The Originators of Bowling
In 1890 they expanded their expertise into tenpin bowling and quickly went about standardising the game of bowling as we know it today. Their endeavours in full-line equipment manufacturing set industry standards as the sport gained popularity. In 1906 their headquarters were established in Muskegon. Testament to their consistency and longevity, they are still in the same location today.
With a team known as “The Rubber Men,” the Mineralite ball was developed and became a huge success. It became the standard in bowling until the 1960s. The Rubber Men went on to develop new product applications such as Brunswick tires and toilet seats which took the ambitious company into new industries.
Success on Wall Street
During the time of the second industrial revolution, Brunswick grew at an impressive rate. They went from Bowling & Billiards into many other avenues including making phonographs, and their own record label which recorded artists such as Cab Calloway, Bing Cosby and many stars of the era. Brunswick joined the New York Stock Exchange in 1925, and remains as only a handful of companies that have continued with the same name on the Exchange ever since. Although the bowling division changed ownership in 2014, the corporation still owns many well-known brands such as Mercury Marine, Life Fitness, and Hammer Strength.
Technology Innovation
Brunswick has a culture of invention. Their vulcanized rubber factory which revolutionised the bowling ball market, also made car tyres and became famous for inventing the rubber toilet seat. The Snurfer (Snow surfer) is renowned as the first mass produced snow board, and they also invented the game of air hockey. Their legendary Gold Crown billiard tables are the number one tournament table in the world, and their bowling & luxury home leisure products are known as market leading brands in the market.
Experience is Everything
Brunswick is able to deliver tomorrows technology today because their engineers stand on the shoulders of giants. They walk the same corridors and work in the same labs as the inventors of the automatic pinspotters which fueled the bowling boom of the sixties, the developers of automatic scoring which made the game accessible to the masses in the seventies, the inventors of Cosmic Bowling, the glow revolution of the nineties & Lanescape customizable lanes & Lightworx which created unique immersive environments in the naughties.
Constant development, innovation and the highest quality manufacturing along with a intuitive, deep rooted knowledge of the ever changing market has maintained Brunswick’s position as the market leader.