The 1950’s. This decade was a time when two manufacturers became the dominate outboard motor makers. Evinrude-Johnson ( OMC ) and Mercury Marine. Mercury fast out paced OMC after WW II ended until about 1950 and 1951 when Evinrude came out with newer designed motors that sported a gear shift handle the Mercury engines did not have until a few years later. They had two blades and Mercury three blade boat propellers designs, aluminum propellers and bronze props became popular. Major improvements in boat props did not happen until the 1960’s. The competition to out do the other guy saw a burst of new innovations yearly. In 1954 Mercury came out with thier Mark 50 which was a 40 horsepower in-line four cylinder engine that was far ahead of the Evinrudes that only had a twin cylinder 30 horsepower motor. In 1957, Mercury introduced an in-line six cylinder seventy five horsepower outboard motor that dominated the speed race for motors.
Evinrude produced a vee-four fifty horsepower motor in 1958 but it could not compete with the 75 Mercury for speed but it could pull up a water skier better because it had more torque. During this time Mercury became known for speed and the Evinrude-Johnsons propellers and motors were known for power and reliability. This held true for many years.
As with the rest of the economy in the 1950’s, people discovered recreational boating in mass and sales for boats and motors sky rocketed. Horsepower and speed increased pretty much every year. Boat propeller design became much more important as the quest for speed and power increased. The creation of boats that could be steered with a steering wheel, shifted and throttled from a forward position became most popular and the run-about was born. Fiberglass boats also started to be produced in high numbers and became more in demand than the older style wood boats because they are much easier to maintain and looked more modern. Water skiing also boomed and the boating industry as a whole just exploded upwards.
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