This beautiful poster has been re-mastered from a 1966 Trailmaker Ski-Bird snowmobile advertising brochure. This is one of the earliest color advertising images for the Ski-Bird.
The vibrant colors and detail of this classic image have been painstakingly brought back to life to preserve a great piece of history.
The high-resolution image is printed on heavy archival photo paper, on a large-format, professional giclée process printer. The poster is shipped in a rigid cardboard tube, and is ready for framing.
The 13"x19" format is an excellent image size that looks great as a stand-alone piece of art, or as a grouped visual statement. These posters require no cutting, trimming, or custom sizing, and a wide variety of 13"x19" frames are readily available at your local craft or hobby retailer, and online.
A great vintage print for your home, shop, or business!
HISTORY OF TRAILMAKER SNOWMOBILES
The Trailmaker story began in 1952, when John Howes started designing snowmobiles. Howes came up with several usable designs, but he was not able to bring his concepts to fruition with a full-scale manufacturing operation.
Unable to capitalize on his designs, Howes sold them to Abe Matthews, a steel businessman in Minnesota. Matthews began building snowmobiles in the early 1960’s, and he called his line of sleds the “Trailmaker.” Matthews built 300 sleds in the 1962-63 season, and production was increased to 500 units for the following season. The Trailmaker line gained popularity, and in the 1963-64 season they accounted for 10 percent of the entire snowmobile market.
The Trailmaker business was sold to the Boatel Company, who took over production of the sleds in the 1966 season. Boatel debuted the freshly designed Ski-Bird in 1966. The modern-looking sled featured a front engine, leaf springs, and steel skis up front. During its inaugural season, the Ski-Bird became known for its excellent handling, and formidable speed.
The Ski-Bird won numerous races including the Eagle River International Snowmobile Marathon cross-country race, and it finished 1-2-3 in the Antigo International Snowmobile Meet cross-country race.
Boatel discontinued building sleds in 1972, when the company sold off the snowmobile production portion of its business.
