These are simply the best posters available! You will be thrilled with the image quality, vivid colors, fine paper, and unique subjects. This is an original image that has been transformed into a beautiful poster - available exclusively from Posterzilla.
OUR POSTERS ARE SIZED FOR STANDARD OFF-THE-SHELF FRAMES, WITH NO CUSTOM FRAMING REQUIRED, PROVIDING HUGE COST SAVINGS!
This beautiful reproduction vintage poster has been re-mastered from an original 1953 advertisement for the Mercury Mark 5 outboard motor.
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 grouped as a visual statement. These posters require no cutting, trimming, or custom framing, and a wide variety of these 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 MERCURY OUTBOARD MOTORS
Mercury Marine is a marine engine division of Brunswick Corporation headquartered in Fond du Lac, Wisconsin. The main product line is outboard engines. It also produces the MerCruiser line of sterndrives and inboard engines. Some manufacturing is in Fond du Lac, while 40-60 HP engines are made in China. Smaller engines are Tohatsus that have been rebadged.
The Kiekhaefer Mercury company began in 1939 when engineer Carl Kiekhaefer purchased a small outboard motor company in Cedarburg, Wisconsin. Kiekhaefer's original intention for the Kiekhaefer Corporation was to make magnetic separators for the dairy industry. The purchase included 300 defective outboard motors. Kiekhaefer and a small staff of employees rebuilt the motors and sold them to Montgomery Ward, a mail-order company. The motors were much improved, so the buyer purchased more.
Kiekhaefer designed motors that withstood the elements better than his competition and called the motor Mercury (taking advantage of the "Mercury" Motor Car popularity at the time) whilst adopting the logo of the Roman god Mercury.
Kiekhaefer took more than 16,000 orders at the 1940 New York Boat Show.
World War II changed the corporate climate, and Kiekhaefer sought a government contract to design two-man air-cooled chainsaws.
Kiekhaefer Mercury foresaw that the average American's interest in boating would increase after the war. Kiekhaefer introduced a 19.8 cubic inch, 10 horsepower (hp), two-cylinder alternate firing design engine at the 1947 New York Boat Show called the "Lightning" or KE-7.
Why these Mark engines (and other Mark engines) carried number names which were not horsepower ratings, not displacement numbers, and not consistent from one motor to another, is a real mystery. Why was the 20 hp Mercury a Mark 25, and the 40 hp Mercury a Mark 55, while the 30 hp job was the Mark 30? No one really knows.
In 1961 the company merged with the Brunswick Corporation.
The company introduced the MerCruiser stern-drive line at the 1961 Chicago Boat Show. The line would later take over 80 percent of the world market.
In 1966, 6-cylinder Mercury models featured the introduction of electronic ignition, another first that eventually became an industry standard.
Carl Kiekhaefer resigned as President of Kiekhaefer Mercury in 1970, and the name was changed to Mercury Marine in 1972. During this time, Mercury produced snowmobiles, like many other companies in the late 1960s.
At present, Mercury product brands include Mercury, Mercury Racing, MerCruiser, and Mariner outboards (sold outside the U.S.). Outboard sizes range from 2.5 horsepower (1.9 kW) to 600 horsepower (450 kW). Mercury outboards 30 hp and below are manufactured by Tohatsu in Japan.
Mercury has developed a processor-enhanced line of outboards called the "Verado" outboard engine. The "Verado" system integrates the outboard into an entire system, including "fly-by-wire" steering and advanced diagnostics. Verado engines are available in 250 hp and 300 hp (V8), 350 hp and 400 hp (V10, introduced in 2022), and 600 hp (V12) as of early 2021.
