For five generations, the people of Murray have combined hard work and a dedication to quality with a commitment to innovation and change. For today's consumers, the result is a brand new line of lawn tractors and walk-behind mowers, not to mention state-of-the-art snowthrowers, chipper shredders, bicycles, GoKarts, SnoRacers and more. But Murray's history reveals that meeting the needs of its customers has played a leading role in American life since the early part of this century.
The company, originally known as the Murray Ohio Manufacturing Company, was founded in Cleveland, Ohio by a visionary businessman named J.W. Murray to supply fenders, hoods, gas tanks and running boards for America's fast-growing automobile industry. Where other running board manufacturers are barely a footnote in the history books, continuing under the inspired leadership of son-in-law C.W. Hannon, Murray, Inc. distinguished itself early on by staying on the leading edge of trends and opportunities.
In 1923, Murray expanded its product line to include Steelcraft Wheel Goods, a line of toy cars for children that soon became an American icon for over fifty years. Buoyed by their success in the toy market, Murray rode out the depression years with the manufacture of foot-propelled toy automobiles and airplanes, steel coaster wagons and its first line of bicycles, the Mercury
. (Today, Hallmark Cards, Inc. makes miniature replicas patterned after the classic toys which, along with the antiques, themselves, have become valued collectibles.)
In 1941, the needs of a nation at war took precedence over all else, as Murray lent its manufacturing might to the production of rocket housings and magazines for anti-aircraft guns. Having won the nation's admiration for their wartime contributions, Murray marked the war's end by turning its attention to the needs of soldiers returning home, and their growing families. By the mid-fifties, Murray once again took the leadership role supplying the voracious desire of baby boomers for bicycles and toys. To keep up with production demands, Murray relocated from urban Ohio to a new manufacturing facility in rural Lawrenceburg, Tennessee. Over the next several decades, the Murray factory grew to be one of the largest in the United States: 42.7 acres under roof.
Keeping its fingers on the nation's pulse, Murray's expansion anticipated America's rush to the suburbs with the production of lawn mowers in the mid-60's. The next thirty years were ones of unprecedented growth, spurred by the introduction of such breakthrough products as the first BMX bike series to stores nationwide in the mid-70's; the first mass-market lawn tractors equipped with hydrostatic automatic drive in 1994; and the introduction of Rail Frame technology in their WideBodyTM Lawn Tractors in 1997.
Generations of consumers have discovered the value of the Murray name on a product for themselves, enjoying Murray's continuing committment to quality and innovation. Murray has come full circle to its early roots in the automotive and toy industries with the introduction of state-of-the-art Gokarts and SnoRacer sleds for a new generation of children and their parents.
Commitment to meeting or exceeding their customers' expectations for quality, price and delivery: These are the marks of a company that goes the distance. This is the Murray, Inc. legacy.
June 25th 2009, 9:26 am
jk