American Machine and Foundry

American Machine and Foundry or AMF was founded in 1900 and was once one of the largest recreational equipment companies in the United States. Originally incorporated in New Jersey but operating in Brooklyn, the company began by manufacturing cigarette-making machinery but eventually branched into other recreational industries.

Its sole remaining asset is the AMF Bowling Corporation, founded in 1936, and headquartered in Richmond, Virginia. AMF Bowling employs 16,000 people and operates worldwide. AMF, up until the mid-1980s, once produced the following leisure equipment: tennis racquets, snow skis, snowmobiles, lawn and garden equipment, wheelgoods, Ben Hogan golf clubs (1960-1985), Voit inflatable balls, exercise equipment, SlickCraft powerboats (1969-1980), Alcort sailboats (including the Sunfish and the Hilu), Hatteras Yachts, SCUBA gear, and once owned Harley-Davidson Motorcycles and Dewalt Tools. It manufactured gymnastics equipment under the AMF brand. This division was spun off to form American Athletic (AAI) which used the same logo as AMF but with different text. AMF also acquired a motor home company, Atlas Recreational Vehicles of Mason City, IA, which they promptly ran into the ground in order to take a tax loss.

In the early 1960s, American Machine and Foundry partnered with the French company SAFEGE to design, construct, and market a monorail for American cities. The AMF Monorail was exhibited at the 1964 New York World's Fair where it traversed a continuous elevated loop above and around the Amusement section of the World's Fair. It was displayed as a practical form of transportation for the future.

In 1971 American Machine and Foundry was renamed the AMF Company. Later that decade, the company began a TV advertising campaign centered on the slogan "We make weekends".

In 1985 AMF was bought out by Minnesota based MINSTAR, Inc but continued to trade as AMF and supply the bowling industry with bowling equipment.

In 2005, the company became known as QubicaAMF, as it joined forces with Qubica, which specializes in state-of-the-art custom scoring hardware and software.

In 2007 a new company, 900 Global, purchased the rights to sell bowling balls with the AMF logo. [http://www.900global.com/]

External links

* [http://www.amf.com AMF Bowling Worldwide]
* [http://www.amf300.com AMF 300]
* [http://www.qubicaamf.com/ QubicaAmf Website]
* [http://www.amfbowling.co.uk] AMF Bowling UK
* [http://www.nywf64.com/amf01.shtml nywf64.com (1964/1965 New York World's Fair Website) story of the AMF Monorail]
* [http://www.emporis.com/en/wm/bu/?id=americanmachinefoundrybuilding-newyorkcity-ny-usa the AMF Building in New York City]

AMF Bowling in the United Kingdom, now operates out of the British leisure conglomerate, Bourne Leisure - although not owned by Bourne there are strong ties. Whilst carrying the name AMF Bowling, it is now owned separately from the original American company.

AMF Bowling UK currently has 33 centres and most have had new refurbishments, with only a handful awaiting refurbishment or relocation. The roll out began after Bourne Leisure's acquisition of AMF UK in 2004.