Voit Sail Fins - Question about dates

[DaleC]

Just picked up these the other day. Precursors to the Vikings etc...

The Sail Fin trademark was registered by Voit in 1954 and I see these in the 1956 catalog in the manuals and Catalogs section, but I cannot see when they stopped being offered. By the next catalog that features fins (1960's) they are not featured.

Anyone out there have a source that lists them? I'd like to narrow down the date a bit better for reference.

Thanks,
Dale.

[Britmarine]

Dale:

Finally a thread where I can make a contribution! I too searched the manuals and catalogs section and found, like you, that Voit's Sail-Fins seem to disappear from the literature after 1956. I did find a brief review of the fins in an article entitled "Fins, masks, snorkels, and snorkel-masks were included in tests of underwater swimming equipment" in Consumer Reports 22:7 (July 1957).

Mysteriously, Voit Sail-Fins came back into view in the 1965 Voit price-list (though not in the 1965 catalog itself), then made an appearance in the 1966 catalog as a "new design" with "non-slip buckles", then disappeared again from later annual catalogs.

I looked up my first edition (1978) copy of Larry Clinton's The Complete Outfitting & Source Book for Sport Diving and found the Sail-Fins in the illustrated "Fins" section. So it would appear that Voit Sail-Fins were in (continuous?) production from the mid-1950s until at least the mid-1970s, but that Voit didn't always include the product in the company's catalogs, perhaps preferring to promote the sale of its more expensive fins.

So, can we pin down the dating of your recent acquisition more precisely? An important clue is the "AMF" on the fin pockets, indicating that they postdate the 1950s period of the company's history and could be as recent as the mid-1970s. The picture of Voit Sail-Fins in Clinton's 1978 publication also comes with the "AMF" and the caption "Rubber blade with five stabilizer ribs. Replaceable adjustable neoprene strap. Blue. Sizes: up to 4, 4-8, 8 and up."

David

[DaleC]

Holy smokes David, awesome work!
I was a little suspicious of the age as the rubber itself is in such good condition.

And then I did a double take. David, I have the same first edition 1978 Clinton book as you and I just opened the page to see the fins. What are the odds that the only two people interested in these old fins have the same book?

In any case they make a nice addition to my sets of Aquatic and Scepter fins of that similar design.