I have a pretty solid collection of Duck Feet and use them often on "beach dayz" in Sandy Eggo. Recently my wife found a pair at a local 2nd hand store for 5 clams, a size small which is perfect for our niece. I did an interweboflife search and found Dick's Sporting Goods has them listed online for $29.95 (sale price) which I thought was a very fair price since Dr. Evil (read Jeff
Bozos) has them listed starting at 40 clams on his world-domination website. So I headed down to the local store and nabbed another set (green/purple instead of the green/blue they have listed). I have searched all over the box for any manufacture markings as a clue to
WHO actually owns Voit/ Duck Feet now and there is nothing at all; no website, name, address, phone, nada. Extremely poor marketing or intentional vagueness?
So back to the interweb on HAL 9000 to search a bit and what I found was interesting. It seems at some point AMF bought Voit as well as Mares but that didn't last, read the section "new products line" and "decline"
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/American_ ... nd_Foundry
But then I also found a company still in operation down in MX called
Voit who makes swim gear (goggles, silicone caps, fins) as well as rubber balls (tether, dodgeball, etc) but NO mention of Duck Feet. The wiki article on this company makes no mention of Duck feet that I could find which I think would be a prominent item, but it does mention the AMF acquisition:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Voit
Voit began in Los Angeles in 1922 as a tire retreading products factory.[1] In the late 1920s Voit developed and patented the first full-molded, all-rubber inflatable ball and the first needle-type air retention valves. They also developed highly accurate pocket and wrist watches during this period.
In 1931, Voit developed and patented the first all-rubber athletic balls, including the process of vulcanization which allowed a material to be fixed onto a separate rubber bladder. In the same year, it changed names from the W. J. Voit Corporation to Voit Rubber Corporation.[2]
Later in the 1930s, Voit developed the process of icosahedron winding, which allowed balls to be machine wound with nylon threads over the bladder, providing both strength and consistency in shape and permitting mass production by a machine processed.
Those Voit patents and products made possible greatly increased athletic and recreation activity in the school systems, and led to universal use of a new type of product that now dominates sales in its field.
In 1957, the company was purchased by AMF.[1]
Other developments and patents later in the 1950s and 1960s included:
The Swimaster line of professional dive equipment. Voit was one of the five original USA diving gear makers: US Divers, Healthways, Voit, Dacor, Swimaster. Voit scuba gear had been featured in the movies Underwater!(1955); the TV series Sea Hunt(1958-61);and movie and TV series versions of Voyage To The Bottom Of The Sea (1961; and 1964-68 respectively)where it was included in the series' closing credits; and both got a tie-in in the James Bond movie Thunderball (film)[3]
The Equi Staff line of professional golf equipment (which included the innovation of the "Power Plugs" or screws to adjust the balance of golf clubs).
The first rubber-bodied water polo ball (which was adopted as the official ball of college, international and Olympic competitions).
Voit V-Shock digital watch
V-Shock, introduced in the late 1990s, was Voit's inexpensive alternative to the Casio G-Shock watches. They have since been discontinued.
So today I think they are made overseas in Malaysia using the molds (or copies) of the "custom" series which were found behind some tacoshop in TJ. I also have a pair of the Surf N Fins which are very similar and
was manufactured in HI. The knock-offs, as was common in the scuba industry back then, even 2day, seems to have been prolific in the fin world.