A Family Tradition…Commitment
to Service and Quality
 Paricon
has had a long and colorful history in the sled-making business,
starting in 1861 with the founding of a family business,
Paris Manufacturing, in South Paris Maine, by the great grandfather
of current CEO, Hank Morton. From then through today—and
into the future—the story unfolds.
It all started, in 1861, when Henry Morton
married Lucilla Forbes and the young couple started making
sleds in their home. Henry constructed the sleds by hand
and his wife decorated them. Their son, Will, an accomplished
artist, distinguished himself as a sled painter, specializing
in water scenes and scrolls. Hand-decorated sleds today are
much sought after by collectors, but the originals were probably
meant to ensure that each sled would be a child’s prized
possession.
During the early 1900s, when each sled
was made by hand, the company employed close to 300 workers.
It continued in operation as a family business, still employing
200 workers, until the family gave up ownership in 1970s
and sold to Gladding Corporation. In 1978, Hank Morton, great-grandson
of the founder, headed a group of investors that purchased
the company back from Gladding.
Today, Hank and his sons, Ted and Tom,
are continuing the family tradition in the sled business
with Paricon. The sled line has evolved to include a wide
assortment of products for winter use—sleds, including
steel runner and plastic models at various price points;
snowboards; foam sliders; inflatable tubes; wooden toboggans
and snow toys. Paricon serves customers throughout the U.S.
from its distribution center in South Paris with high quality
products and on-time delivery.
Interesting and Historical Facts
• Paris Manufacturing Co. (the forerunner
to Paricon) supplied the sledges for both the Admiral Peary
Expedition to the North Pole and a follow-up expedition by
Donald MacMillan in 1914.
• Ted Cheeseman, owner of Cheeseman’s
Ecology Safaris, tells us, “I took these sleds to South
Georgia, an Antarctic island in the South Atlantic Ocean,
hauled them across the island retracing the route Shackleton
followed in his epic self-rescue. It was a marvelous endeavor,
and these sleds performed brilliantly.”
• The Institute for Family-owned
Business recently awarded Paricon the Maine Gannett Family-owned
Business of the Year Award. |
