SoCal Dive history question Number 2

[Sam Miller III]

The company currently called Aqua Lung has been manufacturing and importing diving equipment in several places in SO Cal since the late 1940s

What were the two other company names used by Aqua Lung ?

1) __________________________
2) __________________________

tic toc, tic toc,tic toc, tic toc,

Bonus question What cities were they located ?

SDM

 

[abnfrog]

spirotecnique it was france and us divers in California..early address was pico ave I believe

 

[Sam Miller III]

spirotecnique it was france and us divers in California. Early address was Pico ave I believe

Per abnfrog

"spirotecnique it was france and us divers in California..early address was pico ave I believe"
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You are 50 percent correct -- and I congratulate you

"The company currently called Aqua Lung has been manufacturing and importing diving equipment in several places in SO Cal since the late 1940s

What were the two other company names used by Aqua Lung ?

1) US DIVERS
2) _________________________(Hint: name change in early 1952)

tic toc, tic toc,tic toc, tic toc,

Bonus question What cities were they located ?
Los Angeles and Santa Ana, California ( Pico Avenue is a Street in Los Angeles)"
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It is both encouraging and discouraging that the answer was by a Canadian (one of God's Frozen People) Knowledge especially diving knowledge does not have borders...

It is discouraging that so many who profess to have been diving right after God filled up the ocean, dive with only steel 70s and have 5000 or more dives have not stepped forward with the answer.

SDM .

 

[abnfrog]

Aqua-Lung or Aqua Lung...........that was in the 60s though.....iirc

 

[MaxBottomtime]

Here is the original Put Another Dollar In.

 

[Akimbo]

Rene Sports, LA

Interesting reading under Trademarks:
Aqua-lung - Wikipedia

Also:
René Bussoz: Founder of US Divers

Edit: I imagine I was just learning to walk when US Divers was born. Question: Was the cross-manufacturing/branding deal made with Voit done by Air Liquide or René Bussoz? I have no idea.

 

[Sam Miller III]

Max Bottom Time

Here is the original Put Another Dollar In.

https://www.flickr.com/photos/southern_california_marine_life/albums
https://www.instagram.com/pacificcoast101/
Diving the Palos Verdes Peninsula
My Youtube videos
MaxBottomtime, Yesterday at 10:35 AM Report
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!) You inadvertently answered the question of "the first manufacturing company in California" - which was Sea Net owned by "Pops" Romano.

Pops opened his shop for business in the 1930s and operated it until his death in 1954. It was reported that his heirs did not consider that recreational diving had a future and disbanded the company

2) Frankie the frogman club
This was the brain child of the late Frank Rodecker after WW 11 (1941-1945) As noted the name for divers was "Frogmen" after the WW11 combat divers.
It was and still holds the record for being the largest dive club in the world.

3) Frank Rodecker

He was one of the early gogglers (the original name for free divers ) long before JYC and his bubble machine was invented.

In 1940, 77 years ago, Frank patented the first US diving mask that covered the nose and eyes . It was produced and marketed by Sea Net therefore acquired the name of the "Sea Net Mask."

In 1939 WW11 erupted in Europe; The Allies vs the Axis-- the allies included the United Kingdom which Canada was a member..

In January 1941 (US entered in December 1941) our neighbors to the north the Canadians developed the idea of a swimmer recon team. The needed experience in goggling, paddle boarding and general all around watermanship

They found that in the American Frank Rodecker.

Frank was commissioned a lieutenant in the Royal Canadian Navy and game on!

In 1968 a book written by Lieutenant Commander Bruce S. Wright , tiled "The Frogman of Burma" was published documenting the history of this long forgotten organization and their exploits during WW11 in Burma. ( It was a VERY expensive book prior to E bay and the opening of international book commence)

The book contains numerous references and pictures of Frank Rodecker.

Frank returned to Los Angeles and resumed his career as a professional life guard.

I happened to have known Frank via a spearfishing club and mutual friends. He retired and moved to a mountain retreat with his wife Charlotte where he passed away about 15 or more years ago from a lung ailment

One of the greats of the early days of diving

Now you know...

SDM

 

[Sam Miller III]

Rene Sports, LA

Interesting reading under Trademarks:
Aqua-lung - Wikipedia

Also:
René Bussoz: Founder of US Divers

Edit: I imagine I was just learning to walk when US Divers was born. Question: Was the cross-manufacturing/branding deal made with Voit done by Air Liquide or René Bussoz? I have no idea.[
/QUOTE]
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Correct !
RENE Sports in Westwood California. Rene Bussoz was a owned a clothing store in Westwood near UCLA. He was an early importer of Spiro equipment. soon recreational diving was his primary business.

I had several friends who worked at US Divers while attending UCLA ..the late Kit Horn and Russ Kesig.
There is an article I authored in Discover diving in my dedicated column "The way it was...." titled The Magnicenmt Gas gun" about Kit and my adventures making Bill Barada's CO2 gas spear gun.

Encouraging to see you used Legends of diving as a search engine -- I was the co funder of the organization .

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Edit: I imagine I was just learning to walk when US Divers was born.
(I was an officer in USAF)
Question: Was the cross-manufacturing/branding deal made with Voit done by Air Liquide or René Bussoz? I have no idea.[
Neither do I - speculation would be Willard Voit made arrangement with Rene for hard goods and purchased the European Spiro cans from Spiro to provide Voit with a unique equipment symbol.
It is know as a fact that Voit produced much of Rene's and US Divers rubber goods.

Now on to question number three.

SAM Miller