page_title: Paul K. Guillow, Inc.
section_title: Company history
hierarchical_section_title: Paul K. Guillow, Inc. / Company history
caption_attribution_description: English: Balsa wood model airplane Photo by Zach Vesoulis on Feb 13 2006
context_page_description: Paul K. Guillow, Inc., commonly known as Guillow's, is an American manufacturer of balsa wood model aircraft kits.
  The company was founded by Paul K. Guillow in 1926 in Wakefield, Massachusetts, and was originally called NuCraft Toys.
context_section_description: Among the company's earliest products were a card game called The Lindy Flying Game, which was introduced in 1927, and a board game called Crash: The New Airplane Game which was introduced in 1928.
  Soon after Charles Lindbergh's famous solo transatlantic flight in 1927, a craze for all things aeronautical swept over America. Guillow's capitalized on that fad by introducing a line of balsa wood model kits. The first line of Guillow's balsa non-flying shelf model kits consisted of twelve different World War I biplane fighters with 6" wingspans that retailed for 10¢ each. Each kit contained a 3-view plan, balsa wood cement, 2 bottles of colored dope, a strip of bamboo for wing and landing gear struts - this was considered relatively good value for such toys at that time. In 1933, demand for the kits were high enough as to enable Guillow's to move out of the family barn where it had started, and into its present-day location in Wakefield. In the 1940s, the company also supplemented the production of model airplanes with the publication of several books on the construction of flying model planes .
  During World War II, the supply of balsa wood was diverted to the war effort for the manufacture of rafts and life jackets. Guillow's was forced to use alternative materials like cardboard or pine to manufacture the model kits. In the meantime the company also diversified into building target drone aircraft as training aids for gunners. After the war, to meet changing customer tastes, it shifted its emphasis from "stick & tissue" kits to concentrate on the mass production of inexpensive hand-launched gliders and rubber band-powered toy planes that were sold at a variety of retail outlets.
  In 1948, Paul Guillow applied for a US patent for a model airplane glider "which can be made in various sizes and can be used for instruction in the principles of airplane flight and design, as well as for the amusement and entertainment of possessors. A further object is to enable such practicable glider planes to be constructed of a minimum number of parts, which can be packed in disassembled condition for shipment and purveyance to purchasers, and can be assembled in condition for flying with the utmost ease and almost complete elimination of any liability to wrong assemblage." The patent was granted in 1952, after his death, to his wife Gertrude.
  Guillow died in 1951. His wife Gertrude expanded and modernized the company, until she retired in 1980. 
   In 1953, the company introduced a line of mass produced, simple, inexpensive balsa gliders, packaged by high speed machinery. They sold very well. 
  In the 1990s, Guillow's acquired competitors including  Tiger, Inc. of Los Angeles and Comet of Chicago. Tiger specialized in  "promotional flying toys imprinted with company names and graphics" and Comet was a "direct competitor in balsa kits and gliders". Tiger Inc. was a manufacturer of glider toys made out of foam, and Guillow's still manufactures this type of product.  In recent years, the company has converted to laser cutting of balsa parts, resulting in increased accuracy, making assembly easier. In 2011, sales were estimated at $5 million to $6 million per year.
caption: A "stick & tissue" balsa model airplane under construction, still manufactured by Guillow's
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