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The 1930s ushered in the Great Depression and the Dust Bowl. Battered by massive unemployment and foreclosures, American families hunkered down and made do, and President Roosevelt's controversial New Deal gradually put America back on her feet. In the midst of the Great Depression, few Americans had money to spare for luxuries. Chris-Craft saw that it had to offer boats at a lower price, and introduced the highly practical Utility runabouts. A stripped-down 15 1/2 foot Utility cost $495 in 1934; by 1935 the price had been lowered to $406. Again, Chris Smith took the opportunity offered by the Depression to research, experiment, test, and improve the Chris-Craft product line.
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