Cushman

Cushman started in Nebraska USA in 1902, getting a patent involving a two-stroke engine. They continued to develop engines, mainly for use on farms, but then also for boats. Cushman engine sales continued to grow through WWI. By the late 1920′s, the company was not doing well financially and was taken over by the Easy Manufacturing Company (...) Easy Manufacturing then began using the Cushman name. This new Cushman tried to win a deal to make engines for a California-based motor scooter company, but didn’t get the contract. Instead, they focused on building their scooters and created the first Cushman scooter in 1936 called the Cushman R-1. The name Auto-Glide was introduced and their marketing campaign accelerated the sales of Cushman scooters. Cushman scooters grew again during war time as they supplied a variety of scooters for military use.

By the late 1940′s, the production line for Cushman scooters was improved to handle mass-production quantities. Electric golf cars, commonly called golf carts today, were introduced in the 1950′s by Cushman. Other utility vehicles were introduced and marketed by Cushman in addition to their motor scooters, and their utility vehicle business began to outgrow their motor scooter business. Outboard Marine Company, known as OMC, took over Cushman at the end of the 1950′s and discontinued manufacturing golf carts in 1975 due to inexpensive foreign models that heavily cut into Cushman golf cart sales... (from http://motorcycleinfo.org)