It was a beautiful summer day and Clarence was enjoying a row in the boat with his lovely girlfriend, anticipating the picnic they would have when they got to the island in the center of the lake. These were days when young men and young ladies wore more than shorts and t-shirts when out in public. Clarence had donned a spiffy suit with a high collar, and his female companion had on a long dress with billowing petticoats underneath. Clarence masculinely pulled on the wooden oars as his date sat coolly under her parasol. Though the steamy heat of the summer day began to wring sweat from him, he was so hypnotized by his girlfriend's beauty he was not troubled. Finally he reached their location, dragged the boat onto the shore and helped his girlfriend out of the boat.
He placed all their supplies beneath a spreading shade tree, and as he prepared to sit down and enjoy the coolness of the shade, the girl said gently, "Honey, you forgot the ice cream."
'"Ice cream?" stammered Clarence, recalling that the two had planned an ice cream dessert.
So the suitor got back into the boat and stroked his way back across the lake. He found a grocery store, bought some ice cream, and headed back for the cool shade where his date sat.
Upon arriving at the island once more, his girlfriend had another friendly reminder:
"Clarence, honey, you forgot the chocolate syrup."
Clarence was in love. So he got back into the boat, grabbed the hot oars once more, and set sail for the grocery store on the shore. He bought the syrup, returned to the boat, and once again began rowing in the hot afternoon sun. But this time the frustration of it all got to him, and half way to the other side, he put up the oars and began to think. There must be a better way.
By the end of the afternoon, Clarence Evinrude had invented the outboard motor. The girl he left stranded on the island became his wife, and the company he started used the above story in its first ads for the revolutionary new outboard motor.