In the summer of 1973 Pete Thomas, Technical Manager at the Marley Floors factory in Somerset England received a phone call from a small dance company. The caller asked if it were possible to re-color the underside of sheet vinyl flooring from a patchy orange to a plain white. The caller also asked if Marley would replace the popular faux ceramic pattern of the top surface with a uniform black.
With the equipment Marley possessed at the time the answer was a simple "Yes", if there was enough demand. It was soon clear to Marley that not only was there a European demand, but within a year or two, container loads were being shipped to the USA.
The dance floor they invented became so popular that in America that we still use the term ‘Marley’ to mean portable flooring, much in the same way we use ‘Kleenex’ to mean tissue. Nearly all portable rolled sheet stage floors today are generically referred to as "marleys".
Since Marley stopped making this flooring in 1979, there have been great improvements in this special flooring treatment. Gerriets International provides a full line of Marley style flooring products using the highest quality materials, in a wide variety of colors and surfaces. And don't forget to check out our unique floor elastic padding and transport system specifically designed for these popular floors.
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