ST. PAUL, Minn. (BRAIN) — Park Tool, its president Eric Hawkins and its trademark Park Blue color made an appearance on national television Tuesday evening.
Hawkins and his company were featured on The History Channel's American Restoration reality show. In the show, Hawkins asked the show's Rick Dale of Las Vegas-based Rick's Restoration to restore an old cigarette vending machine and convert it to a Park Tool vending machine.
The first part of the show was filmed in the Park Tool booth and Mandalay Bay parking at Interbike in September. When the restoration was complete, Hawkins flew back to Vegas to see his revitalized machine. American Restoration shipped the piece to Park Tool headquarters in Minnesota just prior to airing the episode.
“Rick loved the idea of restoring an old vending machine to dispense our products. He loved the Park Tool story and was excited to build something for an American manufacturer,” said Hawkins. The machine features the original Park Tool logo from 1963 and the 50th Anniversary logo from 2013. It is fully functional, dispensing ten different Park Tool products. “
They did a great job of creating a beautiful piece we’re proud to display in our lobby. It’s perfect … and I love the color!” Hawkins said. “It was a great experience, lots of fun to do. Plus, it turns out that Rick is a big fan of old bikes and blue tools.”
The full show can now be seen on the History Channel's website.
