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Steve and David Parman
of Parman Brothers Ltd.
have been in business in
Johnson, Kansas, since
1976. What began as a
woodworking business
building furniture,
changed dramatically in
1984. One
day while sitting in
their booth at a craft
show, inspiration
struck. Across the
aisle sat a vendor
selling ceramic
kaleidoscopes. “We were
looking at them, kind of
amusing ourselves, when
we thought, ’We could
probably make wooden
kaleidoscopes’,” Steve
Parman said. Stopping
at a store on the way
home, the Parman
brothers purchased a toy
kaleidoscope made out of
cardboard and began
tearing it apart.
Several weeks later,
they had about a dozen
of their prototypes — a
lathe-turned,
three-mirror
kaleidoscope — ready for
display at another craft
show. “They sold out,”
Parman said. “I was
really surprised.” And
so began Parman Brothers Ltd. kaleidoscope
company, designers and
makers of a creative
array of cylindrical
viewing scopes - each
one hand-crafted and
individually made. |
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Travis Morisse/The Hutchinson News Photo |
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Steve Parman stands in front of a display of the many different types of kaleidoscopes made at the Parman Brothers Ltd. store in Johnson, KS. Steve and his brother David have been making kaleidoscopes for 22 years. |
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