About Mark & Kay Fontaine

Mark's story ...
After being discharged from the Marines I was being re-trained as a welder when I became fascinated with creating welded forms and sculptures and in 1977 when I had the chance to apprentice a Danish cane maker in Los Angeles, I jumped at the opportunity to be making things with my hands.

Mark hand crafts each cane to match the height, weight, and gender of each person. Traditional methods of craftsmanship are used in soldering, annealing, cutting, shaping, polishing all parts of the cane. Mark makes each band for each cane. Marks' canes have a longer than normal threaded steel stud between the handle and the shaft. The stud is threaded NOT so you can unscrew the handle ( things that unscrew tend to unscrew at the wrong time) but so the high grade epoxy has something to grip to. Both hand rubbed oil and coated tough, crystal clear finishes are used depending on the properties of the wood being used. Mark has made over 28,000 canes by hand, one at a time in the last 28 years!

After several years of apprenticeship my wife Kay and I took over the business. Kay had been involved in a research and development company and as outside hobbies had mastered several different disciplines in the decorative arts.

So for 10 years in Los Angeles we ran the retail store which carried only canes - the only one of its kind in the nation.

We had a mail order catalog which was one of only 3 mail order companies which were serving the needs of cane users at that time. Among those we were certainly the only ones making our own line of canes. Unfortunately the mail order catalog has been discontinued due to the effects of the internet on catalog sales which makes producing and mail a paper catalog no longer feasible!

We developed and produced the first fabric canes, oil finish canes, Dymondwood canes, and hand-painted canes. During this period we learned a lot about what cane users need and came up with a core belief which we have used to guide us ever since.

We carried all of this experience and expertise with us when we moved to Oregon in 1990.

We believe that:

• The cane must be useful and suited to the users height and weight.
• It must be attractive in form.
• It and its accessories must last and bear up to daily use in a reasonable manner.
• The customer must have confidence in any follow up service they may need.
• The service must be warm, personal, and professional.

After 28 years of experience in both making support canes (over 28,000 at last count) and personally working with the men and women who use our product we, the Fontaines, are the most experienced professionals in the retail cane business.

When you buy a Fontaine cane you get a friend you can lean on!!!

Contact Us ...

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