On July 23, 1941, eleven Boy Scouts of Troop 42 from the Larchmont area of southeast Tacoma came downtown to contribute 135 pieces of scrap aluminum to the aluminum collection drive. The metal was needed to build bombers for the Army Air Corp. The main collection dump was at the corner of South 9th and Broadway, in front of the Music Box Theater. The Larchmont area centered near South 96th Street and Pacific Avenue; it was planned to be a select suburban community with streets named after famous colleges such as Harvard, Yale and Amherst. Boys taking part in the aluminum drive were: (in no particular order) Billy Bowlin, Walter Oden, Richard Ruth, Dickie Hansler, Don Lang, Elroy Burnett, Gerald Griffith, Raleigh Elkins, Stanley Vernon, Leslie Roley and Tomio Akimoto. (T. Times 7/25/1941, pg.3)

World War, 1939-1945--Scrap drives; Boy Scouts of America, Troop 42 (Tacoma); Music Box Theatre (Tacoma); Aluminum;

On July 23, 1941, Boy Scouts from Troop 42 (Larchmont) and Sea Scouts from the SSS Rainbow (McKinley Hill) debate how much muscle power is needed to heave the 50 lb. aluminum door into the collection enclosure. The high wire fence behind the boys, located in the 900 block of Broadway, was the central collection site for donations. The mountain of used aluminum would be donated to the national committee to be melted down and used to build airplanes. The door was a relic of an old submarine, scavenged from the scrap heap at the Bremerton Navy yard for use at Camp Hohobas on Hood Canal. Sea Scouts (in no particular order) Bud Christiansen, Arne Skaugset and Roy Ernsbarger helped toss the door over the wire. Music Box Theater in the background. (T. Times 7/25/1941, pg. 3)

World War, 1939-1945--Scrap drives; Boy Scouts of America, Troop 42 (Tacoma); Sea Scouts (Tacoma); Music Box Theatre (Tacoma); Aluminum;

A couple of Sea Scouts, from the SSS Rainbow- McKinley Hill area, give a 50 pound aluminum door the old heave-ho on July 23, 1941, tossing it into the area set aside in the 900 block of Broadway for scrap aluminum donations. The aluminum will be melted down and put to use building airplanes. Bud Christiansen, Arne Skaugset and Roy Ernsbarger helped toss the metal, a relic from an old submarine, over the wire. (T. Times 7/25/1941, pg. 3) TPL-9145

World War, 1939-1945--Scrap drives; Boy Scouts of America, Troop 42 (Tacoma); Sea Scouts (Tacoma); Music Box Theatre (Tacoma); Aluminum;

This venerable Pierce Arrow rolled up to the defense metal "corral" at 9th and Broadway on July 23, 1941 and was donated to Tacoma's aluminum drive by Cole E. Oliver, owner of Oliver Taxi and Ambulance Company, and William E. Erickson, who worked with him. The vehicle was purchased as an ambulance and at its prime was valued at $9,000. Aluminum Drive Chairman Russell N. Anderson hoped to get 1,000 pounds of the metal out of the car, which was made almost entirely of aluminum. Pictured around the vehicle, left to right, are Cole E. Oliver, Tommy Burns, Kenny Johnson, William Erickson, Police Officer Ross Mowre and Russell Anderson. In the background is the Music Box Theater, 902-14 Broadway, showing Clark Gable and Rosalind Russell in "They Met in Bombay." For several years in the early to mid-1920s the Pierce Arrow was manufactured with bodies cast of aluminum. This appears to be a 1926 Model 80 4-door sedan. (T. Times 7/23/1941, pg. 3)

World War, 1939-1945--Scrap drives; Pierce Arrow automobile; Oliver, Cole; Erickson, William; Anderson, Russell N.; Burns, Tommy; Johnson, Kenny; Mowre, Ross; Music Box Theatre (Tacoma);