Permanente. An employee of Permanente at the Tacoma plant looks very grateful for the medical assistance received from a nurse in the medical unit. He is now wearing a large, gauze bandage on his thumb. In 1947-1948 Permanente reported having nearly 5,000 employees in their several locations in Baton Rouge, Louisiana; Owens Lake, Natividad, Oakland, and Moss Landing, California; and Mead, Trentwood and Tacoma, Washington. (Permanente Metals Corporation Annual Report 1947-1948)

Permanente Metals Corp. (Tacoma)--Employees; Aluminum industry--Tacoma--1940-1950; Infirmaries--Tacoma--1940-1950; Nurses--Tacoma--1940-1950; Wounds & injuries--Tacoma; Accidents--Tacoma;

Permanente's First Anniversary, Permanente Metals, Bill Gorman. A family enjoys hot dogs during the celebration at Permanente on October 27, 1948. The older girl sits on a stack of aluminum pigs that have been produced at the plant. The woman holds a baby with one arm and her hot dog in her other hand. The weiners for the event were fried on one of the hot 500 pound pigs of aluminum at the plant. (T.Times, 10/28/1948, p.1)

Permanente Metals Corp. (Tacoma)--Employees; Aluminum industry--Tacoma--1940-1950; Laborers--Tacoma--1940-1950; Families--Tacoma--1940-1950; Frankfurters--Tacoma--1940-1950;

Crust breaking machine at Permanente, Bill Gorman. Workmen are using a new machine to break the crust that developed on the molten aluminum in the reduction pots at the Permanente aluminum plant. This had been a manual process before development of the specialized machine.

Permanente Metals Corp. (Tacoma)--Employees; Aluminum industry--Tacoma--1940-1950; Laborers--Tacoma--1940-1950; Machinery;

Publicity shots at Permanente Metals, Bill Gorman. Two workmen from the Permanente plant shake hands. One of the men is older, wearing coveralls, a stripped shirt and a hat. The other man is younger wearing a plaid shirt, work pants and a hat. They look at each other and smile. It looks like they already like each other and will work well together. The plant facilities are seen in the background. TPL-4555

Permanente Metals Corp. (Tacoma)--Employees; Aluminum industry--Tacoma--1940-1950; Laborers--Tacoma--1940-1950; Employees--Tacoma--1940-1950;

Kaiser Aluminum, Tacoma Works rectifier station addition. Exterior of building with train tracks beside it. The Kaiser plants were taken over from the federal government in 1947 by Henry J. Kaiser. The plant in Tacoma was an aluminum reduction plant; it produced pig aluminum from treated ore and then sent it to a fabricating plant to be made into a finished product. The plant underwent a expansion and modernization program in 1952, at a cost of $2,850,000, to increase capacity by 1/3, an annual production of 66, 400,000 pounds.

Kaiser Aluminum & Chemical Corp. (Tacoma); Aluminum industry--Tacoma--1950-1960;

Kaiser Aluminum's Tacoma plant near the southeasterly edge of Tacoma's tideflats was expanded at a cost of $2,850,000 in 1952, increasing by one third the plant's aluminum output. November 1952 marked the fifth anniversary of the operation of the Tacoma plant. Four alumina storage towers are seen in front of the plant facilities. Mount Rainier is seen rising majestically over the Tacoma tideflats. (TNT Supplement, 11/2/1952, p.3) TPL-9617

Kaiser Aluminum & Chemical Corp. (Tacoma); Aluminum industry--Tacoma--1950-1960;

Storage tanks at Kaiser Aluminum are massive in nature; they dwarf the Canadian National Railroad boxcars that are motionless in front of them. Olin Corporation Aluminum Plant was the first occupant of the 3400 Taylor Way site; it was sold to Kaiser Aluminum in late 1946. Kaiser spent nearly three million dollars in 1952 to expand its plant, thereby increasing aluminum production accordingly. Easy access to rail transportation made delivery of its product fast and efficient. Photograph ordered by Kaiser Aluminum.

Kaiser Aluminum & Chemical Corp. (Tacoma); Aluminum industry--Tacoma--1950-1960; Storage tanks--Tacoma; Railroad freight cars--Canada;

Kaiser Aluminum & Chemical Corp. At Kaiser's Tacoma reduction plant, ore is carefully analyzed. Dick Hildebrandt, plant chemist, performs an analysis of petroleum pitch, used in the production of carbon anodes for the electrolytic aluminum reduction process. One of the plant's largest regional purchases in 1954 was $214,000 worth of petroleum pitch. (TNT 5/16/1955, pg. 11)

Kaiser Aluminum & Chemical Corp. (Tacoma); Aluminum industry--Tacoma--1950-1960; Hildebrandt, Dick;

Another view of the large American Wheelabrator machine that handled studs at the Kaiser Aluminum plant; this September 20, 1955, photograph shows the Kaiser employee with his cart nearly full of the metal studs. He appears to be inserting the stud onto the long extension of the large machine. Photograph ordered by American Wheelabrator & Equipment Corporation.

Machinery; American Wheelabrator & Equipment Corp. (Tacoma); Kaiser Aluminum & Chemical Corp. (Tacoma); Aluminum industry--Tacoma--1950-1960;

Kaiser Aluminum; Arc building, looking southeast. The Kaiser Aluminum plant was located about 5 miles north of downtown Tacoma. It had been obtained in 1947 by the huge Kaiser business conglomerate built by Henry J. Kaiser. It was purchased from the Defense Plant Corporation. Kaiser modernized the closed plant and began a series of expansions. In 1956, a $2,000,000 expansion was complete with the creation of 18 new "super size" reduction cells. The improvement also included the erection of a mill-type building to house the 420 ft. potline, office and laboratory buildings, an added electric substation and installation of aluminum bus bars and auxiliary electrical equipment. (Kaiser Aluminum News, August 1956)

Kaiser Aluminum & Chemical Corp. (Tacoma); Aluminum industry--Tacoma--1950-1960;

Kaiser Aluminum; new pot room; Interior view, Arc building. A man drives a modernistic piece of equipment, a mechanical arm with a tractor base. This new 420 foot potline at the Tacoma plant has 18 "super-size" reduction cells, increasing primary aluminum production by 15%. The Tacoma plant is a reduction plant, it uses power from hydro electric sources to reduce alumina to aluminum. In 1947, Kaiser bought the Tacoma plant from the Defense Plant Corporation which had operated it as a war emergency plant and closed it after VJ day. Its proximity to plentiful electric power, supplied by the Bonneville Power Administration, made it the perfect location for creating aluminum "pigs" by electrolysis. The plant on the Tideflats ran on a 24 hour, around the clock basis. (Kaiser Aluminum News, August 1956)

Kaiser Aluminum & Chemical Corp. (Tacoma); Aluminum industry--Tacoma--1950-1960;

ca. 1956. Kaiser Aluminum plant. Molten metal is being poured from a vat into a mold to form "pigs." The Tacoma plant was an aluminum reduction facility. It produced the pig aluminum from treated ore. Each "pig" weighs 50 pounds and contains higher that 99% pure aluminum. The Bonneville Power Administration provided the abundant power needed to produce the metal by electrolysis. (Kaiser Aluminum News, August 1956)

Kaiser Aluminum & Chemical Corp. (Tacoma); Aluminum industry--Tacoma--1950-1960;

ca. 1956. Kaiser Aluminum plant. The new 420 foot potline at the Tacoma reduction plant; the result of a $2,000,000 expansion. The line contains 18 new "super size" reduction cells that will increase aluminum production by 15%. The Bonneville Power Administration will provide the power to reduce the ore to pure metal by electrolysis. Dissolved in solution in long lines of reduction cells ("pots",) alumina ore is subjected to electrical current. The chemicals recombine, the aluminum separates from the oxygen and settles as pure metal, aluminum. (Kaiser Aluminum News, August 1956)

Kaiser Aluminum & Chemical Corp. (Tacoma); Aluminum industry--Tacoma--1950-1960;

Smoke drifts from the new 500-foot stack at the Kaiser Aluminum plant on Tacoma's Tideflats in late October, 1968. Kaiser was undergoing a period of expansion that would see a new aluminum rod mill open for production in December of 1968. Hylebos Waterway is adjacent to the plant on left side of photograph. Photograph ordered by Kaiser Engineers.

Kaiser Aluminum & Chemical Corp. (Tacoma); Aluminum industry--Tacoma--1960-1970; Industrial facilities--Tacoma--1960-1970; Hylebos Waterway (Tacoma); Aerial views;

1967 Richards stock footage. Another view of Kaiser Aluminum plant in Tacoma Tideflats, taken in the fall of 1967. Kaiser had reopened its Tacoma plant in 1964 after being closed for six years. It planned an expansion of the plant facilities and in 1968, a new aluminum rod mill was ready for operation. A second alumina dome with a 100,000 ton capacity, would be completed on Pier 7 in 1969.

Aerial photographs; Kaiser Aluminum & Chemical Corp. (Tacoma); Aluminum industry--Tacoma--1960-1970; Industrial facilities--Tacoma--1960-1970;

1967 Richards stock footage. Aerial view of Kaiser Aluminum plant featuring Kaiser Dome. Tankers brought alumina from Australia to be manufactured into aluminum. The finished product was then shipped out of Tacoma by water, highway, or rail. Thousands of tons of aluminum were processed each year at Kaiser Aluminum's Tideflats plant, about five miles north of downtown Tacoma. The dome in the center of this October 28, 1967, photograph was used to store ore. It, along with a later dome, was dismantled in March, 2005. Kaiser Aluminum, after reopening the Tacoma plant in 1964, finally closed its doors permanently in 2002. (Olsen: First 100 Years: Tacoma Beginnings, p. 115)

Aerial photographs; Kaiser Aluminum & Chemical Corp. (Tacoma); Aluminum industry--Tacoma--1960-1970; Storage tanks--Tacoma;

Publicity for Permanente News and Times Industrial Page, Permanente Metals, Bill Gorman. Two workmen move alumina into the reduction pots before closing the corrugated cover. Permanente produced more aluminum at this time than was produced by the entire industry in 1937, the third largest producer of aluminum in the nation. The average age of their employees was 35 years. The daily uses of aluminum were multiplying as manufacturers became acquainted with its lightness, strength, corrosion resistance, formability and appearance. (T.Times, 2/25/1949, p.36)

Permanente Metals Corp. (Tacoma)--Employees; Aluminum industry--Tacoma--1940-1950; Laborers--Tacoma--1940-1950;

Publicity for Permanente News and Times Industrial Page, Permanente Metals, Bill Gorman. One of the employees at Permanente Metals Corporation leans back with his feet up on a pull-out board on a desk to review a worksheet. Clip-boards, a calendar and a map hang on the wall behind him. He is wearing work boots and a hat while relaxing into this review.

Permanente Metals Corp. (Tacoma)--Employees; Aluminum industry--Tacoma--1940-1950; Laborers--Tacoma--1940-1950; Desks; Boots;

Her hair in disarray, a harried phone operator at Permanente Metals listens to one of many calls to the big plant at 3400 Taylor Way on February 9, 1949. Permanente, producers of Kaiser Aluminum, ran round-the-clock operations to keep up with the heavy demand by industry and the military for aluminum. Opened in Tacoma in 1947 as one of three big plants in Washington State, the company was the third largest producer of aluminum in the nation, exceeding over 20% of national production. (T.Times 2-25-49, p. 36-article)

Permanente Metals Corp. (Tacoma)--Employees; Aluminum industry--Tacoma--1940-1950; Telephone operators--Tacoma--1940-1950;

Kaiser aluminum was being produced in six plants: Baton Rouge, Louisiana; Tacoma, Washington; two plants in Spokane, Washington; Permanente, California; and Newark, Ohio. Kaiser was a major producer of aluminum in a growing industry. View of Permanente Metals crust breaker machine, this machine would work with molten aluminum or alumina during the time it is being reduced in huge furnaces or "pots" to obtain high purity aluminum.

Aluminum; Metalwork--Tacoma; Aluminum industry--Tacoma--1940-1950; Industrial facilities--Tacoma; Machinery; Equipment; Permanente Metals Corp. (Tacoma);

Permanente Metals, Mr. Love. Olin opened a plant at this location September 1942. In December 1946 the company was sold to Kaiser Aluminum who operated Permanente Metals. The Tacoma plant had its own aluminum reduction plant. Permanente produced "pig" aluminum that was transported to Kaiser plants in Trentwood, near Spokane, to be made into specific grades of aluminum by the addition of other metallic elements such as copper, zinc, silicon, magnesium, manganese, etc. Soda ash from California and alumina from Baton Rough were brought to Tacoma to produce the "pigs". (PMC Annual Report for 1948)

Permanente Metals Corp. (Tacoma)--Employees; Guards--Tacoma--1940-1950; Private police--Tacoma--1940-1950; Gates--Tacoma--1940-1950; Factories--Tacoma--1940-1950; Aluminum industry--Tacoma--1940-1950;

In June 1936 the Steel Workers Organizing Committee was formed, Phillip Murray, Vice-President of the United Mine Workers was appointed Chairman of the new committee. By the end of 1936 125,000 steel workers had joined the union. View of Permanente Metals employee working in plant, photo ordered by United Steel Workers of America.

Laborers--Tacoma; United Steel Workers of America Union Local No. 2626 (Tacoma); Aluminum industry--Tacoma--1940-1950; Industrial facilities--Tacoma; Labor unions--Tacoma; Permanente Metals Corp. (Tacoma)--Employees;

Girls from Catholic College visiting Permanente plant, Bill Gorman. Students watch while molten alumina is siphoned from a reduction cell into a large crucible at the Permanente plant. Tacoma Catholic College had purchased the former Weyerhaeuser mansion, Haddaway Hall at 4301 No. Stevens St., and converted it into a Junior College for Women.

Permanente Metals Corp. (Tacoma); Aluminum industry--Tacoma--1940-1950; Foundries--Tacoma--1940-1950; Laborers--Tacoma--1940-1950; Students--Tacoma--1940-1950;

View of Permanente Corporation's bowling team receiving their prizes, from Charles P. Love (left), General Superintendent of the company. Permanente's bowlers are being congratulated for a job well done. Permanente is a subsidiary of Kaiser Aluminum, they are an aluminum reduction plant that recently opened in Tacoma and have many other branches throughout the United States.

Bowlers--Tacoma; Bowling--Tacoma; Shaking hands--Tacoma; Awards; Aluminum industry--Tacoma--1940-1950; Permanente Metals Corp. (Tacoma)--Employees; Love, Charles P.;

Publicity shots at Permanente Metals, Bill Gorman. Three men are caught playing craps in the storage yard at Permanente Metals. A man using a piece of lumber as a club is coming up behind them. The dice are still in mid-air creating shadows in front of the man who has just released them. There's plenty of money on the play. Aluminum pigs are stacked up all around the players. TPL-4555

Permanente Metals Corp. (Tacoma)--Employees; Aluminum industry--Tacoma--1940-1950; Employees--Tacoma--1940-1950; Gambling--Tacoma--1940-1950;

Kaiser Aluminum & Chemical Corp. Pig aluminum, stacked and banded, is being loaded onto railroad cars for transportation to Kaiser's Trentwood, Wa. rolling mill to be made into a finished product. The Tacoma plant was an aluminum reduction facility. It produced the pig aluminum from treated ore. Each "pig" weighs 50 pounds and contains higher that 99% pure aluminum. The plant capacity in 1953 was 64 1/2 million pounds a year. (TNT 9/5/1955, pg. C-8)

Kaiser Aluminum & Chemical Corp. (Tacoma); Aluminum industry--Tacoma--1950-1960;

A sign attached to the piece of American Wheelabrator machinery gives warning to only load a maximum of 78 studs per cart at the Kaiser Aluminum plant. A Kaiser employee, properly complying with safety regulations, wears safety goggles and heavy gloves when working with the studs. This area of the massive Kaiser plant might have been known as "Davey's Salt Mine" as scrawled on another piece of machinery. Photograph ordered by American Wheelabrator & Equipment Corporation.

Machinery; Aluminum; Aluminum industry--Tacoma--1950-1960; American Wheelabrator & Equipment Corp. (Tacoma); Kaiser Aluminum & Chemical Corp. (Tacoma); Signs (Notices);

ca. 1956. Kaiser Aluminum plant. The Tacoma plant was located on the Tideflats, about 5 miles north of downtown Tacoma. Its proximity to the Bonneville Power Administration made it the perfect location for producing aluminum from ore by electrolysis. Dissolved in solution in long lines of reductions cells ("pots"), alumina is subjected to electrical current. Chemicals recombine, aluminum separates from its oxygen and settles as pure metal. Tacoma was part of a "mill to mill" operation, the alumina was shipped by rail in from Baton Rouge, La., and the finished aluminum was railed out to Kaiser's Trentwood rolling mill 300 miles to the East. (Kaiser Aluminum News, August 1956)

Kaiser Aluminum & Chemical Corp. (Tacoma); Aluminum industry--Tacoma--1950-1960;

ca. 1956. Kaiser Aluminum plant. The Tacoma plant was a reduction plant, where treated ore (alumina) was subjected to an electrical current, dividing the oxygen from the pure metal (aluminum.) The plant employed approximately 500 workers, who worked on a 24 hour, around the clock basis. Its payroll was over $2,000,000 a year, and it purchased more than $1,300,000 of Northwest materials, supplies and services in a year. It was part of the Kaiser Industries conglomerate founded by Henry J. Kaiser, a diverse group of businesses that included paving, dam construction, ship building, the production of aluminum, steel, cement and other building materials, automobile production and Kaiser foundation heath care. (Kaiser Aluminum News, August 1956 and "The Kaiser Story")

Kaiser Aluminum & Chemical Corp. (Tacoma); Aluminum industry--Tacoma--1950-1960;