In August of 1948, an unidentified employee of the I.W. Johnson Engineering Company, 601 East 11th Street, was photographed standing next to a new ban resaw built by the company. For approximately 40 years the I.W. Johnson Engineering Company designed and built sawmill equipment and machinery for any size business in the lumber industry. Under Irvin W. Johnson, the company had a long successful history of working with the leading lumber companies of Tacoma. Mr. Johnson died in 1973 at the age of 92; he had lived in Tacoma for over 40 years.
New machinery at Titus Manufacturing Company, Mr. Leon Titus. Workmen are rebuilding carburetors. Three young men stand around a large work table while another stands by open tanks of solvents.
New machinery at Titus Manufacturing Company, Mr. Leon Titus. Workmen are inspecting stripped down Ford "flathead" V8 engine blocks for defects prior to rebuilding.
New machinery at Titus Manufacturing Company, Mr. Leon Ritus. Workmen are assembling rebuilt Ford "flathead" V8 engines. A counter made up of rollers moves the engines easily from one work station to the next.
Tacoma Vocational School began on October 1, 1940 when a Public Works Administration grant of $40,000 was combined with a $175,000 worth of federally supplied tools and machinery. The school is expected to be a big success, with classrooms already filled with students and a waiting list of interested students for the next school year. View of two unidentified students working in the machine shop at Tacoma Vocational School (T.N.T., 5/1/49, p. 1, B-1). TPL-8333
New machinery at Titus Manufacturing Company, Mr. Leon Titus. Workmen are seen in this July, 1949, photograph at well-lit benches with assorted parts for Ford "flathead" V8 engines, including fuel pumps, water pumps and carburetors.
New machinery at Titus Manufacturing Company, Mr. Leon Titus. A workman uses an air tool to install valves in Ford "flathead" V8 engine blocks during rebuilding. Several engines are lined up along the conveyor system.
Taken in January of 1949, this photograph of N.O. Johnson was taken at Standard Brands, Inc. in Sumner where Mr. Johnson, a machinist specialist, had been employed for 36 years. N. O. Johnson was born in New York City in 1889, he came to Sumner in 1912 and decided he wanted to stay. Johnson arrived with a marine engineer's license, and spent one year at sea before settling down in Sumner. Standard Brands manufactured yeast and vinegar. Photo ordered for the Sunday Tacoma Times 25 Year Club. (T. Times, 1/6/49, p. 4).
Machinery industry--Sumner; Machinery; Equipment; Laborers--Sumner; Industrial facilities--Sumner; Johnson, N. O.; Standard Brands, Inc. (Sumner);
Hooker Electrochemical Co. was focusing on post war prospects which included an increase in funding for the development and research department. This department was concentrating on projects for the further diversification of their chemical products, as well as, looking at the expansion of sales and broadening of markets. The research department was an invaluable component of the company. Interior view of plant.
Machinery; Equipment; Chemical industry--Tacoma--1940-1950; Industrial facilities--Tacoma; Hooker Electrochemical Co. (Tacoma);
Globe Machine Company was working with Weyerhaeuser Lumber Company to develop a log barker. The log barker would remove the bark using compression and shearing action, leaving the log free from bark without cutting into the outer sapwood. The machine would have rotating wheels that would guide the logs through and the de-barking was taking place. With this new machine, average de-barking time for an 8 foot long, 40 inch diameter log would be: one and three quarter minutes long. Interior view of plant with de-barking machine (T. Times, 12/15/47, p. 10).
View of taping machine manufactured by Globe Machine; photograph ordered by Earl Sutton. Globe Machine Manufacturing Co. were manufacturers of veneer, plywood and woodworking machinery. The company was located at 301 East 11th Street. According to the 1951 City Directory, Calvin D. Bamford was listed as Secretary-Treasurer of the firm. He was listed as president by the time of the 1953 City Directory. The firm was listed in the City Directory from 1929 to 1988.
A front-on view of a hydraulic press manufactured by Washington Steel & Welding Company. The company advertised their work as welding and steel fabricating, steel ship building, and steel tanks. Their president was A.E. McIntosh. R.B VanDeMark served as secretary-treasurer. They were located at 701 East D Street.
Machinery; Steel industry--Tacoma; Welding--Tacoma; Washington Steel & Welding Co. (Tacoma);
Views of the plant at Hudson Machinery Company, Inc. Hudson Machinery were dealers in machinery located at Townsend at Minneapolis, Tacoma Tideflats. Frank C. Hamprecht was president and Walter E. Liggett was secretary-treasurer.Long metal rods occupy most of this picture with rolled up chains lying to the right.
Hudson Machinery Company, Inc. (Tacoma); Warehouses--Tacoma--1950-1960; Machinery; Machinery Industry--Tacoma--1950-1960;
Exposure of wood working equipment for auction at Wheeler-Osgood Sash & Door Co. liquidation. The company was once known as the world's largest manufacturer of wooden doors. The door making factory opened in 1889 and went out of business in 1952. In later years, the company was plagued by labor troubles and reorganizations and was finally closed by a strike the fall prior to its liquidation sale. The building itself burned down in July of 1959. (TNT 2-26-1952, pg. 1)
Exposure of wood working equipment for auction at Wheeler-Osgood Sash & Door Co. liquidation. The big plant on Saint Paul Ave, at one time the world's largest manufacturer of doors, was sold in Sept. by decision of the stockholders to interests represented by two attorneys, Archie Blair of Tacoma & J.A. Pritzker of Chicago. The sale included not only the Tacoma plant, but its interest in Myrtle Creek, Ore. and San Francisco. In October, Paul W. Billings was elected President of the company and authorized to complete the sale and accumulate funds for stockholders, at a reported ratio of $14.00 per share. (TNT 2-26-1952, pg. 1)
A series of photographs were taken on February 28, 1957, at an unidentified laboratory involving product testing. This technician appears to be monitoring the strength of note-size paper using the Elmendorf Paper Tester. Manufactured by the Thwing Instrument Co. of Philadelphia, the arrow on the paper tester is pointing at 30 on the scale. Photograph ordered by Merchandising Factors, Seattle.
Machinery; Testing; Measuring; Paper products; Merchandising Factors, Inc. (Seattle);
Western Gear Corporation of Seattle installed new machinery at St. Regis Paper Co. Tacoma plant on October 13, 1961. View of machine with mountain of pulp-mill chips in background. The kraft mill stored outdoors piles of the chips, most of them purchased from local plywood and sawmills.
Machinery; Western Gear Corp. (Seattle); St. Regis Paper Co. (Tacoma)--1960-1970; Paper industry--Tacoma--1960-1970;
Northwest Syndicate Inc. was an electrical equipment manufacturing company located at 1321 A Street in downtown Tacoma. George F. Russell was the company's President and Julius W. Mann was the Vice-President. View of men looking at a 15 foot long by 5 foot high machine at Northwest Syndicate Inc. facilities; photo ordered by B. F. Goodrich Company in Seattle, Washington.
Machinery; Machinery industry--Tacoma--1940-1950; Industrial facilities--Tacoma; Laborers--Tacoma; Northwest Syndicate, Inc. (Tacoma);
Truck hauling large machine, designed and manufactured by I. W. Johnson Engineering Company. The machine is possibly a wood chipping machine or a log debarking machine, Northwest Machine Works building in background. I. W. Johnson machines could be found in the lumber mills and plants throughout Tacoma and other Pacific Northwest towns and cities, the machines were custom built to fit your company's needs.
Machinery industry--Tacoma--1940-1950; Machinery; Trucks--Tacoma--1940-1950; Engineering--Tacoma; Industrial facilities--Tacoma; I.W. Johnson Engineering Co. (Tacoma); Northwest Machine Works (Tacoma);
Studio set-up of hydraulic shear testing machine. Ordered by Globe Machine, Mr. Sutton. Globe Machine manufactured veneer, plywood and woodworking machinery. They were located at 301 East 11th Street. Calvin D. Bamford was president, Stuart Bryan was vice president, secretary and treasurer for the company at this time.
Pacific Iron and Steel Works, Joseph E. Lansburg, 1602 Canal St. (now Portland Ave.) Manufacturing plant interior. Machinery stands ready in a spacious workshop. Large windows line the wall at one side.
Machine shops--Tacoma--1940-1950; Pacific Iron & Steel Works (Tacoma);
A. H. Cox & Co. at St. Paul & Tacoma Lumber Co. logging operation at Puyallup. The first meeting of the stockholders of the St. Paul & Tacoma Lumber Co. took place on June 4, 1888. The first official officers were appointed at that time. View of five laborers in front of the Ollin-Chalmers machine.
Machinery; Laborers--Puyallup; Lumber industry--Tacoma--1940-1950; Food; St. Paul & Tacoma Lumber Co. (Tacoma); Loggers;
Globe Machine Company manufactured modern machines for Western Washington. Jesse Bamford was the President and Calvin D. Bamford was the Secretary-Treasurer of the company. View of machinery designed and manufactured by Globe.
South Tacoma Welding. Several men are setting a double pole with the help of two trucks with pole-setting rigs/cranes on their flat beds. One of the men is standing up in the rigging.
Atlas Foundry was giving over 100 Purchasing Agent's Association members a tour of their facilities. The tour would show the complete cycle machinery manufacturing and producing goes through. It started in the drawing room, followed by the pattern shop, brass foundry, steel foundry, cleaning department, sand laboratory and ended with the finished product. View of men looking at finished machinery pieces (T. Times, 2/19/47, p. 7).
