A man believed to be Arthur E. Gruhl, technician at the Fir Door Institute, tests a full sized door at the Plywood Research Foundation laboratory in September, 1951. Douglas Fir plywood was constantly being tested for durability and to maintain high standards of quality production. The Douglas Fir Plywood Association, based in Tacoma, set up the Plywood Research Foundation as an industry maintained quality control laboratory.
Plywood Research Foundation (Tacoma); Plywood; Doors & doorways--Tacoma; Lumber industry--Tacoma--1950-1960; Laboratories--Tacoma--1950-1960; Product inspection--Tacoma; Testing--Tacoma--1950-1960;
A St. Paul & Tacoma Lumber Company employee checks his inventory sheet of wooden gutters which are being prepared for shipment in August, 1951. The gutters will be hoisted on board a vessel at the St. Paul & Tacoma dock. St. Paul not only shipped finished gutters but squared off lumber and plywood as well.
St. Paul & Tacoma Lumber Co. (Tacoma); Lumber industry--Tacoma--1950-1960; Gutters (Roofs)--Tacoma;
The exterior of the Georgia Pacific Plywood Company building in Olympia, Washington. The two-story building with a flat roof reflects 1950's styling and architecture. A smoke stack with the letters "GP" on it can be seen on the left.
Douglas Fir Plywood Association (Tacoma); Georgia Pacific Plywood Co. (Olympia);
A stark office in the Georgia Pacific Plywood Company building in Olympia provides desks and equipment for fourteen people. Each desk has been provided with a calculator in the middle of the desk with a waste can to catch the tape as it runs from the machine. Telephones are seen on a few of the desks and most of them also have a typewriter on a pull-out shelf on the left. Florescent lighting provides a bright overhead light. Companies were attempting to apply assembly-line techniques to office work.
Douglas Fir Plywood Association (Tacoma); Georgia Pacific Plywood Co. (Olympia); Offices--Olympia;
Tacoma was the nation's leader in the plywood industry. Douglas Fir Plywood Association and the Plywood Research Foundation were working on developing new and additional products that could be manufactured from parts of the tree not already being utilized. View of two unidentified DFPA representatives at the annual DFPA conference, being held at the Winthrop Hotel; conference welcome sign in background.
Lumber industry--Tacoma--1940-1950; Business people--Tacoma--1940-1950; Meetings--Tacoma--1940-1950; Signs (Notices); Plywood; Hotel Winthrop (Tacoma); Douglas Fir Plywood Association (Tacoma);
Exterior Cheney Lumber. Neatly stacked piles of logs are separated from sections of plywood by railroad tracks at the Cheney Lumber Co. lumberyard at the Port of Tacoma. The Cheney Lumber Co. was owned and operated by Ben Cheney. Founded in 1936, the company was established originally to manufacture railroad ties. Cheney developed the 8' Cheney Studs which were heavily in demand in the building industry. His logo of a horse was stamped on each stud produced. Photograph ordered by Cheney Lumber Co.
Interior views of Anacortes hardboard plant. An Anacortes Veneer, Inc., worker appears almost dwarfed by the enormous machinery before him as he inspects gauges in the plywood plant on December 29, 1955. Anacortes Veneer was only the second worker-owned venture in the industry, following the example of Olympia Veneer. More workers would become owners in the near future. Photograph ordered by Douglas Fir Plywood Association.
Machinery; Lumber industry--Anacortes; Anacortes Veneer, Inc. (Anacortes); Douglas Fir Plywood Association (Tacoma);
Interiors hardboard plant in Anacortes. Sheets of veneer are stacked upright at the Anacortes Veneer plant on December 29, 1955. The plywood on carts would then be easily transported via tracks. Anacortes Veneer was the second worker-owned in the lumber industry, after Olympia Veneer in 1927, and after much trial and tribulation, peeled its first log on November 27, 1939. Photograph ordered by Douglas Fir Plywood Association. (Cour: The Plywood Age, p. 123-127)
Plywood; Lumber industry--Anacortes; Anacortes Veneer, Inc. (Anacortes); Douglas Fir Plywood Association (Tacoma);
Interior views of U.S. Plywood plant. Full sheets of plywood are being roughly sanded at the Seattle plant of U.S. Plywood in early January, 1956. One man carefully turns the wheels controlling the machine as the second man, standing at one end, removes the smoother sheet. See also D95927-3 for additional view. Photograph ordered by U.S. Plywood Corporation.
Plywood; Lumber industry--Seattle--1950-1960; United States Plywood Corp. (Seattle);
Aerial view of the Cheney Lumber Co. at the Port of Tacoma. Lumber is stacked for shipment in the railroad cars at the back of the picture. Log booms float in the water. Ben Cheney started in the lumber business with the production of railroad ties. Soon Cheney was concerned with the waste of the side cut slabs, often 2/3 of the log. His solution was to provide the housing industry with standard 8 ft studding, the same length as railroad ties. Production took off and the new product soon established the standard room height in residential construction in the U.S. by using formerly wasted timber. The 8 ft pieces, formerly known as "shorts" in the lumber trade, were now "Cheney Studs" emblazoned with the logo of a silhouette of a Belgian stud horse Cheney had seen at the Puyallup Fair. ("The Sou'wester" Fall, 2000; Volume xxxv, Number 3) TPL-6329
In April of 1956, workers at the Cheney Lumber Co. prepared packages of two by four "Cheney Studs" for shipment in the railroad cars behind. In the late 1930's, as timber became more difficult to obtain cheaply, Ben Cheney became concerned over the side-cut slab wastage, often 2/3 of the log, in the production of railroad ties. He came up with the idea of supplying the housing market with standard 8 foot studding, the same length as railroad ties were cut. At that time, ceilings were often 8 1/2 - 12 feet. A skilled marketer, Cheney renamed the "shorts," as these 8 foot pieces had been called, "Cheney Studs." The horse logo was based on a Belgian stud horse he had seen at the Puyallup Fair and the 2x4 ends were painted with bright red wax for instant identification. Cheney is credited with standardizing the room height in US residential construction. ("The Sou'wester" Volume xxxv, Number 3, Fall 2000)
Cheney Lumber Company's booth at the 1956 Home Show. Each year the Greater Tacoma Home Show filled the College of Puget Sound fieldhouse with company sponsored booths, highlighting topics of interest to home owners. Hung behind this booth is a photo collage of the lumber industry. Below the collage is a model of one of Cheney's lumberyards. (See D99015 image 1 for a closer view of the model.) To the left of the booth is a display of Cheney sponsored sports teams for kids, utilizing photographs and trophies. A young Cheney midget league footballer watches the demonstration. Each year, Ben Cheney sponsored amateur athletic teams; keeping money from being an obstacle between kids and sports. Cheney teams played football, baseball and basketball.
Lumber industry--Tacoma--1950-1960; Lumberyards--Tacoma; Lumber--Tacoma; Building materials industry--Tacoma--1950-1960; Cheney Lumber Co. (Tacoma); Greater Tacoma Home Show (Tacoma);
View of new hangar at South Tacoma Airport on January 10, 1958, shows how plywood was heavily utilized. The narrow, slightly bent pieces of plywood above the plywood forms are box beams. They were probably put together at Weber Lumber Co. a few days before. These are believed to be some of the ten new "T" hangars built by C.E. Munson, contractor. Planes would be hangared five to a side. Photograph ordered by Douglas Fir Plywood Association. (TNT 2-2-58, A-14)
Plywood; Hangars--Tacoma; Douglas Fir Plywood Association (Tacoma);
Box beams are being erected in the new hangar at South Tacoma Airport on January 10, 1958. These plywood products were probably constructed at Weber Lumber Co. A small lifting machine has hoisted a box beam while three workers maneuver it into place. Photograph ordered by Douglas Fir Plywood Association.
Plywood; Hoisting machinery; Douglas Fir Plywood Association (Tacoma);
Scenes from Potlatch Forests, Inc., pulp and paper operations, Lewiston, Idaho. Aerial view of what is probably the massive Potlatch Forests, Inc., plant in Lewiston, Idaho, taken in late September-early October, 1964. Plant operations were situated in what appears to be a sparsely populated area. Potlatch products could be conveyed by water, road, and railroad to customers nationwide. Photograph ordered by Malcolm McGhie, industrial consultant, New York, for inclusion in the company's annual report.
Lumber industry--Idaho--1960-1970; Paper industry--Idaho--1960-1970; Industrial facilities--Idaho; Aerial photographs;
Man in hard hat inspects stacked logs that have labeled in this July, 1964, photograph. The logs are more than twice his height. It was possibly taken in the Olympic Peninsula since other photographs were taken in the Grays Harbor area roughly the same time for Malcolm McGhie, industrial consultant from New York.
Scenes from Potlatch Forests, Inc., pulp and paper operations, Lewiston, Idaho. Warehouse employees in the foreground are busy packing loads of Clearwater facial tissue into cardboard boxes in the fall of 1964. The small boxes of tissues pass through a conveyer belt onto a rectangular table for shipping. A tall stack of boxes containing Clearwater toilet paper is nearby. Photograph ordered by Malcolm McGhie, industrial consultant, New York, for inclusion in Potlatch Forests' annual report.
Lumber industry--Idaho--1960-1970; Paper industry--Idaho--1960-1970; Warehouses--Idaho--Lewiston; Potlatch Forests, Inc. (Lewiston, ID);
Man in hard hat surveys stand of tall trees. This photograph was taken on Potlatch Forests property in the Lewiston, Idaho, area, for possible inclusion in the company's annual report. Photograph ordered by Malcolm McGhie, industrial consultant, New York.
Lumber industry--Idaho--1960-1970; Potlatch Forests, Inc. (Lewiston, ID); Trees;
Members of Douglas Fir Plywood Association chuckle over results of the golf tournament held as part of their 22nd annual meeting in June, 1958. It may be that one player has lost a wager; he is shown with a dollar bill in his hand. The D.F.P.A. met in Gearhart, Oregon, that year. Photograph ordered by Douglas Fir Plywood Association.
Douglas Fir Plywood Association (Tacoma); Golf--Oregon--Gearhart;
Plywood is being laid on this large roof in a May 16, 1958, photograph. One worker is observed with his back to the camera; he is standing on a portion of the roof which has a plywood sheet partially covering it. Long planks of wood are placed horizontally over the roofline. Photograph ordered by Douglas Fir Plywood Association.
Plywood; Building construction; Douglas Fir Plywood Association (Tacoma);
Timber! A logger watches as a tall tree makes its slow descent to the ground in a September, 1958, photograph. Limbs may already have been pruned before the tree was toppled. Stumps and tree debris indicate that logging has already occurred in this area. Photograph ordered by Malcolm McGhie, industrial consultant. TPL-9430
Improved machinery helped workers in more efficient harvesting of designated logs. Cable lines attached to the rear of a bulldozer haul away two smaller logs. Another log waits its turn to be removed. The bulldozer would also serve as an earth remover to clear paths in the forest. Photograph ordered by Malcolm McGhie, industrial consultant. TPL-9429
ca. 1959. Logging on the Olympic Peninsula, ordered by Malcolm McGhie for Rayonier Inc. A faller completes the undercut on a large cedar tree in the Crane Creek logging area. In Washington during the late 50's, Rayonier would cut and haul more than 240 million board feet of logs a year. TPL-9431
Lumber industry--Grays Harbor--1950-1960; Trees; Logs; Rayonier, Inc. (Grays Harbor);
Logging on the Olympic Peninsula, ordered by Malcolm McGhie for Rayonier. In Washington during the late fifties, Rayonier Inc and its logging contractors would cut and haul more than 240,000,000 board feet of logs a year. Here logs are being moved from a logging truck to a railway car where they will be shipped to the company's mill over their own logging railway. A large wood frame holds a series of steel cord and grapplers that lift the logs, they then are moved by pulleys to the area over the railroad car and loaded. (Rayonier Annual Report for 1959)
ca. 1960. Man stares at log probably retrieved from log pond below in this ca. 1960 photograph. The outer bark appears to have been shredded in spots. Another man is maneuvering a log in the pond with a long pole.
ca. 1956. Port McNeil, logging. This is possibly a company home provided for management. It is larger and more ornate than those provided for the workers. The window boxes bloom with flowers and the yard is surrounded by a white board fence. The poles sticking up from the beach area are possible oyster beds.
ca. 1956. Alaska Pine, Rayflo plant at Marpole. Experimentation was an important part of research at Rayonier and its Canadian subsidiary Alaska Pine. Cellulose and timber production produced a large amount of wasted byproducts which the company felt could be developed into the products of the future. Rayflo was one of these products; developed only a few years prior, it was in high demand in the oil industry and being studied for use in the manufacture of ceramics. (Rayonier's annual report for 1956)
Lumber industry--British Columbia--1950-1960; Trees; Logs; Chemical industry--British Columbia--1950-1960; Alaska Pine & Cellulose Limited (Vancouver B.C.);
ca. 1956. Alaska Pine; Rayflo plant at Marpole. Alaska Pine, a Canadian subsidiary of Rayonier Inc., had a research center in its Vancouver B.C. offices. It was used to quality control test the cellulose and the products manufactured from it. They also experimented with the residue from the process, searching for new products. The new lab facilities in Vancouver were completed in 1954. More money was being invested in research, in hopes of creating new products and more company growth.
Lumber industry--British Columbia--1950-1960; Trees; Logs; Chemical industry--British Columbia--1950-1960; Alaska Pine & Cellulose Limited (Vancouver B.C.);
ca. 1956. Alaska Pine, sawmill plant at New Westminster, B.C. Alaska Pine had large modern sawmills at the Marpole (Vancouver) and New Westminster Sawmill Divisions. The combined daily capacity of both mills was a million board feet of lumber. This is the paved yard for intermediate lumber storage at Westminster. Some 10,000,000 board feet of material were held here. 49 % of Alaska Pine production consists of Western hemlock, 31% red cedar, 14% Douglas fir and the remainder Sitka spruce, white pine and yellow cypress. The mills produced a variety of products for wholesale markets sold in the U.S. and Canada. (Rayonier's annual report for 1956)
ca. 1956. Alaska Pine, Marpole Division sawmill plant, Vancouver B.C. A fork lift is being used to lift a large load of lumber. The Canadian mills produced a broad range of commercial lumber products in Douglas fir, balsam fir, western hemlock, Sitka spruce and red cedar. They sold to markets in the United States, Canada and other countries under the brand "A Crown P. " (Rayonier's annual report for 1956)
