Workers are laying plywood in apparent preparation for testing by the Douglas Fir Plywood Association's laboratory in March, 1954. Nearly all sections of plywood have been fastened with only a few sheets left to attach. Plywood was constantly being tested to assure consumers and the industry that all standards were being met.

Plywood; Douglas Fir Plywood Association (Tacoma); Testing--Tacoma; Product inspection--Tacoma;

A group of six men, two women and a little girl pose in front of the recently constructed USS Energy in preparation for its official launching on February 13, 1953. Four of the men are wearing naval uniforms; one woman is holding a large bouquet of roses. She may be the sponsor, Mrs. Alice McDonald Baughman of Seattle. Captain Clyde Jensen of the Bremerton Navy Yard was to give the principal address. The ship was built by the J.M. Martinac Shipbuilding Corporation, and was to be launched from the Bayview Shipyard. (TNT 2-1-53, B-2, TNT 2-14-53, p. 1)

Launchings--Tacoma--1950-1960; Boat & ship industry--Tacoma--1950-1960; J.M. Martinac Shipbuilding Corp. (Tacoma);

This exterior view of a St. Regis Paper Co. plant, possibly Tacoma's, was taken on July 3, 1953, at the request of the Johns-Manville Sales Corporation. Johns-Manville handled asbestos products; it could be that the exterior of the building has asbestos siding. Johns-Manville's Tacoma office was located at 680 E. 11th St. in the Tideflats area; they were a nationwide company established in the mid-1850's.

Johns-Manville Sales Corp.; St. Regis Paper Co.; Industrial facilities;

Exterior of industrial facilities. This is possibly the Tacoma location of St. Regis Paper Co. in a photograph taken on July 3, 1953. The multi-storied buildings appear to have siding rather than brick or concrete block. The photograph, one of several, was taken at the request of the Johns-Manville Sales Corporation which sold asbestos products. It is possible that the siding on the buildings had an asbestos content.

Johns-Manville Sales Corp.; St. Regis Paper Co.; Industrial facilities;

ca. 1953. A P & H crane operator maneuvers his winch to gather logs, possibly to drop them in the log storage pile beside him. This photograph was possibly taken in 1953, perhaps at one of St. Regis Paper Co.'s facilities. St. Regis had plants and mills all over the country, including the southern United States, as well as in Canada and South America.

Paper industry; Logs; Hoisting machinery;

Interior of St. Regis plant. The kraft and pulp mill in Jacksonville, Florida, started production in January, 1953. Corrugating and liner boards were part of its output. Skilled workers were needed to run and maintain the equipment; an employee is photographed in July, 1953, possibly oiling a piece of machinery. Huge cylinder-shaped structures, possibly holding tanks, surround the worker. Photograph ordered by Stebbins Engineering & Manufacturing Co.

St. Regis Paper Co. (Jacksonville, Fl.)--1950-1960; Industrial facilities--Jacksonville--1950-1960;

ca. 1953. An immense pile of logs, many feet higher than the sturdy Chevrolet and Ford trucks beside it, remains to be loaded for delivery to the Jacksonville, Florida, St. Regis Paper Co. plant in 1953. Workers have begun to stack the logs on truck beds. Unlike the Tacoma plant who utilized log dumps in the Milwaukee Waterway, the Florida plant apparently utilized a pulpwood storage yard at its new kraft mill. The barking plant handled up to 650 cords per day of pine logs from Florida and Georgia; these cords would be consumed by the mill in producing 300-400 tons of kraft paper or boards per day. (1953 St. Regis Annual Report, p. 11)

St. Regis Paper Co. (Jacksonville, Fl.)--1950-1960; Paper industry--Jacksonville--1950-1960; Logs; Chevrolet trucks; Ford trucks;

Interior view of St. Regis. This photograph, taken on July 3, 1953, is probably the interior of the Tacoma St. Regis plant. Production in the pulp and paper industry, of which St. Regis was a major player, hit a new high of over 26 million tons of paper and paperboard during 1953. St. Regis' mills and plants nationwide operated at or near full capacity. Sales increased 10% over 1952. Photograph ordered by Ederer Engineering Co. of Seattle, manufacturers of cranes and hoisting machinery. One of their cranes is apparently being readied to be utilized in moving large roll of possibly kraft paper. (1953 St. Regis Annual Report, p. 3)

St. Regis Paper Co. (Tacoma)--1950-1960; Paper industry--Tacoma--1950-1960; Industrial facilities--Tacoma--1950-1960; Hoisting machinery; Ederer Engineering Co. (Seattle);

A shirtless St. Regis Paper Co. employee clenches his gloved fists around the link belts dangling from the Yale Spur Geared Block while his co-worker stands to the rear keeping an eye on the chains. Although the men are wearing gloves and possibly steel-toed shoes, no other safety equipment appears present. Photograph was ordered by Yale & Towne Mfg. Co. and taken on June 27, 1953.

St. Regis Paper Co.; Hoisting machinery; Chains;

A Link Belt unit on wheels with Yale Spur Geared Block is being maneuvered by two employees of St. Regis Paper Co. on June 27, 1953. Each is holding onto the chains that suspend the long roller. Photograph ordered by Yale & Towne Mfg. Co.

St. Regis Paper Co.; Hoisting machinery; Chains;

The "Seaboard" pulls up next to a St. Regis Paper Co. plant, possibly located in Tacoma, in July, 1953. #1733 apparently has several tanks in tow. There are additional tanks, sans train, on an adjacent track. Photograph ordered by Johns-Manville Sales Corporation.

St. Regis Paper Co.; Railroads; Railroad tracks;

Interiors of A.M.S. #113 (minesweeper) built at Tacoma Boat Building. Pilot house. Portholes line the walls and the controls for maneuvering the vessel are at the right side of the picture. The 113 was scheduled to be the first of the 144 foot minesweepers to be delivered after outfitting at the Naval Station. The vessels would be delivered to foreign nations under the mutual aid program. The 113 was destined for the French Navy. (TNT 10/25/1953, pg. B-3)

Boat & ship industry--Tacoma--1950-1960; Tacoma Boat Building Co., Inc. (Tacoma); Warships--Tacoma--1950-1960;

Interiors of A.M.S. #113 (minesweeper) built at Tacoma Boat Building. Chief Petty Officers' stateroom. The officers' quarters were more spacious than the crew quarters and were designed to hold a smaller number of personnel. The 113 was the first of the 144 ft. minesweepers to be delivered after outfitting at the Naval Station. It was delivered to the French Navy, under the mutual aid program. (TNT 10/25/1953, pg. B-3)

Boat & ship industry--Tacoma--1950-1960; Tacoma Boat Building Co., Inc. (Tacoma); Warships--Tacoma--1950-1960; Crew quarters;

The Tacoma Boat Building Company, 132 Sitcum Waterway, launched two 57-foot minesweepers within minutes of each other on May 15, 1953, Armed Forces Day. The MSB-16 was sponsored by Carmen P. Smith of Seattle and the MSB-17 was sponsored by Mrs. E.A. Watson of Tacoma. MSB grade minesweeping boats did not receive names, they were referred to by their hull number. The Tacoma Boat Building Company received major contracts with the U.S. Navy and Coast Guard for over 40 years, building minesweepers, gunboats, and cutters. (TNT 5-17-53, B-7)

Launchings--Tacoma--1950-1960; Government vessels--Tacoma--1950-1960; Boat & ship industry--Tacoma--1950-1960; Tacoma Boat Building Co., Inc. (Tacoma);

Employees of the Washington Cooperative Farmers Association carefully monitor the pouring of bulk feed into the storage units at Ken Bergman's Poultry farm on May 13, 1953. Using Diamond T and other large trucks, the Farmers Association was able to make home deliveries of bulk feed, petroleum and gasoline to its members. Here the lid on one plywood unit is opened and feed is being siphoned from the truck's storage tank directly into the farm's silo. Photograph ordered by Tom Sias, Douglas Fir Plywood Association.

Washington Cooperative Farmers Association (Tacoma); Storage tanks; Shipping; Douglas Fir Plywood Association (Tacoma);

June was Dairy Month in the State of Washington and local businesses helped to advertise the virtues of drinking milk. A window display in the Sears, Roebuck store on June 8, 1953, was filled with photographs of cows, perhaps prize-winners, along with cut-outs of nature's "food factory" and a scale model of a dairy. Posters reminded passersby that dairy foods, including milk, cheese and ice cream, were "nature's goodness..at its best!" TPL-9371

Dairy products; Sears, Roebuck & Co. (Tacoma); Window displays--Tacoma--1950-1960; Signs (Notices); Advertisements--Tacoma;

Kaiser Aluminum Chemical Plant at Trentwood, near Spokane. Photographed is what was, in 1953, the world's largest aluminum plate stretcher. The giant stretcher allowed the company to produce enormous sizes of stretched plate for the aircraft, and other, industries. The Trentwood plant, at 53 acres, was the largest facility of its kind in the west.

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

St. Paul and Tacoma Lumber Company milled lumber used by 20th Century Construction Company in building DeLong School. Worker placing lumber on top of wood beams. Early construction phase.

Twenty logging trucks, photograph ordered by International Harvester. The trucks are fueled by propane and owned by Cotten Brothers in Spanaway, Washington. International Harvester sold and serviced large trucks. Here the trucks are posed in front of a large propane tank.

Trucks--Spanaway--1950-1960; Cotten Bros. (Spanaway); Lumber industry--Tacoma--1950-1960;

Ordered by International Harvester, a single logging truck. The truck is fueled by propane and owned by Cotten Brothers in Spanaway, Washington. The truck is posed in front of a large propane tank labelled "Propane, the modern motor fuel." The back portion of the truck where the logs are usually loaded has been unhooked and now sits on the bed of the truck. International Harvester sold and serviced large commercial trucks.

Trucks--Spanaway--1950-1960; Cotten Bros. (Spanaway); Lumber industry--Tacoma--1950-1960;

Hooker Electrochemical Company. Railroad barge and tug. Barge owned by Griffco loaded with Hooker chemical tanks. Tug "Mogul" out of Vancouver, B.C. in foreground. Railroad yard, shacks, waterway, roads, and bridges appear in background.

Chemical industry--Tacoma--1950-1960; Hooker Electrochemical Co. (Tacoma); Barges; Shipping--Tacoma--1950-1960;

Kaiser Aluminum used models to demonstrate safety programs. The model pictured in this November 18, 1955, photograph is wearing a hard hat but otherwise is barefoot and dressed only in a two-piece bathing suit. She is grasping a long metal apparatus which may have been used as a raking tool. Photograph ordered by Kaiser Aluminum.

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

ca. 1955. Two tall brick storage tanks appear as stark monoliths against the hazy blue skies in Acme, North Carolina. These were part of the Riegel Carolina Paper Co.'s plant. Railroad cars are in the photo's background; Riegel Paper apparently had easy rail access for transporting their paper products. Photograph ordered by Stebbins Engineering & Manufacturing Co., Seattle.

Riegel Carolina (Acme, N.C.); Paper industry--North Carolina--Acme; Industrial facilities--North Carolina--Acme; Storage tanks; Stebbins Engineering & Manufacturing Co. (Seattle);

Two employees of the U.S. Plywood Corporation examine sheets of plywood in their Seattle plant on January 6, 1956. They were manufacturers of the "Weldwood" brand of Douglas fir plywood. U.S. Plywood had two locations in Seattle including a lumber division on E. Marginal Way. It also had plants in Mapleton, Oregon, and a 60 million foot capacity mill in Anderson, California. By 1954, with the addition of Associated Plywood Mills' two holdings, U.S. Plywood was capable of 342 million feet annually. (Cour: Plywood Age, p. 158-59)

Plywood; Lumber industry--Seattle--1950-1960; United States Plywood Corp. (Seattle);

Company officials and contractors stand in front of a sign welcoming Reichhold Chemicals, Inc.'s Tacoma plant on February 15, 1956. Reichhold were manufacturers of chemicals for Pacific Northwest industries. In the background is the first train to run on a new railroad spur into Tacoma from the chemical plant. Those in the photograph are: Richard Rose, Tacoma representative for Reichhold, Ernie Skyeta, general manager of the Northwest Division of Reichhold, Harold Warner, Seattle plant manager in charge of construction, and Ed Ekrem, general contractor. Photograph ordered by Reichhold Chemicals, Inc.

Reichhold Chemicals, Inc. (Tacoma); Railroad locomotives--Tacoma--1950-1960; Signs (Notices);

Ordered by the Douglas Fir Plywood Association; plywood being used in the construction of a commercial "chicken house." Plywood is being attached to the exterior of the beams to form the curved roof of the chicken house. The entrance area and a ventilation window can be seen. This is the back of the house. This is possibly the Fife farm of the Guy Conine family. The family raised poultry in three chicken houses, one conventional and two of the quonset hut design. They raised Van Tress hybrid crosses, Washington Whites and Lancaster Whites. The laminated beam construction of the two quonset hut variety eliminated the need for posts for support. All feeding and watering was automatic. (TNT 10/28/1956, pg. B-6)

Plywood; Construction; Poultry houses; Poultry industry;

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;

The busy mail room of the Douglas Fir Plywood Association. A large mailer is being prepared. Some women fold the materials to be mailed and others stuff the envelopes. One of the jobs of the association was the promotion of the plywood product and the industry itself. One of the association's main sources of self promotion was the U.S. mail and the company maintained a large mail room to meet its demands.

Douglas Fir Plywood Association (Tacoma); Offices--Tacoma--1950-1960; Office workers--Tacoma--1950-1960; Correspondence;

Cheney Lumber Co.; packages of two by four "Cheney Studs" being readied for shipment in the railroad cars behind. Ben Cheney got his start in the lumber business in 1936 during the depression. By the late 1930's, he was supplying railroad ties nationally and internationally. Cheney was wholesaling the production of 140 portable mills throughout the northwest, selling their ties on a commission basis. As timber became more difficult to obtain cheaply, he became concerned over the side-cut slab wastage, often 2/3 of the log. He came up with the idea of supplying the housing market with standard 8 foot studding, the same length as railroad ties were cut. He even obtained a lower transportation cost from the Interstate Commerce Commission, making production even more economical. Cheney renamed the "shorts," as these 8 foot pieces had been called, "Cheney Studs." Studs became the standard in the building trade and Cheney is credited with standardizing the roof height in US residential construction. ("The Sou'wester" Volume xxxv, Number 3, Fall 2000)

Lumber industry--Tacoma--1950-1960; Lumberyards--Tacoma; Lumber--Tacoma; Building materials industry--Tacoma--1950-1960; Cheney Lumber Co. (Tacoma); Shipping--Tacoma--1950-1960;