A worker moves barrels with a dolly outside of Nalley's warehouses in Nalley Valley. Marcus Nalley began his one man operation in 1918; by the fifties his company was marketing 49 different products. In 1953, the company processed 10 million pounds of cucumbers into Nalley pickles and 11 million pounds of potatoes into potato chips. Their payroll and purchasing power helped fuel the Tacoma economy.

Food industry--Tacoma--1940-1950; Nalley's, Inc. (Tacoma);

A workman smooths the wet concrete between the concrete blocks in a newly laid wall. Ordered by Holroyd Company.

Concrete products industry--Tacoma; Holroyd Co. (Tacoma); Building materials; Concrete--Tacoma--1950-1960;

Ordered by Holroyd Company. A two-story, single-family residence has been built on a sloping lot with the lower story built of concrete block set into the hill side and a clapboard faced exterior above. A one-car garage extends from the lower level. Landscaping has been begun with a lawn and young tree planted in front.

Concrete products industry--Tacoma; Holroyd Co. (Tacoma); Houses--Tacoma--1950-1960; Building materials; Concrete--Tacoma--1950-1960;

Seven men are enjoying Alt Heidelberg at Columbia Breweries. They each hold a bottle of the beer bottled in a short-necked "stubby" bottle. An insignia hangs on the wall behind them for Columbia Beer. In 1950 the company launched an advertising campaign featuring the theme of "Brewed in Tacoma" to emphasize the fine beer available right in the home community.

Columbia Breweries, Inc. (Tacoma)--1950-1960; Brewing industry--Tacoma--1950-1960;

Mill at Summit. Two men working with portable log sawing machinery on wooded site in this photograph dated November 23, 1951. For Export Pacific.

Lumber industry--1950-1960;

Mill at Summit. Two men working with portable log sawing machinery on wooded site. Pile of sawdust in foreground. For Export Pacific. Photograph taken on November 23, 1951.

Lumber industry--1950-1960;

A young woman is seen using the film cabinets made from plywood at Central School. Shallow drawers hold small cans of film while larger motion picture cans are files on shelves behind her. Ordered by Douglas Fir Plywood Association.

Plywood; Douglas Fir Plywood Association (Tacoma); Central School (Tacoma); Audiovisual materials; Motion pictures;

Men are checking the conditions in the humidity chamber at the Douglas Fir plywood lab. A plywood board is filled with dials and levers for controling the conditions while performing tests on new products. Ordered by Douglas Fir Plywood Association.

Plywood; Douglas Fir Plywood Association (Tacoma); Testing--Tacoma; Product inspection--Tacoma; Lumber industry--Tacoma--1950-1960; Research facilities--Tacoma; Plywood Research Foundation (Tacoma);

A nearly demolished locomotive is seen at the Northern Pacific Railway yard.

Railroad locomotives--Tacoma--1950-1960; Railroad shops & yards--Tacoma; Northern Pacific Railway Co. (Tacoma);

Logs are being transformed into railroad ties for exporting in November, 1951. Men shown are feeding logs into a circular saw at a timbered site. The finished product, railroad ties, are shown stacked nearby. Photograph ordered by Export Pacific, Tacoma.

Railroad ties--Tacoma; Logs; Lumber industry--Tacoma--1950-1960; Saws; Export Pacific Co. (Tacoma);

Three men standing next to a half-circle laminator at Baker Dock adjust the clamps on wood curved in a semi-circle at the Martinac Shipbuilding Company's laminating operations. J.M. Martinac Shipbuilding was a well-known Tacoma business whose motto was "Martinac for Better Boats". Founded by Joseph M. Martinac, the company built a variety of boats ranging from pleasure craft to tuna boats.

Boat & ship industry--Tacoma--1950-1960; J.M. Martinac Shipbuilding Corp. (Tacoma); Baker Dock (Tacoma); Laminated wood; Machinery;

Scenic views from Eastern Washington. Fields of ripened wheat surround the farm buildings in this view of flat farm land in eastern Washington. High clouds spread across the sky.

Farms; Farmhouses; Farming; Croplands; Wheat; Clouds;

Directors' Meeting at Hooker Chemical Company on Halloween, 1950. Group of men including Tacoma executive staff standing on railroad tracks next to Hooker, Tacoma, tank car. This is probably at the Hooker Co. plant at 605 Alexander Ave. Not only did the company have a dock on the Hylebos Waterway but they also had a railroad spur running through the facility to make transport of Hooker chemicals easier and more efficient. Plant manager John D. Rue is extreme left in front row, sales manager Albert Hooker, Jr., is fifth from left in front and plant superintendent A.J. Rosengarth is on the extreme right, front row. This photograph appears in the book "Salt & Water, Power & People," a short history of the Hooker Electrochemical Co., and names of the individuals are listed within. (Thomas: Salt & Water, Power & People, p. 94) (Additional information provided by a reader)

Hooker Electrochemical Co. (Tacoma); Chemical industry--Tacoma--1950-1960; Meetings--Tacoma--1950-1960; Railroad tank cars--Tacoma--1950-1960; Rue, John D.; Hooker, Albert H.; Rosengarth, A.J.;

Dust collecting equipment at Tacoma Smelter. The steps taken in the production of copper and other metals at the American Smelting and Refining Company included crushing the raw materials that were delived to ASARCO by ship and by rail from all parts of the world. Following crushing the different types of concentrates and ores required for each refined metal were processed by Bedding and Roasting prior to Smelting. These processes were followed by Converting and Electrolytic Refining. Ordered by American Air Filter Company, c/o R.E. Chase & Company, Mr. Warren. (Tacoma Progress, June 1955)

American Smelting & Refining Co. (Tacoma); Smelters--Tacoma--1940-1950; Copper industry--Tacoma--1940-1950; Industrial facilities--Tacoma;

A small group of visitors stand in front of the Pennsylvania Salt Manufacturing Company of Washington's Taylor Way plant. Nearby is a tank used to contain liquid chlorine, one of Pennsalt's many chemical products. The company opened its doors for a celebration of its parent firm's 100th anniversary which included tours, demonstrations, and refreshments. (TNT 8-6-50, p. A-9)

Pennsylvania Salt Manufacturing Co. of Washington (Tacoma); Pennsalt (Tacoma); Chemical industry--Tacoma--1950-1960;

Logs are being prepared to be turned into plywood at the Puget Sound Plywood company's plant on East F Street. A new lathe was purchased in 1950 to apparently speed and modernize production. Puget Sound Plywood was Tacoma's first cooperative plywood plant, formed in 1942.

Puget Sound Plywood, Inc. (Tacoma); Logs; Lumber industry--Tacoma--1950-1960; Lathes; Machinery; Cooperatives--Tacoma;

This photograph showing the rear view of a Dodge truck displaying Nalley's products was taken on August 9, 1950. Nalley's Inc., had a large delivery fleet. The Fort Lewis sticker above the license plate on truck #184 indicates that this vehicle probably made deliveries of potato chips and other foods to the military base. Nalley's Inc., founded by Marcus Nalley in 1918, had a large factory built in 1940 on a 17 acre plot of land on the (then) outskirts of town. It became known as Nalley Valley. (History of Pierce County, Washington, Vol. 1, p. 448)

Nalley's, Inc. (Tacoma); Dodge trucks; Trucks--Tacoma--1950-1960; Signs (Notices);

A large delivery truck was parked outside the loading dock of the Tacoma Nalley's potato chip factory on August 5, 1950. Because the demand for potato chips was so high, a separate facility was built on Nalley's 15-acre tract on South Tacoma Way for the manufacture of potato chips. This plant building was also the home of one of Nalley's subsidiary companies, United Foods, Inc. Nalley's Inc. had its beginning in 1918 when Marcus Nalley started production of his by now famous Nalley's potato chips in his kitchen. By 1946, what was once a one-man operation covered the entire west coast . Production operations were located in Tacoma, Vancouver, B.C., and Spokane.

Nalley's, Inc. (Tacoma); United Foods, Inc. (Tacoma); Food industry--Tacoma--1950-1960; Potato chips;

Exterior view of Nalley's factory taken on September 1, 1950. This is a copy of an artwork print of Nalley's pickle department. Railroad tracks are visible through a grassy field.

Nalley's, Inc. (Tacoma);

Labor problems at American Smelter and Refining Company (ASARCO) led to a walkout by workers on November 3, 1950. The refinery workers felt overworked, underpaid, and unappreciated by management at the plant. Although the workers returned to work on Monday the 6th, there were new walkouts two days later and, on November 8th, management shut down the plant. The strike and lockout lasted until November 27th. The union voted 950 to 250 to accept a pay increase of 15 cents per hour and management began calling back workers. Ordered by the Tribune, Larry Shanklin. (TNT, 11/27/1950) TPL-7908

American Smelting & Refining Co. (Tacoma)--Employees; Demonstrations--Tacoma--1950-1960; Labor unrest--Tacoma--1950-1960; Strikes--Tacoma--1950-1960;

Exterior of building at Western Boat Building Company owned by the Petrich family. Boat building under construction in October of 1950. Ordered by Mr. Brian, Rainbow Contractors, Tacoma.

Boat & ship industry--Tacoma--1950-1960; Western Boat Building Co. (Tacoma);

Interior of building at Western Boat Building Company owned by the Petrich family. Boat building under construction. Ordered by Mr. Brian, Rainbow Contractors, Tacoma.

Boat & ship industry--Tacoma--1950-1960; Western Boat Building Co. (Tacoma);

Testing hardwood at the Plywood Research Foundation using testing equipment manufactured by The American Machine and Metals, Inc., in East Moline, Illinois. Ordered by Douglas Fir Plywood Association.

Plywood Research Foundation (Tacoma); Plywood; Research facilities--Tacoma; Lumber industry--Tacoma--1950-1960; Laboratories--Tacoma--1950-1960; Douglas Fir Plywood Association (Tacoma); Product inspection--Tacoma; Testing--Tacoma;

Three women work together at Washington Steel Products packaging small pieces of hardware in envelopes. The woman in the middle is stamping the envelopes with the name of the product. The woman on the left holds the open envelope at the end of a sloping sleeve ready to catch the pieces being loaded at the top of the sleeve by the woman on the right. Ordered by Douglas Fir Plywood Association.

Washington Steel Products, Inc. (Tacoma)--Employees; Plywood; Douglas Fir Plywood Association (Tacoma); Women--Tacoma--1950-1960;

Columbia Breweries, banquet at Wedgewood Room, Winthrop Hotel. The large room is filled with men and women seated at long tables on December 19, 1951. They are enjoying Alt Heidelberg from bottles. Columbia Breweries was well known for its special lager brew.

Brewing industry--Tacoma--1950-1960; Columbia Breweries, Inc. (Tacoma)--1950-1960; Banquets--Tacoma--1950-1960; Hotel Winthrop (Tacoma);

The exterior of the new, very long, two-story mill work plant in Mountlake Terrace. Asphalt paving leads to two large doors on right and a three-wheeled vehicle is sitting in front of the building. Ordered by Phares Advertising Agency, Seattle.

Building materials industry--Mountlake Terrace; Industrial facilities--Mountlake Terrace;

An elevated view of the hydraulic barking process in the wood room at the St. Regis Paper plant shows unbarked logs in the background just received from the log storage pond. Logs then pass through the hydraulic barker under 1,400-pound pressure from jets of water stripping the logs in a matter of seconds. A man is seen near the center of the photograph using a tool to remove a rough spot from the log where a limb protruded. The cleanly barked logs will move on at once to the chipper where the log will be cut into chips 3/4 inch long and 1/8 inch thick, ready to be put into digesters. (TNT, 2/17/1952; St. Regis Paper Co. 1951 Annual Report)

Paper industry--Tacoma--1950-1960; Mechanical systems--Tacoma; Machinery; St. Regis Paper Co. (Tacoma)--1950-1960;

A driver is leaning on the cab of a truck from Veneer Chip Transport waiting his turn to unload chips at St. Regis Paper Company's new chip receiving station, completed in 1951. In Tacoma's fiber conservation program, an increasing percentage of the sulphate pulp is manufactured from chips made out of waste wood formerly burned at local wood-using plants. A big 12-ton hoist is upending the detached carrier bed of another truck at a 58 degree tilt to unload wood chips quickly. This equipment unloads three cars an hour. (St. Regis Paper Co. 1951 Annual Report)

Paper industry--Tacoma--1950-1960; St. Regis Paper Co. (Tacoma)--1950-1960; Trucks--Tacoma--1950-1960; Veneer Chip Transport (Tacoma);

A view of trucks and the 12-ton hoist used to dump full loads of wood chips at the St. Regis Paper plant. The chips flow by gravity onto a conveyor belt into piles that stand 60 feet into the air by means of an elaborate four-way pneumatic system. Moving the mountains of chips had been systemized into a push-button operation to deliver chips onto the correct pile according to species of wood, pine, white fir, hemlock or Douglas fir.

Paper industry--Tacoma--1950-1960; St. Regis Paper Co. (Tacoma)--1950-1960; Trucks--Tacoma--1950-1960; Veneer Chip Transport (Tacoma);

This elevated view of the St. Regis Paper Company yard shows the drive for trucks bringing wood chips to the pulp and paper mill at the mouth of the Puyallup River. A truck pulling a loaded trailer is seen at the left while a truck cab is seen backed up to a tall crane lifting a trailer to empty the chips into a chute. A truck cab pulling an empty trailer can be seen leaving the area in the middle of the photograph. Large silos (there are seven all together) seen on the right store wood ships for St. Regis' hungry pulp mill. Chips are transferred to the silos from outdoor piles before they go the digester.

Paper industry--Tacoma; St. Regis Paper Co. (Tacoma)--1950-1960; Trucks--Tacoma--1950-1960;