Crust breaking machine at Permanente, Bill Gorman. A specialized machine has been manufactured to perform the work that had previously been done manually. A crust would form at the openings to the reduction pots where alumina was melted into raw pig aluminum. The plant had two potlines containing 240 reduction pots producing 41 million pounds of alumium per year. (Permanente Metals Corp. 1947-1948 Annual Report)

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

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 for Permanente News and Times Industrial Page, Permanente Metals, Bill Gorman. Travis Crowe, one of the storeroom attendants at Permanente Metals Corporation, readies a set of nuts and bolts for use on the aluminum furnaces at the Kaiser aluminum plant on the tideflats. A wall of bins holds all sized nuts and bolts in the storeroom. (T.Times, 2/25/1949, p.49)

Permanente Metals Corp. (Tacoma)--Employees; Aluminum industry--Tacoma--1940-1950; Crowe, Travis; Laborers--Tacoma--1940-1950; Bolts & nuts; Workshops--Tacoma--1940-1950;

There's nothing wrong with this chest, it's been x-rayed says Dave Schrader to Bill Courtney, employees at Permanente Metals Corp. As part of a U.S. Public Health Service campaign, all the employees at the Kaiser Aluminum plant in Tacoma received chest x-rays in 1949. In February of 1949, Permanente employed over 3,600 men in their three Washington plants with a combined payroll exceeding $12 million. (Publicity for Permanente News, and Times Industrial Page, Permanente Metals, Bill Gorman) (T.Times, 2/25/1949, p.37) TPL-3686

Permanente Metals Corp. (Tacoma)--Employees; Schrader, David A.; Courtney, William E.; Radiography; Health care--Tacoma--1940-1950;

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;

Interior at plant, Permanente Metals, Ted Schmidt. Interior view of the pot room, laborers are pouring the molten aluminum into a mold to form pigs. Pigs will weigh between fifty and one thousand pounds. The pigs are cooled, stacked on pallets and transported to the rolling mill at Trentwood, located near Spokane, Washington. The pigs from the Mead and Tacoma plant are later re-melted in furnaces where other metallic elements are added to form standard alloys (PMC Annual Report, 1947-1948).

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

Tacoma works rectifier station addition, Kaiser Aluminum. Other side of building with plant and yard on right, Dodge truck lower left. The plant underwent an expansion and modernization program, beginning in 1952, to increase production. Construction in the expansion program included an extension to the rectifier station building. The rectifier station is where power is converted from alternating to direct current.

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

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;

Permanente Metals of Tacoma was setting up a new metallurgical research lab, it was expected to be in full operation this fall. The Tacoma plant was one of the newest and most modern aluminum reduction plants in the country. The research facilities would serve the Tacoma and Spokane plants and would focus on aluminum reduction questions and research. Exterior view of Permanente Metals Corporation industrial plant (T. Times, 8/23/48, p. 5).

Industrial facilities--Tacoma; Research facilities--Tacoma; Railroad freight cars--Tacoma; Aluminum industry--Tacoma--1940-1950; Permanente Metals Corp. (Tacoma);

Permanente Metals approaching the end of their first year of operations in Tacoma, which proved to be quite successful. Permanente's new research lab will be looking for ways to improve uses of this lightweight metal, increase aluminum production and the development of new products and product applications. Exterior view of Permanente Metals Corporation, laborer in foreground is hauling aluminum pigs using a forklift, workmen are walking by in background (T. Times, 8/23/48, p. 5)

Industrial facilities--Tacoma; Laborers--Tacoma; Research facilities--Tacoma; Hoisting machinery; Aluminum industry--Tacoma--1940-1950; Permanente Metals Corp. (Tacoma);

Publicity shots at Permanente Metals, Bill Gorman. A view of one of the switchboard operators at the Permanente plant in Tacoma and the switchboard panel. She is wearing a headset to enable her to use both hands when operating the cords on the switchboard. A telephone dial is seen beyond her right arm and other office machinery is in the background. The young woman is wearing a two piece suit, a white blouse and a plaid scarf. Permanente acknowledged the high value of each employee in their annual reports. TPL-4555

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

Publicity shots at Permanente Metals, Bill Gorman. Two workmen from the Permanente plant stand side-by-side, the older man has his arm around the shoulder of a younger man. The older man is wearing coveralls, a heavy shirt and a hat. He has goggles hanging around his neck. The other, younger man is wearing a jacket, a plaid shirt, and a hat. They are both smiling. 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;

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;

Publicity shots at Permanente Metals, Bill Gorman. One of Permanente's employees sits at his desk checking lists of figures and order forms. A map of the United States hangs on the wall behind him. Clip boards of additional data also hang on the wall along with schedules. A telephone sits to his right on the desk. The man is wearing a sports jacket, a sweater vest and a tie. He also wears a large ring on his left hand. A pencil protrudes from his jacket pocket. TPL-4555

Permanente Metals Corp. (Tacoma)--Employees; Aluminum industry--Tacoma--1940-1950; Employees--Tacoma--1940-1950; Paperwork; Maps; Telephones;

Publicity shots at Permanente Metals, Bill Gorman. Two of the staff at Permanente are checking the pressure through a hose and narrow pipe on the arm of the young man in a chemical lab. Glass containers and tubing are set up on the counter in front of them. They both wear aprons with bibs. The woman has her goggles lifted up onto her forehead. TPL-4555

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

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;

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;

Girls from Catholic College visiting Permanente plant, Bill Gorman. Several students from the freshman chemistry class at Tacoma Catholic College watch as the white, powdery alumina is added to a reduction pot in preparation to being melted and poured into molds to form pig aluminum. This was the first step in creating the later stages of aluminum that would be used in making Kaiser aluminum products from roofing and siding to airplane parts, ice cube trays and pots and pans. (TNT, 3/1948)

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

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. Two men are having fun with a load of alumina, a fine white powder that is refined from alumium-bearing ore, bauxite. Bauxite was mined in South America, refined, using the Bayer process, in Baton Bouge and shipped by rail to the Pacific Northwest where it was converted into primary aluminum. Four pounds of bauxite were required to obtain two pounds of alumina shich yields one pound of aluminum. As of September 1948 nearly 500 boxcar loads of alumina per month were brought to Tacoma and Mead aluminum reduction plants, thereby becoming one of the largest users of boxcars in the Northwest.(Permanente Metals Corporation 1947-1948 Annual Report; T.Times, 9/6/1948, p.12)

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

Permanente. The white, powdery alumina was discharged from bins into electrolytic cells known as reduction pots where it was periodically stirred. After heating in the reduction pots the molten aluminum was siphoned from the pots into 1 1/2 ton ladles. The ladles would be transferred by crane to the end of the potroom buildings where the molten metal was poured into molds forming pigs weighing 50 to 1,000 pounds. (Permanente Metals Corporation 1947-1948 Annual Report) TPL-4541

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

Permanente Metals Tacoma plant was a modern aluminum reduction plant. The plant had two pot lines that produced about 42,000,000 pounds of aluminum per year. This plant was located in the Tide Flats area and was spread over 129 acres, the plant went into official production on October 31, 1947. View of Permanente employee using the time clock (T. Times, 10/31/47, p. 1).

Aluminum industry--Tacoma--1940-1950; Industrial facilities--Tacoma; Time; Time clocks; Permanente Metals Corp. (Tacoma)--Employees;

View of new pot line at the Tacoma reduction plant of the Permanente Metals Corp. It is the first reduction plant in the world to be thoroughly equipped with a scrubber system. This equipment is able to automatically wash away the fumes that are given off in the reduction process. The system consists of individual collectors connected to each pot and several washing stations. Permanente staff can be seen in the center area of the reduction plant.

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

Permanente Metals took over the Olin Aluminum facilities, that had shut down in November 1945, these facilities had not been in use until now. Kaiser bought the plant from the United States War Assets Administration, they then invested over one million dollars to modernize the plant. The Tacoma plant featured many self cleaning machines and a knowledgeable staff (T. Times, 10/31/47, p. 1).

Aluminum industry--Tacoma--1940-1950; Industrial facilities--Tacoma; Control rooms--Tacoma; Permanente Metals Corp. (Tacoma)--Employees;

Permanente would be producing 42,000,000 pounds of pure aluminum per year at the Tacoma plant. Tacoma's output will supplement the Mead Reduction plant near Spokane, Washington. Permanente Metals delayed their plant opening, until the newest generator of the Grand Coulee power plant was in operation. View of Permanente technicians checking equipment (T. Times, 10/31/47, p. 1).

Aluminum industry--Tacoma--1940-1950; Industrial facilities--Tacoma; Control rooms--Tacoma; Permanente Metals Corp. (Tacoma)--Employees;

Charles P. Love, General Superintendent of Permanente Metals, along with plant technicians activated the first pot line in Tacoma, making October 31, 1947 the first official day of operations. Other pot lines will be activated, once the plant can make certain everything is operating without problems. The plant is expected to be producing at full capacity by the end of November. View of plant technician checking dials and control system (T. Times, 10/31/47, p. 1).

Aluminum industry--Tacoma--1940-1950; Industrial facilities--Tacoma; Control rooms--Tacoma; Permanente Metals Corp. (Tacoma)--Employees;

The Pacific Northwest offered Permanente Metals, the producers of Kaiser aluminum, inexpensive hydro-electric power. In order to produce one pound of aluminum approximately 10 kilowatts of electricity is needed, therefore the Northwest is the ideal location for the Tacoma and Mead, near Spokane, plants. Interior view of the pot room, the white powdery substance is alumina, which is discharged into the reduction pots, the molten aluminum is siphoned from the pots into one and a half ton ladles (PMC Annual Report, 1947-1948).

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