Pacific Boat. The hull of a new motor/pleasure boat is laid out on supports in the boat building facility. The new aluminum boats were to be the "Ford" of the boat industry. Bob Breskovich indicated he planned to produce 1,000 or more of these in 1948. Several models were planned running from the simple fisherman's model, consisting of two seats converting into a double bunk, a canopy and an open back, to a deluxe model with an all enclosed cabin. (TNT, 12/10/1947)
Pacific Boat Building Co. (Tacoma); Puget Sound Boat Building Corp. (Tacoma); Boat & ship industry--Tacoma--1940-1950; Yachts--Tacoma--1940-1950;
Special order for special edition, Studio, by Tacoma Times, George Beckingham. Two men are reviewing the quality of the ground material being loaded onto a railroad freight car at the General Mills-Sperry plant. The mill produced all white flours, whole wheat, pancake and cake flours, cereals and mixed feed.
Tomato packing machine, machine for making card board containers, Mutual Fruit Company, Union Pacific Freight Terminal, Les Crawford. One man watches to be sure the tomatoes are properly fed into the packing machine and another man watches to be sure they are wrapped correctly coming out of the machine before packing the cartons into wooden crates.
Mutual Fruit Co., Inc. (Tacoma); Packaging; Machinery; Conveying systems--Tacoma--1940-1950; Fruit--Tacoma--1940-1950; Tomatoes--Tacoma--1940-1950; Fruit industry--Tacoma--1940-1950;
View of sand blasting and re-painting of boat "Eileen", work is being done by Machinists Incorporated, a repair shop from Seattle, Washington, the job is being done at Tacoma Boat Building facilities. The workman is painting the side of the boat, he is using a paint sprayer and wearing a face mask. The boat is expected to be completed in a few days, photo ordered by Machinists Inc. TPL-8956
Boat & ship industry--Tacoma--1940-1950; Boats & boating; Fishing boats--Tacoma; Maintenance & repair--Tacoma; Sand blast; Tacoma Boat Building Co., Inc. (Tacoma); Machinists, Inc. (Seattle);
Johnnie B a recently launched purse seiner, built by Pacific Boat Building Company. Pacific Boat was owned by John B. Breskovich, he was also Vice-President of Puget Sound Boat Building Corporation. Pacific Boat Building plant and facilities were located at 759 Port of Tacoma Road. View of two people waving from "Johnnie B" fishing boat (Steve Mullan on right). TPL-10567
General Mills supervisors, Mr. Meinecke, Sperry Flour Division. Eight men from the Sperry Flour plant in their work clothes and one men in a business suit in this photograph taken on May 3, 1948. All but one of them wears a hat. At the far left is John W. Geddis. Mr. Geddis was a management trainee in 1948 which involved rotating through various training and supervisory assignments. He later became head of all General Mills Production and Distribution west of the Rocky Mountains. (Additional identification & information provided by a reader)
General Mills, Inc., Sperry Division (Tacoma); Flour & meal industry--Tacoma; Mills--Tacoma; Employees--Tacoma--1940-1950; Geddis, John W.;
The Bechtel Corporation from California was the company working on the General Mills Sperry Division flour mills expansion project. The project was approved in 1947 and was expected to be completed in 1948. Exterior view of Sperry plant, Bechtel sign advertising their services is on top of office building. The safety signs indicates building construction is in progress.
Industrial facilities--Tacoma; Building construction--Tacoma; Construction industry--Tacoma; Engineering--Tacoma; Remodeling--Tacoma; General Mills, Inc., Sperry Division (Tacoma); Bechtel Corp. (Tacoma);
Wheeler Osgood was a leader in the lumber industry, they manufactured doors and plywood panels. The company has been doing business in Tacoma for many years, they are one of the oldest businesses in Tacoma. In 1947 Wheeler Osgood was considering expanding their facilities, no changes had yet started, although the exterior of plant had been painted in October of 1947. Exterior view of Wheeler Osgood Company facilities.
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
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
Northern Pacific Railway's new freight station and office building was constructed using brick building materials. The building provided modern office space and efficient freight handling facilities. The office portion is 70 feet by 57 feet, and the freight station is 55 feet by 250 feet. The new facilities include parking space and pavement along Puyallup Avenue, this will be used exclusively by the freight station.
Leon Titus was allowed to ride in the cab of a 122 foot long locomotive, this train makes the Seattle--Tacoma--Portland run daily. Leon would get to ride to Seattle and back to Tacoma. Mr. Titus has been a longtime enthusiast about railroading. View of Leon Titus dressed in his train-wear, he is standing with the Union Pacific train conductor (T.N.T., 5/9/48, p. A-13). TPL-9868
Railroad locomotives--Tacoma; Railroads--Tacoma; Businessmen--Tacoma; Railroad companies--Tacoma; Union Pacific Railroad Co. (Tacoma); Union Station (Tacoma); Titus, Leon E.;
Interior view of General Mills Sperry Division plant in Tacoma. In 1947 the company had decided to expand their facilities. Sperry Flour products were exported throughout the world and shipped throughout the United States, the company was producing over 12,000 barrels of flour per day in order to fill the world's needs.
Interior view of "Coronado's", a Peterson built boat, shaft alley. This room is the distribution center for bait water, brine circulation and refrigeration control. The shaft alley connects to the main engine room and refrigerated storage units. "Coronado" was a 103 foot tuna clipper (Pacific Fisherman, 1949 Yearbook Number, 1/25/49). TPL-8974
Boat & ship industry--Tacoma--1940-1950; Equipment; Machinery; Fishing boats--Tacoma; Control rooms--Tacoma; Peterson Boat Building Co. (Tacoma);
Interior view of "Coronado's", a Peterson built fishing boat, steering and navigation room. This room is also finished in mahogany plywood panels, compasses, steering wheel and engine controls are all located in this compartment. "Coronado" was furnished with the most modern navigation accessories and equipment (Pacific Fisherman, 1949 Yearbook Number, 1/25/49). TPL-8971
Chicago, Milwaukee, St. Paul & Pacific Railroad. The Olympian Hiawatha was built by the Milwaukee Road for the Pacific Northwest. She was a diesel-electric locomotive that would run between Tacoma and Chicago. She would make the run between the two cities in 45 hours, 14 hours less than previously. All cars were air conditioned and she was outfitted with a public address system. (T.Times, 6/25/1947, p.11)
Chicago, Milwaukee, St. Paul & Pacific Railroad Co. (Tacoma); Railroads--Tacoma--1940-1950; Railroad locomotives--Tacoma--1940-1950; Railroad tracks--Tacoma--1940-1950;
Ladd Logging Company. Several very large logs float in a log pond. In October 1948 Ladd Logging Company was known to have been cutting logs from the Kosmos section of east Lewis County along with other logging companies. The logs were brought to Tacoma's harbor dumps and storage spaces by rail. When needed they were rafted together and taken to saw or pulp mills. Large numbers of logs were cut and dumped in log ponds against the approaching winter slowdown in the woods. (T.Times, 2/26/1941; Ledger 11/10/1946)
Pennsylvania Salt Manufacturing Company. An interior view of the plant. Three large funnels are shown with large tanks in the background. One man is painting some of the metal surfaces of the internal structures. Another man is standing reviewing the process.
Pennsylvania Salt Manufacturing Co. of Washington (Tacoma); Chemical industry--Tacoma--1940-1950; Factories--Tacoma;
Pennsylvania Salt Manufacturing Company. An interior view of the plant showing a line of very large storage tanks along the left side. On the right are stacks of bagged materials.
Pennsylvania Salt Manufacturing Co. of Washington (Tacoma); Chemical industry--Tacoma--1940-1950; Tanks (Storage); Factories--Tacoma;
Exterior of Wheeler Osgood Company's offices. Wheeler-Osgood was known as the world's largest manufacturer of doors and plywood at this time. The company started making doors in Tacoma in 1889 and plywood in 1910, only five years after the first fir plywood was manufactured at Portland, Oregon. N.O. Cruver served as president of the company at this time. He was president for 32 years.
Interior views of the St. Regis Paper Company where pulp is being dried further (steam is coming off as the pulp goes through the roller at the rear) and looks more like paper. St. Regis Paper Company, a national company, had seven mills throughout the country and also had extensive timber holdings in the Pacific Northwest and in other locations in the United States. On spec. for the Times, Labor Day. TPL-3765
St. Regis Paper Co. (Tacoma)--1940-1950; Paper industry--Tacoma--1940-1950; Machinery;
Marine Iron Works located at 1120 East D Street, was designing and building lightweight garden tractors, known as the "Mighty Man". These small tractors were intended for use on small farms and gardens, they could pull up to 8,000 pounds on a 2% grade. These tractors were becoming very popular with the urban farmers. View of "Mighty Man" garden tractor in action, photo ordered by Condon Advertising Company. TPL-9140
Agricultural machinery & implements--Tacoma--1940-1950; Tractors--Tacoma; Machinery; Equipment; Marine Iron Works, Inc. (Tacoma); Condon Co., Inc. (Tacoma);
Permanente Metals began production at their newly equipped aluminun plant on Taylor Way in Tacoma on October 31, 1947. Permanente purchased the former Olin Corp. facility, built in 1942, from the federal government and spent two years modernizing the plant. The remodeled Tacoma plant was the first in the nation to have self cleaning reduction pots with scrubbing systems, minimizing pollution released into the environment (PMC Annual Report, 1947-1948).
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;
Robert Breskovich, President of Pacific Boat Building Company, and Ray M. McCarty (foreground), General Manager of the Pleasure Boat Division are inspecting the new "Holiday" aluminum cruiser. "Holiday" aluminum cruisers are 23 feet, all welded mass produced aluminum, 65 horse power marine engine, will perform at 25 mph, 8 foot beam and 24 inch draft. The boat will have sleeping accommodations for 2, a small galley and bathroom (P.M.B., 1/48, p. 51).
Industrial facilities--Tacoma; Construction industry--Tacoma--1940-1950; Boat & ship industry--Tacoma--1940-1950; Motorboats--Tacoma; Product inspection--Tacoma; Pacific Boat Building Co. (Tacoma); Breskovich, Robert; McCarty, Ray M.;
I. W. Johnson Engineering were well known specialists in the designing and building of sawmill machinery. In 1938 they designed and built the innovative sawdust making machine. View of sawmill designed, built and manufactured at the I. W. Johnson plant.
On May 15, 1947, employees of the Carstens Packing Company gathered around their new Kartridg-Pack machine. Some of the women were working on the sausage packing line, while other employees were admiring the end product. The new machinery packed the wieners side-by-side, bound together by paper loops instead of the usual method of stringing them tail-to-tail. The Kartridge-Pack had the ability to pack 3,200 pounds of wieners per 8 hour shift. (T.Times, 5/21/1947, p.7)
Cheney Lumber Mills could be found throughout Washington, Oregon and California. The Tacoma plant had a sawmill, dry kiln, planning mill, log sorting area, storage facilities and loading areas. This plant employed approximately forty people. Exterior view of Cheney plant, laborers appear to be stacking and moving studs by using equipment.
Loading a shipment of lumber from Cheney Lumber Company was made easier by the Cheney's facilities and dock on Sitcum Waterway. Cranes could load directly from railroad cars that had tracks on the dock. TPL-5676
