ca. 1947. Plywood testing, ordered by the Douglas Fir Plywood Association. The plywood industry was one of the most rigorously self regulated businesses in America. Its own labs were constantly testing its product, plywood, for new uses and limitations. All of the testing, promotion and self regulation were performed under the banner of the Douglas Fir Plywood Association. Here plywood is being tested at extremely high temperatures, also under what appears to be a weight. Wires lead from sensors to meters being monitored by the tester.
Douglas Fir Plywood Association (Tacoma); Plywood; Experiments; Product inspection;
Great Northern Box Car being loaded by Sperry Flour Company at Ocean Dock, DFPA, Edith Leik. A view inside the box car. Bags of flour are being moved by a forklift to fill the upper spaces in the box car. The interior of the freight car is lined with plywood and paper to protect the flour and meal being shipped. TPL-10457
Douglas Fir Plywood Association (Tacoma); Great Northern Railway Co. (Tacoma); General Mills, Inc., Sperry Division (Tacoma); Railroad freight cars--Tacoma; Railroad tracks--Tacoma; Flour & meal industry--Tacoma; Hoisting machinery;
Douglas Fir Plywood Association. A view of a construction site using plywood forms for the reinforced concrete exterior walls for the new gymnasium nearing completion at the College of Puget Sound. It is being built by the Roy T. Early Company, contractors. Mock & Morrison were the architects. Several workmen are seen both on the ground and above the top of the wall securing the plywood forms. (T.Times, 1/2/1949, p.34)
Douglas Fir Plywood Association (Tacoma); Construction--Tacoma--1940-1950; Reinforced concrete construction--Tacoma--1940-1950; Progress photographs; College of Puget Sound (Tacoma)--1940-1950; Gymnasiums--Tacoma;
A man, wearing a Douglas Fir Plywood Association lab coat, is adjusting the tension during plywood testing at St. Paul & Tacoma Lumber warehouse. Ordered by Douglas Fir Plywood Association, Tom Sias.
Douglas Fir Plywood Association (Tacoma); Plywood; Product inspection--Tacoma; Testing--Tacoma--1950-1960; St. Paul & Tacoma Lumber Co. (Tacoma); Lumber industry--Tacoma--1950-1960;
Detail showing break points of stress tests on plywood at St. Paul & Tacoma Lumber. Ordered by Dave Countryman, civil engineer with Douglas Fir Plywood Association.
Douglas Fir Plywood Association (Tacoma); Plywood; Product inspection--Tacoma; Testing--Tacoma--1950-1960; St. Paul & Tacoma Lumber Co. (Tacoma); Lumber industry--Tacoma--1950-1960;
Cold room constuction, Douglas Fir Plywood Association laboratory, Dave Countryman. Worker installing plywood panels on walls of foil insulated room on October 31, 1950.
Plywood; Douglas Fir Plywood Association (Tacoma);
DFPA. A workman is laying a plywood sub-floor at what is believed to be the Devlin home. The walls have been covered with plywood as well. An edge of a brick fireplace is seen on the right. Large floor-to-ceiling windows are seen on the left. The beams are left open on the ceiling. The home was being restored after purchase earlier in 1949.
Douglas Fir Plywood Association (Tacoma); Plywood; Devlin, Charles E.--Homes & haunts; Floors--Lakewood--1940-1950;
Two men are constructing a silo by nailing sheets of plywood to an exterior form built with a circular shape cut from plywood and 2 x 4 lumber. Ordered by Douglas Fir Plywood Association.
Plywood; Douglas Fir Plywood Association (Tacoma); Silos--Tacoma;
Frozen food lockers were manufactured by St. Paul and Tacoma Lumber Company at Coast Sash and Door Company using plaster-faced plywood. A workman inspects the fit of the door in its sash. Coast Sash and Door opened at this location on the Tacoma tideflats in 1924. Ordered by Douglas Fir Plywood Association, John Ritchie.
Plywood; Douglas Fir Plywood Association (Tacoma); Coast Sash & Door Co. (Tacoma); St. Paul & Tacoma Lumber Co. (Tacoma); Doors & doorways--Tacoma; Lumber industry--Tacoma--1950-1960;
Progress photograph at the Narrows Bridge construction site showing prefab of plywood forms. The Tacoma Narrows Bridge was the third longest suspension span in the world at the time it was built. Both towers of the bridge are seen in the background. Until the full weight of the deck was in place the tops of the two towers leaned about 3 feet toward the shore. Ordered by Douglas Fir Plywood Association. (TNT, 5/28/1950, p.1)
Plywood; Douglas Fir Plywood Association (Tacoma); Plywood; Bridges--Tacoma; Progress photographs; Tacoma Narrows Bridge (Tacoma);
Exterior shot of the Douglas Fir Plywood Association Circus. A banner outside displays the words "Plywood Jubilee" and "Free Show." Flood lighting can be seen at the top and bottom of the structure.
Plywood was used for sheathing and concrete forms during construction at the new Custer School. The school was designed by Lea, Pearson & Richards. The building was dedicated September 30, 1953. Ordered by Douglas Fir Plywood Association.
Douglas Fir Plywood Association (Tacoma); Construction--Tacoma--1950-1960; Reinforced concrete construction--Tacoma--1950-1960; Custer School (Lakewood);
New DFPA offices in the Fuller Building as pictured on September 18, 1953. This appears to be the mailroom. The Douglas Fir Plywood Association's headquarters in Tacoma was the center of the industry's national promotion of fir plywood. The cost of this promotion was over 2.5 million a year, much of it spent in postage. The DFPA was the highest volume customer of the Tacoma Post Office. TPL-8393
Plywood; Douglas Fir Plywood Association (Tacoma); Lumber industry--Tacoma--1950-1960; Offices--Tacoma--1950-1960; Office workers--Tacoma--1950-1960;
Douglas Fir Plywood Association created laboratories to maintain high quality standards of its plywood; plywood was constantly being tested for durability and to detect any flaws. View of sheets of plywood in the D.F.P.A. warehouse undergoing testing. Photograph ordered by Douglas Fir Plywood Association.
Douglas Fir Plywood Association (Tacoma); Plywood; Product inspection--Tacoma; Testing--Tacoma;
Two men observing gages in humidity chamber of plywood laboratory at 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);
Two men observing mechanical equipment in humidity chamber of plywood laboratory at Douglas Fir Plywood Association. Line in upper left is deteriorating diacetate negative damage.
Plywood; Douglas Fir Plywood Association (Tacoma); Testing--Tacoma; Product inspection--Tacoma; Lumber industry--Tacoma--1950-1960; Research facilities--Tacoma; Plywood Research Foundation (Tacoma);
A workman moves a stack of cartons of Wesco's sweet peas using a forklift in a large warehouse. The pallet supporting the cartons has been made using plywood. Cartons of StarKist tuna are stacked on the other side of the doorway. Ordered by Douglas Fir Plywood Association.
Plywood; Douglas Fir Plywood Association (Tacoma); Shipping--Tacoma--1950-1960;
The Douglas Fir Plywood Association presented a display showing how plywood was used by several industries in the Northwest in the Washington Hall in Portland, Oregon. Washington Hall was part of an earlier exposition in Portland. The hall where the display was housed has been built with columns the look like the trunks of trees. Sky lights in the roof allow plenty of natural light into the interior of the large hall.
Douglas Fir Plywood Association (Portland); Exhibition buildings--Portland; Exhibitions--Portland;
The Douglas Fir Plywood Association presented a display showing how plywood was used by several industries in the Northwest including the boat and ship industry, heavy construction, home building and on farms.
Douglas Fir Plywood Association (Portland); Exhibition buildings--Portland; Exhibitions--Portland;
The Douglas Fir Plywood Association presented a display showing how plywood was made and some of its many uses in the Washington Hall in Portland, Oregon.
Douglas Fir Plywood Association (Portland); Exhibition buildings--Portland; Exhibitions--Portland;
One of the final stages in plywood manufacture is setting the glued and layered sheets of wood veneers in a hot press as shown at Anacortes Veneer, Inc., Anacortes, Washington. A sheet of plywood is placed on each layer of the press and the stacks are placed under pressure for differing lengths of time depending on the type of plywood being manufactured. This produces an irreversible bond between the plys stronger than the wood itself. The press is open in this view showing the sheets of plywood. Ordered by Douglas Fir Plywood Association. (The Plywood Age, Robert M. Cour)
Anacortes Veneer, Inc. (Anacortes); Plywood; Douglas Fir Plywood Association (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;
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);
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);
