Thomas Bata

(Wikipedia) Tomáš Jan Baťa, CC (September 17, 1914 – September 1, 2008), also known as Tomas Bata Jr. and Tomáš Baťa ml. and "Shoemaker to the World", ran the Bata Shoe Company from the 1940s until the '80s.
Baťa was born in the Czech city of Prague, in what is now the Czech Republic, the son of Czech industrialist Tomáš Baťa. As a boy he apprenticed under his father, Tomáš Sr., who began the T. & A. Bata Shoe company in 1894 in Zlín, Czechoslovakia. His father, however, was killed in a plane crash when Tomáš was only 17, in 1932. Continued

Photos: Bata shoe factory, Belcamp, Maryland (kilduffs). Bata Bullets shoe label (Charlie's Sneaker Pages).

Aegis: 50 Years Ago

(Aegis) ... The Lamm Brothers Inc., owners of the Bel Air Manufacturing Company, broke ground at the site of the company's new manufacturing plant on Williams Street. The company originally manufactured summer clothing when the business started in 1910. Lamm Brothers grew to a be known nationally as a manufacturer and distributor of Gleneagles men's wear. Other plants in operation at the time were in Baltimore, Fallston and New York. Continued

OREO Turns 100 Years Young

(BUSINESS WIRE) Magic happened on March 6, 1912 when two decoratively embossed chocolate-flavored biscuits met up with a rich creme filling: OREO was born! In honor of this delicious milestone, the World's Favorite Cookie is on a mission to reignite the spirit of childhood by celebrating the kid inside all of us.
And, it couldn't come at a better time. Continued

The Union’s ‘Newfangled Gimcracks’

(NYTimes) In late December 1861 Abraham Lincoln issued a directive that, had it been vigorously pursued, might have brought the Civil War to a rapid end: An order, via Gen. James Ripley, the Army’s ordnance chief, for 10,000 Spencer repeating rifles.
Because Ripley resisted the order for months and did nothing to help put the rifles into volume production, initial deliveries didn’t start until about a year and a half after Lincoln first tested the rifle.
Consequently, Union soldiers had to fight with less efficient weapons, handicapping them and greatly lengthening the bloody conflict. Continued

Photo: 1860 Civil War Henry Rifle No. 4771 by Hmaag, some rights reserved.

Labor Day Cigars

(YDR via Firecured) When I was about 10 ... I used to sell crab cakes and fish for a man down Mason Alley. ... I used to go to a place out on Poplar Street and Dewey Street in West York called T.E. Brooks cigar factory, and they were not allowed to have breaks back then. They worked constantly for their eight hours. Anything they needed was right there where they worked. . . . I went to a lot of different factories doing this job selling crab cakes and fish . . . all around York on my bicycle, but T.E. Brooks cigar factory always stands out to me because I (had) to go from person to person. Any of the other factories, they came to me during their break time, but this place here did not have a break. . . . That always stood out in my mind.

Steven A. Hatterer, 46, of York

I was raised one mile below Red Lion off Route 74. I very well remember the cigar factories in Red Lion. They had quite a few, but the thing that I remember mostly was we had a strike (in 1934), and a man was blinded during the strike (reportedly because tear gas was fired by police), and in 1935, he had a Ford coupe . . . and I bought that from him for $150. The man was from Windsor that was blinded. A friend of mine told me about this man that became blinded, and he had a Ford coupe, and I borrowed the money from my father and bought it.

Mildred Knisely, 92, Springettsbury Township

Continued

The Office of War Information

(LoC) On June 13, 1942, some six months after the bombing of Pearl Harbor, the Office of War Information (OWI) was created. In October of that year, the documentary photography unit of the Farm Security Administration (FSA) was transferred to the OWI to document the war effort, as it had the U.S government’s battle against poverty during the Great Depression. An important U.S. government propaganda agency during World War II, the OWI supported America’s mobilization for the war effort by recording the nation's preparations for war in films, texts, photographs, radio programs, and posters. OWI photographers documented American life and culture during the early years of World War II, focusing on such subjects as aircraft factories, training for war work, women in the workforce, and the armed forces. Photographs were created to inspire patriotism in the American public. Continued

A visit to Red Lion's last cigar factory

(Firecured) I took a ride up to Red Lion yesterday to visit the last cigar factory in town before it was to be auctioned off, later that day. The place was a real museum piece, covering decade upon decade of cigar history. The local papers called it "the end of an era," though, in reality, the era had passed long ago. Continued

1907: Hersheypark opens

(Wikipedia) ... In 1903, Milton S. Hershey, founder of the Hershey Chocolate Company, surveyed a site along Spring Creek that would be suitable for his park. Hershey Park opened on April 24, 1907, with a baseball game played on the new athletic field between the Louisville Cardinals and the Boston Red Socks. The beautifully landscaped park was an ideal spot for picnicking, boating, and canoeing. Vaudeville and theatre productions were performed on a rustic bandstand and pavilion.
A merry-go-round was installed and opened on July 4, 1908. A 1,500-seat tiered amphitheatre was built next to the pavilion. The entrance sign proclaimed, “Ye who enter here leave dull cares behind.” Continued

Triangle Shirtwaist fire: Why it inspires plays and poetry readings 100 years later

(csmonitor) One hundred years ago today, at 4:45 p.m., a fire ignited in a scrap basket inside New York City’s Triangle Shirtwaist Factory. Within 28 minutes, the factory burned down and 146 workers died, mostly young immigrant women or children. Some fell to their deaths leaping from windows, others perished falling down empty elevator shafts. The majority were trapped inside the main work floor because the exit doors were locked by management – supposedly to prevent theft. Continued

Marjorie Merriweather Post

(Wikipedia) Marjorie Merriweather Post a.k.a. Marjorie Merriweather Post Close Hutton Davies May (March 15, 1887 – September 12, 1973) was a leading American socialite and the founder of General Foods, Inc. She was 27 when her father died, and she became the owner of the rapidly growing Postum Cereal Company later becoming the wealthiest woman in America when her fortune reached approximately USD$250 million. Continued

Photo: Marjorie Merriweather Post Hutton Davies (Library of Congress).

The Drama of Steel

1946 ARC Identifier 12505 / Local Identifier 70.218. This documentary film starts with the history of the steelmaking process, explaining the operation of the blast furnace and the open hearth furnace. It goes on to cover the mining of ore and limestone, transportation and coking of coal, open hearth and rolling mill operations, and plating and finishing. In addition, it also illustrates many of the applications of steel mill products. The film is partly animated. Department of the Interior. Bureau of Mines. Pittsburgh Experiment Station. (1934 - 01/19/1975)

Turkey Hill opening tourism spot this spring in Lancaster County

(YDR) York County's tourism is rooted in its manufacturing base and manifested through factory tours with stops such as Harley-Davidson and Martin's Potato Chips.
Soon, the York County Convention & Visitors Bureau will add one more tour to its portfolio, and this time, the stop will be just across the Susquehanna River bridge in Lancaster County. This spring, the Turkey Hill Dairy will open its Turkey Hill Experience at the long-vacant, former Ashley & Bailey Silk Mill in Columbia.
And, while the interactive tour promises to feature simulated exhibits rather than actual production, the Turkey Hill Experience fits the bureau's local brand of "Factory Tour Capital of the World." Continued

Also: View a construction photo gallery at Turkey Hill

Photos: Ashley & Bailey silk mill before restoration began (Nightening).

How Economic Brawn Transformed a Nation

(NYTBR) It has often been noted that while the American union was established by the Revolution, the American nation was forged only upon the awful anvil of the Civil War. Far less noted, however, is that this nation’s extraordinary power and influence in the 20th century and beyond has been largely a product of the remarkable 35 years that followed the Civil War.
In those decades the American economy exploded in size, becoming by far the largest, most productive and most technically advanced in the world. In 1860 the United States had imported almost all its steel — the product that was increasingly the measure of economic power at that time — from Britain. By 1900 it was producing more steel than Britain and Germany combined and exporting it profitably to both those countries.
H. W. Brands tells this story of extraordinary economic transformation in his new book, “American Colossus.” Continued

Pontiac, 84, Dies of Indifference

(NYTimes) Pontiac, the brand that invented the muscle car under its flamboyant engineer John Z. DeLorean, helped Burt Reynolds elude Sheriff Justice in “Smokey and the Bandit” and taught baby boomers to salivate over horsepower, but produced mostly forgettable cars for their children, will endure a lonely death on Sunday after about 40 million in sales. Continued

Image: The death of Pontiac by De Cost Smith (Library of Congress).

Original Hershey Chocolate Factory Set To Close

(NPR) Imagine Google wrapped in chocolate.
What the Internet giant is to its employees today — the extra benefits, the comfy workspace — Hershey was a hundred years ago.
A theme park, a theater, low-rent housing and cheap public transportation were all things Milton Hershey brought to the dairy region of Pennsylvania when he created Hershey, the chocolate center of America. Continued

Britain's child slaves: They started at 4am, lived off acorns and had nails put through their ears for shoddy work.

(Mail Online) ... A single 'hurrier' pulled the heavy cart of coal, weighing as much as 500lb, attached by a chain to a belt worn around the waist, while one or more 'thrusters' pushed from behind. Acrid water dripped from the tunnel ceiling, soaking their ragged clothes.
Many would die from lung cancer and other diseases before they reached 25. For, shockingly, these human beasts of burden were children, some only five years old. Continued

H. B. Reese

(Wikipedia) - Harry Burnett (H.B.) Reese (May 24, 1879 – May 16, 1956) was the inventor of Reese's Peanut Butter Cups and founder of the H.B. Reese Candy Company. He was born in Frosty Hill, York County, Pennsylvania. Reese first tried his hand at candy making in Hummelstown and Palmyra, Pennsylvania, where he made Johnny Bars and Lizzy Bars. Continued

Skinner UnaFlow Steam Engine Needs a New Home

(Steampunk Workshop) I received a very interesting email a couple of days ago from a fellow who was tearing down the old Nichols and Stone factory in Gardner, MA. It seems at the center of this turn-of-the-last-century brick building was a Skinner Unaflow steam engine and alternator that he simply did not have the heart to scrap and would I like to see it and perhaps put out the word that it was available?
Would I like to poke about in a 100+ old factory building and check out a steam engine? Continued

Photo by Jake von Slatt, some rights reserved.

Canned Beer Turns 75 - A Short History

(Yahoo! News) Be sure to crack open a cold one on Jan. 24, the day canned beer celebrates its 75th birthday.
New Jersey's Gottfried Krueger Brewing Company churned out the world's first beer can in 1935, stocking select shelves in Richmond, Va., as a market test. ... Canned brewskies may have only hit shelves in 1935, but the drink's history goes back much further - at least 6,000 years, in fact, to ancient Iraq. Continued

Photo: greenmon's

Clement Studebaker

(Wikipedia) Clement Studebaker (March 12, 1831 – November 27, 1901) was an American carriage manufacturer. With his brothers, he founded H & C Studebaker Company, which built Pennsylvania-German conestoga wagons and carriages during his lifetime, and automobiles after his death, in South Bend, Indiana.
Clement Studebaker was born on March 12, 1831, in Pinetown, Pennsylvania. By the age of 14 he had learned to work as a blacksmith in his father's shop. He later worked as a teacher. Continued

Photo: Conestoga Wagon (1883) by Newbold Hough Trotter (1827-1898). Painting in the State Museum of Pennsylvania (AdMeskens)