Haskelite Manufacturing Corporation

Haskelite Manufacturing Corporation (19171956) was a conglomerate of Michiganbased companies. It was located on Broadway Avenue in Grand Rapids, Michigan. They manufactured haskelite plywood for a wide variety of applications and vehicles. Their office headquarters were located in Chicago, Illinois. The Grand Rapids corporation was a spin-off from the Haskell Manufacturing Company in Ludington, Michigan. It was a factory twice the capacity at over 100,000 square feet and designed to make up to ten times as much plywood per day as the Ludington facilities. The plywood at the beginning was needed for World War I military airplane body parts. The plywood later was used in houses, buildings, automobiles and ship construction. Different styles and types of plywood were made for particular niches including for the construction of the Spirit of St. Louis, Charles Lindberg's plane.

Background

Haskelite Manufacturing Corporation was formed in late 1917 as a spin-off from the Haskell Manufacturing Company of Ludington. Its main purpose was to fulfill World War I needs for mass production of Haskelite plywood. The Ludington factory of 100 men was producing less than of plywood per day, while the new Grand Rapids factory, with 1,000 men, was designed to produce up to of plywood per day. During World War I Haskell manufactured airplane bodies for the American, British and French armies. Over of Haskelite plywood was produced by 1918 for military airplanes. The plant was located on of land near the Grand Rapids Fuller Station. This station was a railway passenger depot served by the Grand Trunk Western Railway, Grand Rapids and Indiana Railway, Pere Marquette Railway and local street-line railway.

A temporary trust company, the Factory Construction Company of Grand Rapids, was used to assist the formation of the corporation. It sold stocks and bonds to raise the necessary money to build the new Haskelite Manufacturing Corporation factory building. The new factory cost $250,000 of which $150,000 in bonds were sold and $100,000 in stocks were sold to raise the necessary money to build the factory. The new Grand Rapids factory was twice the capacity of the original factory in Ludington. It was located at 1850–1950 Broadway Ave in the northwest corner of the city. The title to the property itself temporarily stayed in the trust company. It made a 10-year lease to Haskelite Manufacturing Corporation and they paid a rent of 8% net profits. At the end of the lease, Haskelite Corporation bought the property and retired the trust company.

The main offices of Haskelite Manufacturing Corporation were in Chicago where the executive office of George R. Meyercord, the president, was located. James R. Fitzpatrick, the corporate secretary and general sales manager, also had his main office there. Emory W. Stoner, district sales manager, had his offices in Detroit, Michigan. The corporation reported sales in 1941 as 60 per cent higher than in 1940. The net total was $5,600,000, a substantial increase from the previous 20 years. Stoner in 1944 received a promotion to sales manager and moved to Grand Rapids.

The original Haskelite plywood was used in commercial buildings, houses, ship construction and airplane bodies before 1920. By 1922 there were over seventy car manufacturers using Haskelite in one form or another. The plywood material that built most of the ''Spirit of St. Louis''—Charles Lindbergh's plane that made a non-stop flight across the Atlantic Ocean in 1927—was made at Haskelite Manufacturing Corporation in Grand Rapids, Michigan. The plywood components for the British fighter bomber de Havilland Mosquito plane came from Haskelite Manufacturing Corporation.

The new Haskelite factory was a one-story building of nearly —. Due to the war construction was started in January 1918 whilst the ground was frozen from winter. New roads were made to the construction site for the teams of horses supplying materials, with as many as 75 teams of horses coming and going to the site daily. The building was completed and occupied by April, a record time for building construction in Grand Rapids.

Specialty plywood

The Haskelite Manufacturing Corporation made panels of up to for the US Navy.

Different styles and types of plywood were developed for specific niches after 1930. Some of these were for boat hulls, doors, household refrigerators, street cars, and freight trailers. Among the dozens of new plywood materials were the brand names of KarVarT, Plymetl, Plymold, and Phemaloid.

Plymetl

Haskelite Manufacturing Corporation made a plywood consisting of additional layers of metal sheet plating (steel, aluminum and copper) and were branded Plymetl (plywood + metal). Plymetl plywood was used where a strong lightweight material was needed with a high resistance to impact. It was used to make clothes vaults and storage facilities. It was also used in ships, yachts, aircraft and vehicles–especially luxury automobiles. During WWII, plywood from the Grand Rapids factory was a major contributor to the war effort in the construction of military vehicles, combat ships, fighter airplanes and tanks.

Plymold

Haskelite Manufacturing Corporation was involved with the development of a plastic veneer plywood called Plymold. It was known also as duramold plywood by the Fairchild Engine and Aircraft Corporation. These veneer wood pieces were infused with phenolic resin synthetics for extra strength. They could be shaped into three dimensions which was advantageous for airplane and ship parts. Haskelite Manufacturing Corporation added of floor space to their existing building in Grand Rapids in 1942. The main purpose for this was the need for special shaped plywood pieces for WWII military airplane body parts and ship interior parts. The plymold material was also used in railway cars, buses, automobiles, and boats.

File:Railway haskelite car.jpg, railway cars
File:Buses made of haskelite.jpg, buses
File:Haskelite Sedan automobile.jpg, automobiles
File:Mirimar yacht.jpg, yachts
File:SS Washington construction.jpg, ships

Phemaloid

Haskelite Manufacturing Corporation made a plywood with a phenol formaldehyde resin called Phemaloid which was fire-resistant, had high resistance to moisture, was of high tensile strength, and had fungi destroying properties. Airplane parts were among the uses for this plywood. It was also used in railroad cars.

Hasko trays

Haskelite manufactured popular variety of economical serving trays with flower, animal, and cartoon themes during a time when serving trays were considered a luxury item. Starting in 1942 they also manufactured "fortune telling" mystic trays and boards under the brand "Hasko", selling more than four million by 1945.

Patents

Aeroplane-body

Dissolution

The No. 2 plant of Haskelite Manufacturing Corporation at 701 Ann Street in Grand Rapids was sold to an industrial buyer in 1949. The company agreed to sell their other assets of the Grand Rapids Corporation to Evans Products Company of Plymouth, Michigan at the end of 1956.

References

Sources

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External links

Museum of Talking Boards

Chair made by the Haskell Manufacturing Company

{{Coord, 42, 58, 34, N, 85, 40, 47, W, display=title

Buildings and structures in Grand Rapids, Michigan
Economy of Michigan
History of Michigan
1917 establishments in Michigan
1956 disestablishments in Michigan