FLASHBack 83 Years Ago This Month
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ighty-three years ago this month, in September of 1938, The California Lumber Merchant reported on the lumber industry valiantly continuing to shake off the last of the effects of the Great Depression. Undeterred by the ongoing economic hardships, Reel Lumber Service, then in its sixth year of business, constructed a new 7,500-sq. ft. hardwood lumber warehouse and offices at its Los Angeles, Ca., site—just months after completing another warehouse across the street. The wholesaler relocated its main operation from Los Angeles to Anaheim in 1976, and is now led by the fourth generation. In other news of September 1938: • Hill Lumber & Hardware Co. built itself a new office building at its yard in Albany, Ca., designed to look like a residence and comprised of the various products stocked by the company.
THE SEPTEMBER 1938 issue spotlighted newly patented window hardware from Los Angeles’ Frank Graves Company.
The representatives overwhelmingly voted to continue the club, but that it be reorganized, with more power held by local chapters. Among the changes to help revive dormant chapters was allowing former members to be reinstated without paying back dues. They just had to pay $2.99 for the current year’s dues. New members were charged $4.99 for the first year. Hoo-Hoo’s main office would be relocated to Minneapolis for three years, after which the Supreme Nine would determine a long-term home.
HILL LUMBER’S new office in Albany, Ca., featured cabinets, cupboard doors, and other millwork manufactured at its on-site mill.
The wood-framed 40-ft.-by-40-ft. structure featured 1x8 Redwood Rustic siding, Pabco aluminum roofing shingles, maple floors, Celotex Ripple Plank wall paneling, Celotex Ivory Tile ceilings, Sherwin-Williams paint, and Schlage locks. A different kind of door was installed on each entry. The entire operation has long since been replaced by a middle school. • Over 1 million ft. of Weyerhaeuser 4-Square Endless Lumber was used for roof, subfloor and wall sheathing to build the Hollywood Turf Club and other buildings at the shiny new Hollywood Park racetrack in Inglewood, Ca. • National leaders of the Concatenated Order of HooHoo met for two days in Minneapolis, Mn., to vote on whether to continue the then 46-year-old lumber fraternity and, if so, in what form.
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September 2021
• Armstrong Cork Co. of Lancaster, Pa., acquired the Standard Wall Covering Co. of Philadelphia, manufacturer of Monotile and Monowall brand wallcoverings. Armstrong retained Standard’s production facility in Philadelphia, but consolidated sales and merchandising activities into the Temlok Department of its own Building Materials Division. • A giant 1,000-ft.-long log raft carrying over 5 million ft. of logs was broken in half after encountering severe weather off the Northern California coast. The barge had traveled from the Columbia River on its way to Benson Lumber Co.’s sawmill in San Diego, Ca. The tug Sea Ranger kept the front half in tow, and the Coast Guard Swanee took the other half in tow until it was relieved by the tug Sea Scout, which arrived from San Francisco. Both pieces of the raft were towed into a sandy beach at Mendocino City where arrangements were made for the Mendocino Lumber Co. to saw up the smaller half. Benson Lumber attempted to tow the larger half to San Diego.
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