If you lived in the Lehigh Valley during either World War, you knew that those victories required an enormous amount of equipment. Mack Truck was under control of the War Department during both conflicts, starting in 1915 and then again in 1942. The Queen City Airport on Lehigh Street is a vestige of the second war. Mack Truck and Consolidated-Vultee Aircraft joined forces to produce planes and plane parts. Mack's biggest contribution was it's trucks, establishing their reputation for durability. The naval gun shop at Bethlehem Steel was one of the largest in the world when built. With barrels up to 14 inches, it was capable of providing up to 30 guns a day.
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| Mack Trucks for War Department 1918 |
Those who went to war risked all and came home to a flood of job-seekers, while those who remained behind in those factories made good wages, raised families,slept in their own beds, worked a lot of hours and built up the union pensions they cashed out in the 1960s and 1970s.
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