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 its trucks during WW1, 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 16 inches, it was capable of providing up to 30 guns a day.
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| Mack Trucks for War Department 1918 |
above reprinted from January 2013
UPDATE May 2, 2018: Mack Defense, a division of Mack Truck in Macungie, was just awarded a Defense Department contract for $82 million to produce trucks through 2023.
The U.S. was indeed the arsenal of democracy, today we are dependent on communist China for many of our basic needs, including steel and other vital supplies. Our leaders have indeed bought the chinese rope to hang ourselves.
ReplyDeleteWe hear nonsense about boycotting the olympics and trivial sanctions against China, but no effort to make it possible to manufacture at home and become self sufficient. There will be a disastrous reckoning for these trade policies.
The only ones we have to blame for this is ourselves. Are you willing to pay an extra $1000 or more for a new car, or hundreds more for a refrigerator or washing machine? Because THAT is why manufacturing moved overseas. People would rather pay Walmart prices for products made overseas than to spend more on similar American-made products. It's easy to blame others, and not look inside.
DeleteI look for Made in America labels every chance I get, but even looking at domestic products, like a Ford Focus (no longer being made, BTW), and you'll see labels stating "Assembled in Mexico", "Parts made in Canada", and numerous components made overseas. If we spent less time looking for the next big thing, and started looking to buy locally, you might see manufacturing return to the States.
Here's a start
ReplyDeletehttps://www.cnbc.com/2021/11/24/samsung-announces-17-billion-chip-plant-in-texas.html
I believe Samsung is a south Korea company.
DeleteThanks for the posting on the Lehigh Valley at War. Very appropriate for Pearl Harbor Day. The Lehigh Valley certainly made a huge contribution to the effort. One slight clarification, Bethlehem Steel produced guns up to 16" - the largest in America's arsenal - not 14"
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ReplyDeleteRobert@9:42, thank you for correction.
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