The Coshocton Home Front during WWII
Maxine Carnahan, long-time Coshocton resident, worked for Firestone
during the war. She worked on the line, always second shift, as they
produced auxiliary tanks, B-24s, B-29s and P-38s. These tanks were made
to hold gas and oil, and when they were empty, they were disposed of. .
.so Firestone made a lot of them. Maxine worked on the rubber liners
for the plaster of Paris molds and remembers the finished tanks required
several coats of nylon paint. Later, she moved on to a job as an
inspector, and eventually, she was chosen to start new operations in
Cambridge and Zanesville. She lived in a hotel for the five or six
weeks that it took to start up each new facility -- exciting work for a
girl of twenty.
World War II affected industrial
production in communities throughout the country, and Coshocton was no
exception. As enlisted men vacated their jobs, those unable to join the
Armed Forces filled them. To fill in the gaps, women proudly stepped
into positions previously thought of as “men-only” jobs, effecting
changes not only in their own lives but also in subsequent generations
of women.
Industries
were called upon to provide products needed by the military for the war
effort. A list of essential goods and materials was devised. Those
companies manufacturing products that were considered non-essential were
asked to meet the needs of the government by retooling to produce goods
that best suited the factory’s equipment and site. In addition to
Firestone, area manufacturers, that retooled included Alfray Products,
American Artworks, Buckeye Fabric Finishers, Clow & Sons, Edmont, Moore
Enameling of West Lafayette, Novelty Advertising Company, and
Shaw-Barton Company. Coshocton, of course, was affected by rationing,
unavailability of many products and the overall belt-tightening demanded
of citizens everywhere because of the war, but it can also be concluded
that employment was at an all-time high during these angst-filled
years. This changed abruptly with the end of the war and is illustrated
in a 1945 article.
War’s End
Makes 1000 Jobless in Coshocton County…
(reproduced from The Coshocton Tribune, Aug. 19, 1945)
The full
impact of the war’s end re-conversion will hit Coshocton county industry
this week, with around 1000 people out of jobs at least temporarily.
The most severely affected industry in the county is the local Firestone
plant, which has abruptly ceased production of bulletproof rubber
gasoline tanks for warplanes after cancellation of its government
contracts.
At its
employment peak, late in 1943, the Firestone plant employed about 1200
people but only a little more than half that number have been employed
in recent weeks. With only a skeleton crew working this week to conduct
an inventory, it was indicated that about 500 Firestone employees will
be released, at least for the time being.”
All was not bleak on the
local employment scene. Many found reason to be hopeful.
“Such firms as The
Pope-Gosser China Co. and the specialty advertising plants believe their
operations will be enhanced by the end of the war as controls over
material and labor are removed.
Some local industrial leaders
pointed out that it was neither to be expected nor desired that
Coshocton county industries ever would return to the production rate of
peak war days. “Many women, many young boys and girls took jobs in war
plants as a matter of patriotism,” one industrialist commented. “Many
men worked too hard and too long. I don’t think we’d want that
condition in normal times.”
The Firestone plant
closed its doors right after the war when so many gas tanks were no
longer needed. Maxine has heard that folks took the tanks that were
left, and possibly the “seconds”, to the farms to use as watering
troughs for their animals—a 20th century version of swords
being hammered into plowshares?
Back to
Community Stories
