Items displayed on the middle shelf
Items on the middle shelf include photographs of working men and women at Libbey -Owens-Ford during World War II, and reports and brochures about the company's wartime involvement. Photos from the Acklin Stamping plant in Toledo show machinery that allowed mass production of parts used in the military as well as home fronts.
Rosie the riveter photos
ca. 1943
“Rosie the Riveter” photographs, ca. 1943. Libbey-Owens-Ford Company Records, MSS-066.
As men went off to war, women took over their positions in factories to keep the war engines turning. These women, real-life “Rosie the Riveters” assembled nose cones for fighter jets at the Libbey-Owens-Ford factory in Rossford.
The press release included the following text: "Super-schnozzle" gets last touches as this worker at a Libbey-Ownes-Ford company plant in Toledo uses a drill on one of the B-29 notese now giving Japan grim hours. The nose, made of eight sections of specially curved glass with metal and plastic, is used both as a sighting panel for pilots, and as a sighting window for bombardiers.
Acklin Stamping plant
1940s
Photographs, Acklin Stamping war contract work, ca. 1943. Acklin Stamping Company Records, MSS-139.
Acklin produced machines and parts for many Toledo-based companies, including parts for automobiles. The machinery shown in these photographs allowed the company to mass-produce compressor housings (for refrigerators and air conditioning units), military munitions, gun amounts, and even parts for the atom bomb during World War II. The company supplied parts to other Allied governments as well and played an important part in Toledo’s economy during World War II.
"we must see to fight"
1951
“We Must See to Fight, Not Fight to See” brochure, 1951. Libbey-Owens-Ford Company Records, MSS-066.
Published by the “Liberty Mirror Division” of L-O-F during the Korean War, this sales brochure described rear-view mirrors for military aircraft.
L-O-F report to the Navy
1945
“Facts on the Victory Year,”1945. Libbey-Owens-Ford Company Records, MSS-066.
Published for the Navy Department Price Adjustment Board, this publication showed off the research and products produced by the company for the war effort. Since prices for such products were set by the board, the company sought to highlight the expensive research which went into product design. At the end of the notebook is a detailed accounting of the costs of war production borne by the company.
Sheet metal works
1940s
Machinery at Acklin stamping allowed the mass production of parts to military as well as household equipment out of sheet metal.