How Tacony stood up to
Germany’s war machine

Editor’s note: Starting today and continuing the last week of each month, the Times will publish a column by local historians Harry C. Silcox and Jack McCarthy, who will examine the little-known historical facts, people and events that have shaped the history of Northeast Philadelphia.
Mr. Silcox and Mr. McCarthy are preparing these articles in conjunction with the recently organized Center for Northeast Philadelphia History and the Frankford Historical Society.

Living in the Past
By Harry C. Silcox
and Jack McCarthy
For the Times

Few in Northeast Philadelphia can remember how involved Tacony was in supporting President Roosevelt’s preparations for World War II. The story begins in 1939 when Germany overran Poland, and England declared war on Germany.
The United States stood by and watched as the war intensified. France was overrun quickly by Germany’s swift armored-unit attacks. However, when Germany and Russia signed a peace agreement, it surprised the world — and left England alone to fight Germany.
But Germany would break the pact by invading Russia at the end of July 1941. Roosevelt stood strongly behind England. In May and June of 1941, the United States began publicly debating how to react to the conflict.
Charles Lindbergh — the aviator who made several pre-war trips to Germany to see its progressive military air force — advocated support for Germany. The ambassador to Great Britain, Joseph Kennedy, implored Roosevelt not to fully support England because he felt they were losing the war. A peace movement began forming across America based on long-held beliefs that favored neutrality.
Despite these sentiments, Roosevelt decided to initiate a military buildup starting with the large industrial centers of the nation. The U.S. Department of Defense offered to finance construction of an armor-plate factory at the Disston Saw Co. in Tacony.
Given the anti-war sentiment of the country, why was Tacony chosen as one of the early sites for a pre-war military build-up? For those who knew Tacony, the decision seemed logical.
Tacony had always been pro-Great Britain since its development by Englishman Henry Disston in 1872. As early as 1879, British values and culture dominated in Tacony, a community that featured tea houses and English football (soccer) games. In 1884, English culture became even more embedded in Tacony when 200 steel smelters and their families were recruited from Sheffield, England, to work at the Disston Saw Co.
Another event favorable to the site choice was that Disston Saw had a reputation dating to the Civil War of switching production schedules away from saws to produce war necessities for the government. During the Civil War, the Tacony firm produced armor plates for the Union navy — the plates were installed on the sides of wooden ships blockading the ports of the South, thus thwarting the Confederates’ attempts to sink Union ships with floating mines.
In World War I, the Disston Saw Co. produced bulletproof steel plates used for cannons and tanks.
So, in 1941, the Tacony community showed its support for Great Britain. A crowd waved British flags during a rally at the Disston Playground. More than 2,000 people had gathered to hear speakers and local leaders decry Germany’s bombing of London.
With that background, government officials sensed that Tacony stood ready to help President Roosevelt’s campaign to help England. The federal government approved payment for two new facilities at Disston’s plant at Longshore Avenue and State Road.
First, a power plant was designed to increase power throughout the plant to operate new wartime machinery. Second, a new armor-plate building was built for the production of bulletproof steel for tanks, cannons and half-track vehicles, as well as for use in lightweight seats to protect pilots from air attacks from the rear.
The Disston company organized a rally in October 1942 to officially dedicate the armor-plate building and also lay the cornerstone for the power plant.
Famous radio personality Lowell Thomas came to Tacony to serve as master of ceremonies; radio star Margaret Speaks sang The Star-Spangled Banner. Philadelphia’s acting mayor, Bernard Samuels, joined federal government officials, union chiefs and Disston management as featured speakers.
All 3,400 workers from the factory were given the day off and attended the event. Reporters streamed in from throughout the country to cover this story in Tacony. The pictures and stories from that day became the rallying cry across the nation for support of the war.
Pictures of Disston workers waving American flags at the dedication were featured in Life magazine on July 7, 1941. In magazines and newspapers around the world, a lengthy article, titled Arming of America, featured the Tacony story. The picture of flag-waving workers from Disston Saw was placed inside a map of the United States and became a classic war image.
The scenes photographed in Tacony were used to send the message around the country that Americans supported the war effort and were gearing up to help England and France take on the Nazis. Visiting journalists made note of the patriotism of Disston workers.
"In sharp contrast to recent pictures of striking defense workers waving demand-banners for more pay is this photo of flag-waving workers taken at the recent dedication for a new armor-plate plant in Tacony, Pennsylvania," one reporter wrote. "They are employees of Henry Disston and Sons, which expects the new plant to triple the firm’s capacity for making armored plates for warships and other military uses."
But there also were doubters of the Tacony community’s support for war. S. Horace Disston, president of the company, received many negative reactions. A mill supply buyer at the Hart Heavy Hardware Co., for example, told Disston that the change to war production was not good for the product needs of loyal Disston customers.
"We hope this means that you will be able to take care of your jobbers in a much better manner than you have in the past," the disenchanted customer wrote to Disston. "We realize that national defense comes first, but we believe also that your old customers should be given a certain amount of consideration."
S. Horace Disston did receive compliments for "standing tall" in a time of national crisis. Even more encouraging was a note from businessman H.P. Aikerman, who wrote: "I have tacked the picture of your Disston workers on the wall behind my desk to remind me of what patriotism really is."
To the citizens of Tacony, none of the back-and-forth debates mattered. Their little town had caught the attention of Life magazine, movie houses, newspapers and national "Victory" posters produced by the government. Tacony had become a national symbol of patriotism and loyalty for the country. It was a special place to live during World War II. ••
To reach Harry C. Silcox, send e-mail to silcoxh@axs2000.net
(Note: Quotations in this article are excerpted from "A Place to Live and Work," by Harry C. Silcox.)