The American Automobile Industry in World War Two
An American Auto Industry Heritage Tribute by David D Jackson

Overview      Lansing Michigan in World War Two   The U.S. Auto Industry at the Normandy Invasion, June 6, 1944    The U.S. Auto Industry and the B-29 Bomber   U.S. Auto Industry Army-Navy "E" Award Winners   The Complete listing of All Army-Navy "E" Award Winners   Sherman Tanks of the American Auto Industry   Tank Destroyers of the American Auto Industry    M26 Pershing Tanks of the American Auto Industry   M36 Tank Destroyers of the American Auto Industry   Serial Numbers for WWII Tanks built by the American Auto Industry   Surviving LCVP Landing Craft    WWII Landing Craft Hull Numbers   Airborne Extra-Light Jeep Photos  The American Auto Industry vs. the German V-1 in WWII   American Auto Industry-Built Anti-Aircraft Guns in WWII   VT Proximity Manufacturers of WWII   World War One Era Motor Vehicles   National Museum of Military Vehicles  
Revisions   Links

 Automobile and Body Manufacturers:  American Bantam Car Company   Briggs Manufacturing Company   Checker Car Company   Chrysler Corporation   Crosley Corporation   Ford Motor Car Company   General Motors Corporation   Graham-Paige Motors Corporation   Hudson
Motor Car Company   Murray Corporation of America   Nash-Kelvinator   Packard Motor Car Company      Studebaker    Willys-Overland Motors

General Motors Divisions:  AC Spark Plug   Aeroproducts   Allison   Brown-Lipe-Chapin   Buick   Cadillac   Chevrolet   Cleveland Diesel   Delco Appliance   Delco Products   Delco Radio   Delco-Remy   Detroit Diesel   Detroit Transmission   Electro-Motive   Fisher Body   Frigidaire   GM Proving Grounds   GM of Canada   GMC   GMI   Guide Lamp   Harrison Radiator   Hyatt Bearings   Inland   Moraine Products   New Departure   Oldsmobile   Packard Electric   Pontiac   Saginaw Malleable Iron   Saginaw Steering Gear   Southern California Division   Rochester Products   Ternstedt Manufacturing Division   United Motors Service   Vauxhall Motors

 Indiana Companies:  Bailey Products Corporation   Chrysler Kokomo Plant   Continental Steel Corporation  Converto Manufacturing    Cummins Engine Company   Diamond Chain and Manufacturing Company   Delta Electric Company   Durham Manufacturing Company   Farnsworth Television and Radio Corporation   Haynes Stellite Company   Hercules Body Company   Horton Manufacturing Company   Howe Fire Apparatus   J.D. Adams Company   Kokomo Spring Company   Magnavox  
Muncie Gear Works   Pierce Governor Company   Portland Forge and Foundry   Reliance Manufacturing Company   Republic Aviation Corporation - Indiana Division   Ross Gear and Tool Company   S.F. Bowser & Co.   Sherrill Research Corporation   Tokheim Oil Tank and Pump Company   Warner Gear   Wayne Pump Company   Wayne Works

Commercial Truck and Fire Apparatus Manufacturers:  American LaFrance   Autocar  
Biederman Motors Corporation   Brockway Motor Company   Detroit General   Diamond T   Duplex Truck Company   Federal Motor Truck   Four Wheel Drive Auto Company(FWD)   International Harvester   John Bean   Mack Truck   Marmon-Herrington Company   Michigan Power Shovel Company   Oshkosh Motor Truck Corporation   Pacific Car and Foundry   "Quick-Way" Truck Shovel Company   Reo Motor Car Company  Seagrave Fire Apparatus   Sterling Motor Truck Company    Ward LaFrance Truck Corporation   White Motor Company

Aviation Companies:  Abrams Instrument Corporation   Hughes Aircraft Company   Kellett Aviation Corporation   Laister-Kauffman Aircraft Corporation   Naval Aircraft Factory   P-V Engineering Forum, Inc.    Rudolf Wurlitzer Company-DeKalb Division  Schweizer Aircraft Corporation   Sikorsky Division of United Aircraft Corporation   St. Louis Aircraft Corporation   Timm Aircraft Corporation

Other World War Two Manufacturers: 
Air King Products   Allis-Chalmers   American Car and Foundry   American Locomotive   American Stove Company   Annapolis Yacht Yard  
Andover Motors Company   B.F. Goodrich   Baker War Industries   Baldwin Locomotive Works   Blood Brothers Machine Company   Boyertown Auto Body Works   Briggs & Stratton   Caterpillar   Cheney Bigelow Wire Works   Centrifugal Fusing   Chris-Craft   Clark Equipment Company   Cleaver-Brooks Company   Cleveland Tractor Company   Continental Motors   Cushman Motor Works   Crocker-Wheeler   Dail Steel Products   Detroit Wax Paper Company   Detrola   Engineering & Research Corporation   Farrand Optical Company   Federal Telephone and Radio Corp.   Firestone Tire and Rubber Company   Fruehauf Trailer Company   Fuller Manufacturing   Galvin Manufacturing   Gemmer Manufacturing Company   General Railway Signal Company   Gibson Guitar   Gibson Refrigerator Company   Goodyear   Hall-Scott   Hanson Clutch and Machinery Company   Harley-Davidson   Harris-Seybold-Potter   Herreshoff Manufacturing Company   Higgins Industries    Highway Trailer   Hill Diesel Company   Holland Hitch Company   Homelite Company   Horace E. Dodge Boat and Plane Corporation   Huffman Manufacturing   Indian Motorcycle   Ingersoll Steel and Disk   John Deere   Johnson Automatics Manufacturing Company   Kimberly-Clark   Kohler Company   Kold-Hold Company   Landers, Frary & Clark  Lima Locomotive Works   Lundberg Screw Products   MacKenzie Muffler Company   Massey-Harris   Matthews Company   McCord Radiator & Mfg. Company   Metal Mouldings Corporation   Miller Printing Machinery Company   Morse Instrument Company   Motor Products Corporation   Motor Wheel Corporation   National Cash Resgister Company   Novo Engine Company   O'Keefe & Merritt Company   Olofsson Tool and Die Company   Oneida Ltd   Otis Elevator   Owens Yacht   Pressed Steel Car Company   Queen City Manufacturing Company   R.G. LeTourneau   R.L. Drake Company   St. Clair Rubber Company   Samson United Corporation   Shakespeare Company   Sight Feed Generator Company   Simplex Manufacturing Company   Steel Products Engineering Company   St. Louis Car Company   Twin Disc Company   Victor Adding Machine Company   Vilter Manufacturing Company   Wells-Gardner   W.L. Maxson Corporation   W.W. Boes Company   Westfield Manufacturing Company   York-Hoover Body Company   Youngstown Steel Door Company  
   

 Other Lansing Companies that contributed to winning World War Two
John Bean in World War Two
Recognizing a Company from my Hometown that contributed to winning World War Two
Lansing, MI (1915-1974)
1884-Current (As part of Snap-on)

This page updated 4-3-2022.

In 1884 the John Bean Spray Pump Company began operations  in Las Gatos, CA and produced piston pumps for spraying insecticides.  The company was named after John Bean who invented a better spray pump to combat the San Jose Scale, which was decimating fruit crops in California.  The San Jose Scale was an invasive species that arrived from China in flowering peaches in the 1870s.  By 1890 it had spread to all parts of the United States.  The pump was invented in 1883 by John Bean and was the first continuous action spray pump which allowed two men to be able to spray one acre in a day.

In late 1914 two representatives of the John Bean Spray Pump Company came to Lansing, MI to take delivery of a carload of gasoline pumps built by the Novo Engine Company.  While in Lansing, a meeting was arranged with the Chamber of Commerce.  In 1915, as a result of the meeting, the City of Lansing donated 4.5 acres of land on the northwest corner of Hazel and Hosmer Streets for John Bean to build a new factory.  The new factory, completed in 1915, was 60x120 feet in size and originally employed ten persons.  By the time World War Two began, it had grown to the size shown in the two Sanborn fire insurance maps shown next. 


This Sanborn Map is dated 1951.  In late 1945 John Bean purchased from the War Assets Administration one of the two plants that Nash-Kelvinator occupied during World War Two to build Hamilton-Standard aircraft propellers.  It was twice the size as the factory shown here.  Kold-Hold Manufacturing then occupied the former John Bean plant.  In the 1960s the Tranter Corporation of Lansing occupied this plant.  Today Michigan Imagery, which manufactures artistic metal signs, occupies the facility.  Old factories never die, they just get new tenants even 100 years after they were built.


This image shows the general location of the John Bean plant in Lansing during World War Two.  Its address was 715 East Hazel Street.  On the east side it was bounded by south Hosmer Street.  To the north of the John Bean plant was Dail Steel Products plant.  Not shown, but to the southeast diagonally across the intersection of Hosmer and Hazel was the Duplex Truck Company.

Lansing is my home town and in September 2021 I returned to photograph the former John Bean plant that made products to help win World War Two.


 East Hazel Street is on the left.  Directly behind me is the location of the former Duplex Truck plant.  Author's photo.


Author's photo.


This and the next photo were taken looking south from the north end of the plant along Hosmer Street.  Author's photo.


Author's photo.

In 1928 John Bean renamed itself the Food Machinery Corporation and used the initials FMC to identify itself.  During World War Two, FMC is best known as the original manufacturer of the LVTs used extensively by both the U.S. Army and USMC.  As FMC expanded and grew, the plant in Lansing became known as the John Bean Division of the company.

Because the sale of fruit sprayers is a seasonal business, in 1928 the company purchased several other companies to diversify the John Bean product line.  A wheel alignment company, a tire changer company, and an automotive brake drum lathe company were purchased.  The company also adapted its fruit sprayer for washing trucks and automobiles.

John Bean built fire apparatus in Lansing between 1939 and the late 1960s.  Then the business was moved to Tipton, IN and then to Orlando, FL in 1986.  John Bean ceased building fire trucks and apparatus in 1990.

In 1965 the John Bean Lansing plant had a diversified product line.  However, only 9% of the business for its 750 employees was fire equipment.  Agricultural equipment made up 55% and automotive products another 35%.  Irrigation systems and pumps made up the rest.  In 1974 the John Bean Lansing operation was closed and moved to Arkansas.  Today John Bean, owned by Snap-on, makes wheel balancers, tire changers, and wheel alignment equipment.

John Bean World War Two Production:  Table 1 shows that John Bean primarily produced decontamination and insect spraying equipment for the U.S. Army and U.S. Navy during World War Two.  This was 71% of the total major contracts the company received during the war.  After 1943 it was the sole producer of this equipment.  The remaining $29% was for crash trucks and fire equipment.  Using its own pumps, John Bean began building fire trucks in 1939 as another way of expanding the use of its pumps.  In 1940 its engineers developed the high-pressure fog system, which used less water to fight fires.  During World War Two John Bean was one of dozens of companies that produced fire apparatus for the U.S. military.  

Table 1 - John Bean Company's Major World War Two Contracts
The information below comes from the "Alphabetical Listing of Major War Supply Contracts, June 1940 through September 1945."  This was published by the Civilian Production Administration, Industrial Statistics Division.  Table added 4-3-2022.
Product - Customer Contract Amount Contract Awarded Completion Date
Decontamination Equip - Army $635,000 12-1941 8-1942
Pumps - Navy $91,000 6-1942 6-1942
Fire Equipment - Navy $313,000 9-1942 3-1943
Trailers - Army $155,000 11-1942 2-1943
Trailers - Navy $226,000 11-1942 5-1943
Chemical Equipment - Army $62,000 12-1942 5-1943
Fire Truck Parts - Army $834,000 1-1943 5-1943
Crash Units- Navy $1,408,000 3-1943 7-1944
Decontaminating Equip - Army $404,000 4-1943 7-1943
Decontaminating Units - Army $1,531,000 4-1943 12-1943
Decontam Trailers - Navy $133,000 4-1944 6-1945
Decontam Equip M3A2 - Army $1,178,000 4-1944 12-1944
Insect Sprayers - Army $255,000 6-1944 12-1945
Insect Sprayers - Army $165,000 7-1944 9-1945
Decontam Apprts Pts - Army $250,000 12-1944 8-1945
Decontam Apparatus - Army $198,000 12-1944 11-1945
Decontam Equip M3A1 - Army $204,000 12-1944 9-1945
Decontam Equip M3A2 - Army $123,000 1-1945 11-1945
Decontam Equip Pts - Army $288,000 2-1945 8-1945
Insect Sprayers - Army $227,000 2-1945 1-1946
Decontam Unit Parts - Army $70,000 4-1945 4-1946
Decontam Equip Pts - Army $70,000 6-1945 1-1946
Total $8,820,000    

John Bean built an unknown number of Class 125 fire trucks on International Harvester 1-1/2-ton 4x2 chassis for the USAAF for fighting aircraft fires.  The Bean Royal 55 pump was used not only in the units John Bean produced, but by all of the other fire apparatus companies building the same type of truck.

The most well documented fire apparatus John Bean made during World War Two were 1,080 trucks on International M-3L-4 1-1/2-ton 4x4 trucks for the U.S. Navy.  These were built under U.S. Navy contract NOA 397 for an amount of $1,408,000.  Dividing the 1,080 units into the total dollar value of this contract gives an average unit cost of $1,303.

 
U.S Navy Designation IHC Model Number Type and Body Manufacturer Wheelbase (Inches) Quantity IHC Serial Numbers
FFN-1 M-3L-4 (269) Crash (Bean) 139 400 2763-3162
FFN-2 M-3L-4 (269) Crash (Bean) 139 230 3563-3792
FFN-3 M-3L-4 (269) Crash (Bean) 139 450 3793-4242
Total       1,080  


This is what the John Bean-built fire apparatus looked like on the International 4x4 truck.  The FFN series contained a 435 gallon water tank, a high pressure John Bean pump, twin high pressure hose reels, and two John Bean fog nozzles.  All three types are essentially the same with the exception that the FFN-3 could produce foam.  The FFN-1 and FFN-2 could be retrofitted with a foam pump.  Author's photo.


Author's photo.


Author's photo.


This un-restored unit is in the parking lot of a military museum in Tennessee.  Author's photo.


  Author's photo.


Author's photo.


This John Bean FNN-3 fire truck is operated by the Commemorative Air Force's Ground Forces Detachment.  Photo courtesy of Commemorative Air Force's Ground Forces Detachment.


 Photo courtesy of Commemorative Air Force's Ground Forces Detachment.


 Photo courtesy of Commemorative Air Force's Ground Forces Detachment.

Other Lansing Companies that contributed to winning World War Two
 

 

 

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