“FOR SOME MONTHS,” THE MAGAZINE ENTHUSED in January 1952, “Road and Track [the “&” came along in mid-1954] has been off-handedly touting the virtues of a much under-rated and (we think) wrongly publicized American product: Kaiser-Frazer’s baby—the Henry J.”
Heritage First. Let’s break this up into Parts 1 and 2 today and tomorrow. U.S. industrialist Henry J. Kaiser was a hero for his early opposition to German aggression in WWII and for his shipyards also established before U.S. involvement in the hostilities.
Henry John Kaiser, 1882–1967, American industrialist, shipbuilder, automaker, healthcare pioneer.
Wikipedia notes that his company “had been building cargo ships for the U.S. Maritime Commission in the 1930s. In 1940 he served as National Chairman of United Clothing Collection for International War Relief.”
The Kaiser Shipyards. Wikipedia continues, “Kaiser fought Hitler far more directly with what he is most famous for: the Kaiser Shipyards in Richmond, California; during World War II adapting production techniques to enable building cargo ships with an average construction time of 45 days.”
Above, the SS John W. Brown Liberty ship. Below, the SS Red Oak Victory ship. Images, respectively, from Project Liberty Ship and Leonard G; both via Wikipedia.
“These ships became known as Liberty ships,” Wikipedia recounts, “and were later supplemented in the mid-war period by improved, larger and faster Victory ships. He became world-renowned when his teams built a ship in four days. The keel for the 10,500-ton SS Robert E. Peary was laid on Sunday, November 8, 1942, and the ship was launched in California from the Richmond Shipyard#2 on Thursday, November 12, four days and 15 1/2 hours later.”
Kaiser Permanente. “At Kaiser Shipyards in Richmond, California, Kaiser implemented the pioneering idea of Sidney Garfield for a prepaid hospital financing plan. Opened on August 10, 1942, Kaiser Richmond Field Hospital for Kaiser Shipyards was financed by the U.S. Maritime Commission, sponsored by Henry J. Kaiser’s Permanente Foundation, and run by Garfield. By August 1944, 92.2% of all Richmond shipyard employees had joined Kaiser Permanente, the first voluntary group plan in the country to feature group medical practice, prepayment, and substantial medical facilities on such a large scale. After the war, the Health Plan was expanded to include workers’ families.”
Image from proxibid.com.
Kaiser-Frazer Automobiles. As Wikipedia recounts, “In 1945, Kaiser partnered with veteran automobile executive Joseph Frazer to establish a new automobile company from the remnants of Graham-Paige, of which Frazer had been president…. The Henry J was built by the Kaiser-Frazer Corporation and named after its chairman, Henry J. Kaiser. Production of six-cylinder models began in July 1950, and four-cylinder production started shortly after Labor Day, 1950. Official public introduction was September 28, 1950. The car was marketed through 1954.”
Image from ’56 Packardman.
And to RandT, January 1952: “We picked up the car on a Friday afternoon, drove it to the magazine offices, loaded it with equipment and four people and took off for Reno and the Reno Road Races. And when we say ‘took off’—brother, we took off!”
“In fact,” RandT continued, “we drove the little car all the way to Reno and back to Los Angeles via the most circuitous route—flat out. 1400 miles were collected on the odometer in this floorboarded condition and the car consumed a little less than one quart of oil.”
Tomorrow in Part 2, we’ll hear more from these lead-footed folks. ds
© Dennis Simanaitis, SimanaitisSays.com, 2024