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  
   

 Reliance Manufacturing Company During World War Two
Kokomo, IN Plant
1933-1951

This page added 3-14-2023.

Below is an M1943 field jacket similar to the ones the Reliance Manufacturing Company of Kokomo, IN made during World War Two. 

The M1943 field jacket shown below was worn by Captain Laurent Arthur Charbonnet when he commanded Company F, 350 Regiment, 88th Division.  My father was in the 349th Regiment of the 88th Division.  This field jacket is on display at the National WWII Museum in New Orleans, LA. 


The U.S. Army Field Jacket:   I still have the one I was issued on January 4, 1972.  While I have several other winter coats in the closet, when it gets really cold out in the dead of winter, I pull out my army issue field jacket for the extra degree of warmth it provides.  My 1972 field jacket is a modernized version of the M1943, like the Reliance Manufacturing Company in Kokomo, IN made to help keep soldiers warm during World War Two.  On my newer version, the lapel is not as wide, and the buttons have been replaced by Velcro and button snaps.  It is an ageless and functional design.  Strangely enough, it was designed by a committee after it was found early in the war that the M9141 Parson's jacket was not providing the required warmth and was not resistant to rain and wind.  The Quartermaster Corps initiated a group of advisors that included garment industry representatives.  The result was a new field uniform that included the field jacket, liner, hood, and field trousers.  Committees are infamous for not being able to accomplish anything.  In this case, the committee got it right. 

The Reliance Manufacturing Company originated in Chicago, IL in 1898 for the manufacture of clothing.  The company expanded to such an extent that by the beginning of World War Two it had eighteen factories in nine different states, making everything from parachutes to trousers and shirts.  During World War Two the Reliance Manufacturing Company was the largest supplier of parachutes to the United States Military. 

The Kokomo, IN location opened in 1933 for the manufacture of women's dresses.  The plant was located at the former Apperson Brothers Automobile Company on north Washington Street.  The main reason given for the closure of the Kokomo plant in 1951 was that the plant could not compete for workers in the Kokomo area which had both Chrysler and General Motors operations.  At closure, the plant had a work force of 250.  During the peak operations of World War Two, that number reached 1,200. 

Reliance Manufacturing Company Kokomo Plant World War Two Products:  Reliance Manufacturing Company of Kokomo, IN had four major contracts for M1943 field jackets, totaling $528,000 or 18% of Kokomo plant's total of $2,977,000 major contracts.  The U.S. Army also ordered $110,000 worth of pajamas.  These may well have been for patients in Army hospitals, as pajamas are not normally issued to soldiers. 

$2,339,000, or 79% of the major contract were from the U.S. Navy for fabrics, canvas products, and ordnance research.  In June 1946, the U.S. Navy Ordnance Department awarded the Reliance Kokomo plant for work done on the $232,000 contract issued in July 1945.  This project for Naval Ordnance was still considered secret in June 1946, so the details about its purpose still could not be released.  What is known is that the project involved enough nylon for 15,000,000 pairs of women's hose in the world's largest sewing project.  The Kokomo plant and three employees were recognized for their effort on this project.  One of the reasons for the recognition of Kokomo Reliance was the fact that other sewing companies, when approached with the project, turned it down as being impossible. 

Table 1 - Reliance Manufacturing Company's Major World War Two Contracts - Kokomo, IN Plant
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. 
Product - Customer Contract Amount Contract Awarded Date Completion Date
Pajamas - Army Quartermaster Corps $110,000 12-1942 8-1943
Field Jackets - Army Quartermaster Corps $93,000 4-1944 10-1944
Field Jackets M1943 - Army Quartermaster Corps $93,000 11-1944 3-1945
Field Jackets M1943 - Army Quartermaster Corps $92,000 1-1945 6-1945
Fabrics - Navy $935,000 4-1945 7-1945
Field Jackets M1943 - Army Quartermaster Corps $250,000 5-1945 9-1945
Ordnance Research  - Navy $232,000 7-1945 6-1946
Canvas Products - Navy $1,172,000 7-1945 11-1945
Total $2,977,000    

 

Table 2 - Total World War Two Production of M1943 Field Jackets - All Manufacturers
Year Quantity
1943 275,000
1944 7,470,000
1945 6,224,000
Total 13,969,000

Production of the M1943 field jacket began in September with 2,000 manufactured.  Production quickly ramped up each month until production peaked in June 1945 with 1,056,000 manufactured. 


This M1943 field jacket is part of the displays at the National Museum of the United States Army at Fort Eustis, VA.  The cuff buttons on the jacket identify it as World War Two era vintage.  Later versions used Velcro to secure the cuffs.  Author's photo.


The M1943 field jacket was also provided to the soldiers in the Korean War.  This diorama at the National Museum of the United States Air Force depicts the radio operator wearing a 1943 field jacket.  Author's photo.

The Reliance Manufacturing Company Kokomo Factory:  The factory was located at 1723 North Washington Street in Kokomo.  A Google satellite view of the location shows this being an empty field.  This has been the case since 1993 when the factory located here was razed.  Originally, it was the home of the Apperson Brothers Automobile Company that went out of business in 1926.  The factory was next occupied by the Wolfe Manufacturing Company for the manufacture of radio cabinets.  In 1933 Reliance took over operation of the facility until it left in 1951.  In 1953 the Delco Electronics Division of General Motors began making circuit boards in this plant as its Plant 5.  Operations in the plant ceased in 1991 and the plant was razed in 1993.


Image courtesy of Google Maps.


This is a 1923 Apperson that came out of the factory doors on North Washington Street three years before the Apperson Brothers went out of business.  This particular vehicle is a six-cylinder touring sedan.  Author's photo taken at the former Kokomo Automobile Museum.


This 1916 Sanborn insurance map shows the layout of the factory. 

 

 

 

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