Reliance Manufacturing Company During World War Two
Washington, IN Plant
1924 earliest known date-19xx

This page added 11-4-2024.

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. 

As early as 1924, Reliance Manufacturing Company had a plant in Washington, IN, but also had factories in other southern Indiana towns.  These were Bedford, Columbus, Edinburgh, Loogootee, North Vernon, and Seymour.

Reliance Manufacturing Company had a shirt making factory in Washington, IN from an unknown date early in the 20th Century.  The first evidence of a factory in Washington is the March 24, 1924 article in the Indianapolis Star. 

The article notes that the company's original factory was 60 x 120 feet in size and located in the city's business district.

This plant and the additions noted below were at a two story plant located at Van Trees Street and NE 4th Street.  The plant was razed in 1979 and is now a parking lot.   

Shown here are reproductions of 1935 era Big Yank work shirts like those manufactured at the Reliance Manufacturing Company plant in downtown Washington, IN. 

This Evansville Press article of 1-30-1930 indicates a new company was formed to finance a new Reliance factory building in Washington, IN. 

This Indianapolis Star article from 11-21-1941 notes that the Reliance Manufacturing Company had acquired a second plant in Washington, IN for the manufacture of 10,000 parachutes.  This was the former Corcoran toy factory located on NE 21st Street.  This plant still exists and has been documented by the author in the "Plant Photo" section of this webpage.

Currently, it is unknown where the original factory or factories for Reliance Manufacturing Company were located in Washington. 

This World War Two worker recruitment advertisement indicates the company had two plants in Washington during World War Two.  The company named them the Liberty and Victory plants.  The original factory complex at Van Trees Street at NE 4th Street was the Liberty Plant and the Victory Plant was located on NE 21st Street.

Reliance Manufacturing Company, Washington, IN Plant World War Two Products:  The two plants in Washington, IN had a total of $34,892,000 in wartime contracts.  Parachutes and parachute components totaled $34,056,000 or 97.6% of the total contacts.  The Reliance Manufacturing Company located in Washington, IN was the largest producer of parachutes during World War Two.  It produced more parachutes than the several dedicated parachute companies that existed previous to the beginning of the war.  This is another example of a company making a product for the war effort that was totally different than its previous peace time product.  In this case, the two Reliance Washington, IN plants converted from work shirts to parachutes.  In the process, the Washington plants became the largest producer of parachutes required to help win World War Two.

In 1941, as the company began production of parachutes, it employed 400 workers. 

This Reliance Manufacturing Company Parachute was built in Washington, IN on March 19, 1943.  Author's photo. 

Markings on the parachute show that it was built under contract W535-AC-26572.  Table 1 shows this was a $10,024,000 contract released in April 1942.  This was the single largest contract the company had during World War Two at its Washington plants.  It represented 29% of the total World War Two major contracts for this location.  This parachute was photographed in the former military museum located in Auburn, IN.  The museum has since closed and auctioned off its vehicles and displays.  It is unknown where this parachute is currently located.  Author's photo.

The Daviess County Museum located in downtown Washington, IN is one of best local community museums I have visited.  There are quite a few of these museums throughout the United States.  Due to their size and local content, they are many times overlooked by the public.  I find them to be most informative and in many cases, better than the larger well publicized museums.

The Daviess County Museum has on display this 1952 Reliance Manufacturing Company-built parachute.  This indicates that the Washington plant continued making parachutes after the war or restarted production for the Korean war.  Author's photo.

The museum personnel were kind enough to remove the parachute from its display so I could photograph it.  Author's photo.

Author's photo.

Author's photo.

The date of manufacture was February 2, 1952.  This particular parachute was used to drop cargo containers.  During World War Two, the Washington plants had several contracts for these types of parachutes.  Author's photo.

This Reliance-built B9 parachute was manufactured in Washington, IN between June 1944 and January 1945. 

Contract 33038-AC-3610 was valued at $200,000. 

This Reliance A-4 parachute was also built under contract 33038-AC-3610.

Reliance Manufacturing Company Reproduction Parachutes:  Because Reliance was the largest of the World War Two parachute manufacturers, Reliance-named parachutes are a prime candidate for a current reproduction parachute for museum display.  I have found two of these to date.

This reproduction is on display at the Champaign Aviation Museum in Urbana, OH.  Author's photo. 

This is not the material used for the parachute packs during World War Two.  Also, it is just too clean and neat to be 80 years old.  Author's photo.

Author's photo.

Author's photo.

This parachute appears to be part of an entire World War Two reproduction paratrooper's uniform.  All of the components look brand new.  Author's photo.

Author's photo.

Author's photo.

Near the end of World War Two, Reliance in Washington was awarded two contracts for M1943 field jackets.  Below is an M1943 field jacket similar to the ones the Reliance Manufacturing Company of Washington, 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 Washington, 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. 

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 Washington Factory:  Reliance Manufacturing had two plants in Washington, IN.  The first was built before 1924 at the intersection of Van Trees and NE 4th Streets, for the manufacture of work shirts. This plant was razed in 1979.  There are two possible locations where the plant may have been, as shown below.  This was the Liberty plant during World War Two.

With the original plant being razed in 1979, there are two corners where it could have been.  The southeast corner of the intersection where the plant was, now has a parking lot located there.  Image courtesy of Google Maps.

The northeast corner now has the county jail located there.  This structure is of more recent design and build.  The former Reliance plant could have also been located on this corner.  Image courtesy of Google Maps.

The second plant that was occupied for the manufacture of parachutes was located at what is currently NASCO Industries on NE 21st Street in Washington, IN.  This plant's history is well documented.  This was the Victory plant during World War Two.

Originally, the plant was built by Corcoran to make toys.  The top photo shows the plant looking northwest and the bottom image is looking southwest.  This this how the plant looked during World War Two when operated by Reliance.  Image courtesy of Daviess County Museum.

After World War Two and the end of the war contracts, Reliance no longer had need for the second plant on NE 21st Street and vacated the building.  In 1950, US Rubber purchased the plant and made significant additions to the plant.  US Rubber made raincoats in the factory.   US Rubber added the high bay building on the west end of the factory.  Image courtesy of Daviess County Museum.

U.S. Rubber added a powerhouse to the facility.  Image courtesy of Daviess County Museum.

 US Rubber added a fence to the facility.  Image courtesy of Daviess County Museum.

The next several images show the current condition of the factory as owned and operated by NASCO Industries.  The cyclone fence is gone.  The front office building has a new look with a different roof and a change in the windows.  The powerhouse building is minus its original chimney.  The high bay addition can be seen towards the rear of the facility.  Author's photo. 

This section of the current plant is where Reliance manufactured parachutes during World War Two.  Author's photo.