Gerald Smith works on a 37mm gun mount for use in World War II.
A photo of York Safe & Lock's Gerald Smith illustrated my column in the York Sunday News showing how owner S. Forry Laucks revved up his company to gain World War II defense contracts.
It drew a neat e-mail from Gerald's daughter, Joyce Fix:
I would like to thank you for the article on the York Safe and Lock. The photo that was printed was of my Dad who is now 93 yrs. old. He called me and told me to read your article and see if I recognize the fellow in the photo... it brought back a lot of memories for him, right down to where he purchased his high waisted trousers. He later went on to work at BMY until his retirement.Here's another thing. The photograph was part of a wonderful series taken by Office of War Information photographers during the Depression and war years. Factory owners gave the government photographers access to their factories during days when America was assembling its war machine.
To see additional WWII photographs from York County, some of which appeared in my book "In the Thick of the Fight," see http://memory.loc.gov/ammem/fsaallquery.html and search for York County, Pennsylvania.
Here's a second photo of Mr. Smith, giving another view of those high-waisted trousers.
An Office of War Information photographer wrote this caption: "Assembling weapons for Victory to be used by the armed forces."
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