Weyerhaeuser Pulp Mill log dump — 6/1972 — #59772-9_1
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Photograph Copyright Anderson & Middleton Company
United States — Washington (State) — Cosmopolis
Weyerhaeuser Co.
Thanks to Sam Talley, who adds: "On summer breaks from college I'd work at the Cosmopolis pulp mill and would sometimes ride around with the operators of these loaders or stackers. They were LeTourneaus built in Troutdale, Oregon. The huge steering tires were controlled by small electrical switches instead of a steering wheel. They could lift a whole load of logs with ease. Back in the 1960s the retread tires cost $2,000 ea. The truck drivers had to be in plain sight of the operator at all times and must wear a hardhat."
Talley continues: "In all the photos you see of people working in the woods prior to the late 1940's, few if any of the people will be wearing hard hats or 'skull buckets' even though hard hats were invented in 1898. In 1938 aluminum hats were invented but they had a big drawback. Aluminum is a good conductor of electricity so these 'tin hats' did not catch on with loggers until the late 1940's or early 1950's. It was at that time that the loggers learned a good hard hat could protect them from 'widow makers' or branches falling from high up in trees. During this time plastic ones were invented and made in different colors. Traditionally, white was for supervisors, blue for technicians, red for safety personnel, and yellow for laborers. Many loggers in Grays Harbor continue to prefer the metal hats which are still available for about $75.00 each, considerably more than the plastic ones. This writer started bringing home hard hats found in the woods, at garbage dumps, along roads, on fence posts etc. about 40 years ago and I now have about 200 of them in all different colors and styles. The aluminum ones are my favorites."
