Old School Women in the Fastener Industry

20 acres of land are up for sale in Gary, Indiana where the Screw & Bolt Company was located. This company opened its doors in 1912 and lasted until 1986.  Thanks to the property going up for sale, and the archivists at Ancestry.com, we get to see some of the coolest old photos of people selling nuts & bolts - just like we do but decades ago!  Take a look at these photos. (The historical images below of the Gary Screw & Bolt Company are from the Calumet Regional Archives, Indiana University Northwest. The photos were taken in 1956.)

Due to the war, women filled the warehouses! They packed, weighed and labeled everything.

I pose with my product too!
"Big or Small - we have it all."

And look at those old kegs made of wood.

From an article in the Chicago Sun Times about the Gary Screw & Bolt Company:

"One of the city’s biggest employers, the plant opened in 1912. During World War II, it became a significant defense contractor, producing 4,000 tons of bolts, nuts and rivets, rods and fasteners. By the mid-1950s, the plant employed about 900 workers. It fell upon hard economic times in the 1980s and closed in 1986."

That's their history in a nutshell (the other kind of nut.)