1937
In 1937, Bootz began manufacturing products that were as hard-working as the men and women that build them. William R. Bootz purchased the assets of Crescent Stove Works in Evansville, Indiana, and began manufacturing sheet metal stampings and sheet metal assemblies.
1937
1939
1939
The day was September 1, 1939. Under the Third Reich, Germany invaded Poland, igniting the official start of the Second World War – the largest and bloodiest war in world history, leaving an estimated 50,000,000-70,000,000 deaths in its wake.
1940
Officially entering the conflict after declaring war on Germany on September 10, 1939, Canada’s historic role in the Battle of the Atlantic and military campaigns in western Europe proved critical. From 1939 to 1945, more than one million Canadian men and women in served in the war efforts.2
1940
1941
1941
Though the United States wouldn’t enter World War II until December of 1941, it issued its first peacetime draft in 1940, requiring all men between 21 and 45 to register for military service. From farmlands, cities, and small towns alike, millions headed to basic training to become soldiers, sailors, and pilots.1
1941
On December 7, 1941, Japan’s attack on the U.S. naval base at Pearl Harbor – resulting in the death of 2,403 American civilians and military personnel – marked the United States’ official entry into the war.3
1941
1942
1942
By January 1942, one month after the attack on Pearl Harbor, U.S. automobile, aircraft, and consumer product manufacturers answered their nation’s call to action and began retooling production to supply U.S. forces with military equipment.4
Industry giants such as Oldsmobile and Studebaker produced millions of military munitions, planes, ships, tanks, and armored vehicles during the early 1940s.4
1942
As fate would have it, Wm. R. Bootz Manufacturing Company in Evansville, Indiana joined these industry giants, creating one of the oldest and most important war factories in the Midwest. Retrofitting its manufacturing in 1942 to supply the U.S. Army and Navy with bomb racks, practice bombs, cooking equipment, and army field range fire units, the output proved so valuable that the company received the nation’s highest official recognition for outstanding wartime production.
1942
1942
1942
Wm. R. Bootz’s historic achievements helped shape the future of North America. American Bath Group is proud to share in the history and feats of Wm. R. Bootz Manufacturing – today known as Bootz Industries.
1942
These were the men that shaped today’s North America. They fought together for something truly meaningful – bound by a cause greater than themselves. Together, they achieved greatness.
1942
