Tarter Source

The closing scene of The Weakly Reporter, the 1944 Warner Brothers cartoon that takes a satirical look at U.S. home front activities during WWII, closes with a sign on the door of the office of Henry J. Kaiser: “Back in 2 Min. Out to Launch.”

The reference is to industrialist Kaiser who built ships at a record rate during the war. Henry J. Kaiser, whose company had helped build the Hoover, Bonneville and Grand Coulee dams in the 1930s, had never constructed a ship in his life before 1940, noted Dwight Jon Zimmerman for the DefenseMediaNetwork.

“Before Kaiser entered the business ships were constructed from the keel up by one crew of workers; a process that took as long as six months. Kaiser adapted mass production techniques to shipbuilding, instituting modular construction and assembly techniques in which the ship sections were welded together instead of riveted,” wrote Zimmerman.

“Between 1941 and 1945, 18 American shipyards, either Kaiser’s or using Kaiser’s shipbuilding techniques, turned out 2,751 Liberty ships, easily the largest class of ships ever built…One yard crew set a record in November 1942 when it built a Liberty ship Robert E. Peary in four days and 15 ½ hours,” Zimmerman stated.

But along with applying new approaches to shipbuilding; Kaiser hired women and African Americans in his shipyards—along with providing medical coverage for his workers.

Eastine Cowner was a former waitress who worked at Kaiser’s shipyard in Richmond, Calif. during WWII.

The methods Kaiser developed for mass production are still in use today, noted the California Museum in its inclusion of Kaiser in its California Hall of Fame, adding:

“After the war, (Kaiser) set his sights on other industries, including mining, steel and aluminum production, chemicals, automobiles, electronics, and aeronautics. But his greatest legacy may be his contribution to the health care industry. Kaiser understood the value of maintaining a good partnership with labor and of caring for his employees’ welfare. In 1938, he offered employees the world’s first prepaid health plan and in 1942 he founded what would become Kaiser Permanente, the nation’s largest health maintenance organization (HMO). In 1948 he established the Henry J. Kaiser Family Foundation, a non-profit organization that addresses the major health care issues facing the world.”

Henry Kaiser may have been the most inventive and industrious industrialist that the United States—or the world—has ever seen. A workaholic who abhorred meetings, Kaiser was known to push those around him to keep up.

Among the people he collaborated with at various times in his life were construction tycoon “Dad” Bechtel, earthmoving equipment inventor Robert LeTourneau, architects Franklin Lloyd Wright and Buckminster Fuller, movie producer Mike Todd, Howard Hughes, auto designers Frank Hershey and “Dutch” Darrin, Dr. Sidney Garfield and bandleader Guy Lombardo who enjoyed speedboat racing with Kaiser.

Ever since fighter pilot Eddie Rickenbacker wrote about flying cars in a 1924 edition of Popular Science, the public has been waiting. Leave it to Henry Kaiser, who initially backed the infamous Hughes Spruce Goose airplane concept, to take on the challenge after WWII. His Fleetwings 51, “a new concept in aviation—four passengers side-by-side” never left the ground but he was in there planning, nonetheless, contemplating some 5,000 mini-airports nationwide.

Kaiser never stopped innovating. After the war, he also tried his hand with cars from 1946 to 1955. His Kaiser models made an impression on the market, offering intriguing designs along with safety features. He couldn’t match the Big Three, however, when it came to marketing and distribution.

Henry and his wife retired to Hawaii. Only he didn’t stop developing ideas—or property. Understanding that jet travel would soon make Hawaii a favored destination, he developed the Hawaiian Village Hotel in Honolulu with Fuller’s geodesic dome next door.

I found this tidbit online (in a 2020 Facebook post from Ted Atlas): “As a master of synergy, Kaiser used his relationship with ABC president Leonard Goldenson to air Hawaiian Eye in 1959.” The detectives in the series coincidentally operated out of the Hawaiian Village Hotel (sold to Conrad Hilton in 1961).

Kaiser died at the age of 85 in 1967. Among the quotes attributed to him, I like this one: “When your work speaks for itself, don’t interrupt.”