Ford Motor Company employees paint and finish United States Army Brodie-patterned M1917 helmets at a factory in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania during World War I. Factory workers working in assembly line. Worker hammers a bolt in the center of the helmet. A worker attaches chin strap into the helmet. A machine attaches a bolt into the chin strap. Helmets are prepared for the paint tank. Workers dip helmets into paint tanks. Men wipe off helmets to remove a coat of tallow applied to prevent rusting. Helmets placed on rack, dipped in paint tank, and hung to dry on stands. Helmets are treated with sawdust applied with air pressure (“sawdusting”). Workers are seen wearing goggles as they apply sawdust in helmets. After applying sawdust, racks of helmets are placed in bake oven. The workers close the bake oven door. Workers sort and stack new helmets. Military and quality control personnel inspect helmets carefully. Finished U.S. Army helmets put into wooden crate and shipment lid placed onto it. Helmets are packed with air pressure. Crates stenciled, seals soldered, and crates fastened with wires. A man places a receipt on top of helmets before another man seals the crate. Wooden crates piled up for shipment. [Note: This was filmed at the Ford Motor Company assembly plant on Broad Street and Lehigh Avenue in Philadelphia. Helmet shells were manufactured by other firms and sent vie rail to the Ford plant where they were painted and finished. This video depicts that finishing process.]
Testing and demonstration of Renault FT tanks at Locomobile Automobile plant in Bridgeport, Connecticut. Three Renault tanks are tested (two without turrets). They maneuver about in a field and through mud and obstacles. Two enter a body of water. One, with a turret, manages to negotiate the water and climb out. The other, lacking a turret, must be pulled out with a tow line. One tank climbs a ramp to the top of a flat bed truck, which them pulls away. (World War I; World War 1; WWI; WW1)
Renault FT Light Tank being tested in woods at U.S. Locomobile Automobile Company Plant in Bridgeport, Connecticut, during World War 1. A driver gets into the tank and drives it through heavy underbrush and over small sapling trees in the woods. At the end of the tests, the driver exits the tank and shakes hands with a U.S. Army officer. The driver maneuvers the tank up a ramp and onto a carrier truck bed. He climbs out of the tank and closes the hatches. (World War I; World War 1; WWI; WW1)
Testing and demonstration of ordnance material in Bridgeport, Connecticut. Mark VIII tank of World War I tested in Bridgeport, Connecticut. Tank moves in high gear as it undergoes a speed test. It climbs down ramps and runs cross country. Tank moves on a forest road as a car follows it. (World War I; World War 1; WWI; WW1)
Testing and demonstration of ordnance material in Bridgeport, Connecticut. Mark VIII tank of World War I tested in Bridgeport, Connecticut. Tank smashes apple tree during a tree smashing test to test its traction power. Tank moves over a 14 feet obstruction trench from the flat side. Tank moves over a trench from mound side during a climbing test. Mark VIII climbs over a stone wall. (World War I; World War 1; WWI; WW1)
Testing and demonstration of ordnance material in Bridgeport, Connecticut. Mark VIII tank of World War I tested in Bridgeport, Connecticut. Tank moves down a slope to exhibit its rolling resistance and ease of control in stopping and turning. American soldiers gather around the tank. Tank moves across a mounted stone wall. (World War I; World War 1; WWI; WW1)
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