Known today as PSF Industries, Inc., and PSF Mechanical, Inc., Puget Sound Sheet Metal Works Company was founded in 1900 by Edward Hite, Robert S. Raven, and Joseph W. Callahan and incorporated in 1902 as Puget Sound Sheet Metal Works, Inc. (PSSMW) by Raven, Hite, and David Bowen. PSSMW began as a sheet metal and roofing company, but over the course of its history the company was involved a wide variety of projects, including the manufacture of stainless steel brewing equipment beginning in the 1930s and special train cars to transport 747 parts.

This image shows employees outside of the company's building at 3631 East Marginal Way. During World War II, this plant turned out fabrications of sheet metal, steel plate, and structural steel for the shipbuilding industry, defense industry, aircraft industry, and the U. S. Army and Navy. Of note in this image is the predominance of female employees. American women entered the workforce in unprecedented numbers during World War II, as widespread male enlistment left gaping holes in the industrial labor force. “Rosie the Riveter,” star of a government campaign aimed at recruiting female workers for the munitions industry, became perhaps the most iconic image of working women during the war.

This image is part of an album containing 71 photographs concerning PSSMW’s history.

Caption information source: The First One Hundred Years: History of PSF Industries, Inc. and PSF Mechanical, Inc., by Nile Thompson