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July 1942. "An electric arc welder at a large Southern boatyard examines a bead he has just run on a steel ramp boat which will be used in making beach landings of men, tanks, and other equipment on hostile shores. Higgins Industries, New Orleans." Photo by Howard Hollem, Office of War Information. View full size.
Seems like everybody looked like Joseph Gordon Levitt back in those days.
The WWII museum in New Orleans is located in the Higgins Main Office Building. A well worth visit if you are in the Big Easy.
Mr. R.K. would be wise to pull that pocket flap back over the opening of his pocket! He has a natural funnel for collecting red-hot sparks.
That welding electrode in his "stinger" is an uncoated variety used before today's newer flux-coated rods were developed that help stabilize the arc and make for a cleaner, less porous weld.
It was very difficult to master, especially for "out-of-position" welds where the bead had to be run at odd angles.
That's a Higgins PT boat in frame right behind the subject. Higgins was second to Elco of New Jersey in number of PT boats produced during WWII.
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