JO-HAN Molds?

[tim boyd]

Great story. As for most of the employees being women ,I hate yo say it bet women made less money per hour than men.

I worked at a factory that had some injection molding presses,and it's still mostly women.

From what I recall of the AMT plant in Troy, the majority of the assembly plant workers (e.g, those working on the molding machines), were women. TB

[GeeBee]

From what I recall of the AMT plant in Troy, the majority of the assembly plant workers (e.g, those working on the molding machines), were women. TB

Back in the early 90's I took a tour of the Ertl plant in Dyersville, Iowa, I returned the following following year to do the same,this time it was to take photos and write an article of Ertl and it's history for the Truck Model World magazine, I never gave itmuch thought back then, but reading this made me rrealise that nearly everyone on the factory floor was a woman ...

[lordairgtar]

I work in a factory that makes wiring harnesses. I'm the only male on the floor. Women can multi task which means they can inspect parts and build and sort at the same time. Has nothing to do with getting them to work cheap. I am the longest employed worker and thusly I make more, but my female supervisor makes more than me. They all start at the same wage, get the same bennies and have the same oportunity for raises. A lot of the stories you hear about women getting less pay is because of averages. Most women occupy service jobs like wait staff, barrista work, maids and things like that. In industry, they are pretty much equal, especially in union plants. Women execs can and do make as much as men.

[Craig Irwin]

Every job I've ever had had one pay rate, man or woman. And I'm 60 years old and moved around.

[Casey]

I was driven a few blocks over to the injection molding plant, an old building with no sign to indicate what it was. Most of the workers there were women, which was a bit of a surprise to me. I watched some of the operations, but production wasn't exactly booming there in 1976. They were working the machines and pulling parts off of the molds. I don't recall if any assembly was going on.

Though this image appears to have been taken earlier than '76, it does seem to support what Jim said, and specifically for JO-HAN:

Jim, could you possibly recall the molding plant location if you looked, say, at a Google Map of the area?

[Motor City]

Though this image appears to have been taken earlier than '76, it does seem to support what Jim said, and specifically for JO-HAN:

Jim, could you possibly recall the molding plant location if you looked, say, at a Google Map of the area?

Hi Casey,

No, I don't recall exactly where it was. It was no more than a couple of short blocks away from the headquarters. It only took a couple of minutes, at most, to get there.

Jim

[Bob Ellis]

In general, women have better motor skills using their hands. While the women may not be as strong, their ability to assemble small pieces is much better than men. I know of one case where they tried to use men for a particular job only to find they could not replace the women.

[1962Savoy]

Very intresting to get leads from "insiders" of the hobby, Gives us a much clearer view over the "shady" existence of JoHan.

Since the mid 90's, so many "rumours" have been floating around.

......Is the Johan Bldg on Moran St. still standing?...........remember the bldg was located in a rough Detroit neighberhood!

.............Should I build my '60 Desoto kit

The Johan building is gone and so is everything else around it but a few houses.

Heres some insder pics to enjoy.

[jbwelda]

interesting photos! whats with those circuit boards in that one photo? did JoHan also etch boards at that facility?

it looks like in one of those factory shots maybe there is a school tour going through at the time...at the front of the table is a little girl and off to her right looks like a bunch of classmates. Or maybe they were the kids of the mothers working there!

jb

[Tom Geiger]

I'm wondering if that last shot is Johan. Look at the cars, they appear to be early 50s Chevys and look like they have a bank slot in the top... thoughts?

[pack rat]

I'm wondering if that last shot is Johan. Look at the cars, they appear to be early 50s Chevys and look like they have a bank slot in the top... thoughts?

Definitely '54 Chevys. PMC maybe?

[Ridge Rider]

interesting photos! whats with those circuit boards in that one photo? did JoHan also etch boards at that facility?

It appears to be a pneumatic setup for pressing wheels on the axles. Interesting pictures-thanks for sharing

[lordairgtar]

I worked in a plastic molding factory before my time at Custom Wire. The shop was spotless. Those old JoHan pics look like they never introduced Mrs Floor to Mr. Mop.

[Motor City]

That looks like Bob Tate standing next to the rack.

[Rob Hall]

I worked in a plastic molding factory before my time at Custom Wire. The shop was spotless. Those old JoHan pics look like they never introduced Mrs Floor to Mr. Mop.

Maybe OSHA standards were more lax in the grainy black-and-white era.

[Eshaver]

Jo han was very much doing "Job work " for several outside firms in the early 1980's . I had friends within General Motors confirm that , and they weren't assembly line personnel . In addition , Jo han also did some arm rests for Chrysler as they had access to the chrome plating machines too.

[Tom Geiger]

Maybe OSHA standards were more lax in the grainy black-and-white era.

Yup! OSHA didn't exist until 1971. In the previous 100 years it was 'anything goes'! I've worked mainly for large pharmaceutical companies that go way overboard on procedure and safety, and that's a good thing. Some of the stuff I've seen outside of it is just crazy unsafe!

[Tom Geiger]

Jo han was very much doing "Job work " for several outside firms in the early 1980's . I had friends within General Motors confirm that , and they weren't assembly line personnel . In addition , Jo han also did some arm rests for Chrysler as they had access to the chrome plating machines too.

I understand that Johan was pretty much a side business for John H. His main business was contract runs of injected molded parts for the auto industry. Perhaps that explains some of the odd color plastic runs on kits.. pellets left over from a run of arm rests?

I also heard that in later years that they Johan line wasn't a full time thing. When things got slow in the main business, he'd ferry a group over to the Johan plant to do busy work.

[Casey]

https://www.motorcities.org/story-of-the-week/2015/the-history-of-jo-han-models

 

https://www.antiquetoyworld.com/steve-butler/focal-point-b-f-goodrich-tire-service-truck-johan-c-1958/

Edited July 19, 2018 by Casey

[DumpyDan]

On 2/6/2018 at 9:27 PM, Casey said:

http://www.motorcities.org/Story/The+History+of+Jo+Han+Models+br+By+Robert+Tate+Automotive+Historian+Researcher+br+Images+Courtesy+of+Robert+Tates+Collection+Dennis+Doty+Model+Car+Journal+br-415.html

 

https://www.antiquetoyworld.com/steve-butler/focal-point-b-f-goodrich-tire-service-truck-johan-c-1958/

That was a great read, thanks Casey

[Casey]

On 2/21/2014 at 2:53 PM, GeeBee said:

Back in the early 90's I took a tour of the Ertl plant in Dyersville, Iowa, I returned the following following year to do the same,this time it was to take photos

Do you still have those photos, Geoff?

[GeeBee]

10 hours ago, Casey said:

Do you still have those photos, Geoff?

More than likely, all my old negatives are stored away, but as we're doing a little remodelling in the home, everything have been put up in the attic, here's the article I wrote for Truck Model World magazine

Edited August 21, 2018 by GeeBee

[Mike999]

On ‎2‎/‎27‎/‎2014 at 7:36 PM, Bob Ellis said:

In general, women have better motor skills using their hands. While the women may not be as strong, their ability to assemble small pieces is much better than men. I know of one case where they tried to use men for a particular job only to find they could not replace the women.

Another fun Zombie Thread resurrected!  I heard this story when I lived in Egypt: 

"Carpet schools" are a big thing in Egypt.  In theory, they're places where orphans and poor kids spend half the day learning to weave carpets, and the other half going to school. But according to some Egyptian folks, in practice they're really sweatshops right out of Charles Dickens.  The kids do a lot more work than schooling.  The rugs they weave are sold to tourists for lots of money.  I saw some priced at more than $10,000 US.  All the carpet schools have a showroom where tourists can buy the product, after a short tour of the carpet school/factory.   

For many years, girls were banned from attending the carpet schools. Again, according to actual Egyptian people, girls were considered "too stupid" to learn weaving, and they didn't need no education, as Pink Floyd says.  Then they were finally allowed in.  Because of those better motor skills, smaller hands, and ability to concentrate, they were soon out-producing the boys.  Then the boys naturally complained about the girls showing them up, and wanted girls re-banned. Which didn't happen, since by then the girls were too valuable as weavers. 

[Oldcarfan27]

On 3/1/2014 at 12:46 AM, Ridge Rider said:

It appears to be a pneumatic setup for pressing wheels on the axles. Interesting pictures-thanks for sharing

I need one of those, I hate doing that part!

[Casey]