something a bit odd here

 In 1918 James A. Malarkey bought a Portland wood mill-work company for $600, which covered the total buyout plus outstanding bank debt. In 1955 (seven years after Malarkey died) the company sold for fifty million and was the largest manufacturer of plywood and doors in the world.

The shop was powered by an old Corliss steam engine, and they produced marine items such as "spruce deck plugs, locust belaying pins, wooden pulleys and mast hoops (oak rings to which rigging was attached).

 After World War I shipbuilding in Portland declined, Malarkey began searching for new products to manufacture. Electric irons were just coming into high use, and an ingeniously simple, folding, wooden ironing board had been invented. On contract, M and M began manufacturing the patent ironing boards, becoming almost overnight one of the largest producers in the country.

As the 1920s advanced Americans began to take to automobiles, which were wood-framed, and far more vulnerable to weather than now (waterproof plywood had not been invented), and needed garages.

 Houses until then did not have garages, and as fast as automobiles were built, garages were built. Garages needed doors, and James Malarkey stepped up to fill the need. Garage doors led to the manufacturer of house doors, and by the end of the twenties, Malarkey was among the major producers in the Pacific Northwest."

"The United States entry into World War II found M and M with modern and highly efficient plants able to supply the war effort with plywood for PT torpedo boards, crash boats, aircraft rescue boats, assault boats, minesweepers, landing barges, export freight cars, airplanes and pontoon bridges and treadways."

Thanks Steve!

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