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  Christmas decorations like this banner from the

  50's graced the front of the black buildings at

  404 Forest Lane, home of U.S. Steel's Oilwell

  Supply division. This plant originally produced

  drilling equipment and pumps, but was

  subsequently acquired by Marmon Motor

  Company for truck manufacturing. Now,

  remodeled, it has become the International

  Garland Assembly Plant.

  Paper Drives, such as this one ca. 1942, among

  employees at the Southern Aircraft

  plant, now IMCO, gave civilians an extra

  opportunity to support the American effort

  in WWII. Other collections to address

  wartime shortages focused on rubber, textiles,

  fountain pens, various metals and blood.

  Bluebonnet Ice Cream and Bluebonnet Sweet

  Cream Butter were produced at the Garland

  Creamery, pictured here in ca. 1940 on the SE

  corner of State and Fifth Streets. Affiliated with

  adjoining Zero Locker Storage plant, the

  creamery produced and delivered products in

  trucks like this one to grocery outlets within

  the region.

          Two models of Intercontinental Tractors appeared

         in the post-war product mix of Intercontinental

         Manufacturing Co., successor to Southern Aircraft

         Corporation. While most operated on gasoline, diesel

         and kerosene versions were also available. Production

         halted in 1955.

        The Flying Car, seen around the Southern Aircraft Plant

        in Garland immediately after WWII, was a prototype

        called the Southern Roadable. With attached wings, tail

        and propeller, the 1800-pound vehicle could fly at up to

        128 mph. The rudder control activated its clutch and

        brakes for highway driving. SAC was unable to meet

        development schedules, and the unit was returned to

        its designer in California.
 

     Varo, Inc.’s Stratoline ran on a single overhead track

     and was billed as a “horizontal elevator.” In 1971,

     DFW Airport officials rejected Varo’s monocab proposal

     in favor of automated surface trains serving its terminals.

     Plagued by a lifetime of complaints, those trains were

     scheduled for removal in 2005.

    A monorail demonstration track once stood north of the

    Varo Inc. building on Walnut St. Pictured here ca. 1970,

    the track carried "monocab" units marketed by Varo

    as the Stratoline. The site is now partially occupied by

    the east parking lot of Baylor Hospital.