The Griffin Fuel Company was one of the largest fuel delivery companies in Western Washington, with one
office in Tacoma and another in Seattle. Griffin promised prompt and speedy delivery 24 hours per day. This exterior view of the Griffin Fuel Company shows how coal piles were loaded into fuel delivery trucks.
A Barber-Greene lifting conveyor utilized a series of buckets to elevate the stoker coal to a standard belt conveyor, which discharged into the dump trucks. Barber-Greene was founded in 1916 and specialized in standardized material-handli
ng machines to mechanize small manual tasks. The box of the dump truck was in turn separated into compartments, so trucks could make multiple deliveries of typically one ton of coal. Two laborers operate the machinery, one of whom holds a shovel to level the coal with the top of each compartment.
The Griffin Fuel Company sign can be seen in the background to the right. A railcar is seen above the coal bins to the left. This photo was used as an advertisement in the January 7, 1949 issue of the Tacoma News Tribune with the ad copy reading “Be Safe . . . with Aberdeen.” Aberdeen was a branded type of oil-treated Utah stoker coal balanced for cleaner burning and more heat.
This photo number A37482-1 was taken by the Richard Studios of Tacoma three days before the ad appeared.
