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1941: Wartime Drives Community Commitment
Amidst global changes, creative solutions offered stability where it mattered most
Sorting peas, fireproofing cattail fluff: these may not be traditional jobs for a lumber company, but they’re a noteworthy piece of Marvin history. Amidst a changing economy during World War II, Marvin stayed true to its values, maintaining its commitment to meaningful employment, and to its community of Warroad, Minnesota. Here we revisit the story of the wartime ingenuity that made this consistency possible and how the same commitments drive the company today.
As the United States entered World War II, the nation was called to service. Marvin family members did their part to answer that call, both individually and as a company. Four of company founder George G. Marvin’s sons — Jack, Tut, Frank, and Cal — enlisted to fight for their country in various branches of the U.S. armed forces. At their urging, Bill remained in Warroad to help his father run the business during the war.
Across the country, industries shifted focus to support wartime needs. Though Marvin, which at the time operated as a lumber company, had recently begun exploring the possibility of manufacturing windows, plans were put on hold. Marvin adapted to support the war effort and ensure that Warroad would continue its recovery from the Great Depression. The company had made it through the 1930s without laying off a single employee — and now, they’d find a way to bring even more meaningful and stable/reliable employment to their community.
Contracts secured by George and Bill offered job opportunities for Warroad-area residents — many of whom were women, as many women sought employment to support their families when men had been called to war. In 1942, Marvin contracted with the U.S. Department of Agriculture to produce prefabricated granaries for use in building up the country’s food reserves. The following year, Marvin began making ammunition boxes and food containers, and a new contract found workers harvesting cattail fluff from nearby Lake of the Woods and fireproofing it for use in aircraft seats and life preservers.
Perhaps the most unique contract fulfilled during wartime involved a familiar name: Campbell's Soup Company. In 1945, Campbell’s sought partners in its mission to produce the greenest pea soup possible. George G. Marvin purchased peas from local farmers and employed sixty new workers to sort through each harvest by hand, discarding lighter colored peas and keeping only the greenest for soup production.
To George and Bill, it didn’t matter whether these contracts had business in lumber. Their priority was to serve their country and their community through whatever means possible. It wasn’t about what would change during the war, but rather what would remain constant for generations to come: a commitment to Marvin’s employees and to the community of Warroad.
Today, Marvin is a national manufacturer with nearly 9,000 employees in sixteen locations. Despite this transformation, five generations of family ownership and leadership have maintained the same commitment to Marvin employees and to the Warroad community that still remains the company’s headquarters today.
The creativity modeled decades ago continues to inspire generations of Marvin leadership to think differently and to maintain what sets the company apart: its promise to put people first.