The Steel Belt That Emptied Akron's Tire Plants (1965–1982)

Why did Akron, the Rubber Capital of the World, lose its big tire factories? What did four floors and a set of elevators have to do with it? At General Tire's old Englewood Avenue plant, about 400 workers reported for the last full production day on August 20, 1982. To understand how Akron reached that Friday, we go back to the turning drum: crossed layers of rubberized cord, steel-wire beads, and a raw tire shaped like a barrel. We follow the men who came from Kentucky and West Virginia to build them, the piece rates that set their pace, and the 1936 sit-downs that stopped the drums. Then Michelin's radial reached American drivers through the Sears catalog. Akron had a choice: adapt the equipment it owned or invest in a different way of building tires. In December 1972, Firestone approved $90 million for a new radial plant and $56 million to convert old ones. Ford and GM were waiting for tires. What would that commitment cost the company and the people on its payroll? Patent drawings, contemporary reporting, workers' recollections, and Donald Sull's study of Firestone's company papers let us follow the machinery and the money together. The account gives room to the workers, the companies' decisions, and both sides of the Firestone 500 dispute, leaving viewers to weigh the evidence. 0:00 The Last of the Dinosaurs 3:07 A Canal Town Learns Rubber 6:54 The Barrel and the Doughnut 11:14 Six Hours at the Drum 14:39 Michelin Comes to America 18:30 The Belt That Won't Stretch 21:56 The Firestone 500 Gamble 25:07 More Miles, Fewer Tires 29:24 The Last Full Shift 31:13 A Man and a Turning Drum Selected sources Mike Casey, United Press International — A city grappling with the agony of change (1982) Mike Casey, United Press International — America's Big Five tiremakers survive radial revolution (1984) Tim Moran — The Radial Revolution (2001) Donald N. Sull — The Dynamics of Standing Still: Firestone Tire & Rubber and the Radial Revolution (1999) Rose Pesotta — Bread upon the Waters, chapter 19: Vulnerable Akron (1944) Tom Jones — The 'Hillbilly' Migrants Who Made Akron, Ohio the World's Rubber Capital (2017) Yanick Rice Lamb, Center for Public Integrity — It was the Rubber Capital of the World. The health consequences linger. (2022) Firestone Tire & Rubber Co. — US Patent 4,314,864, Method and apparatus for building a tire (1982) B.F. Goodrich Co. — US Patent 4,614,562, Tire building machine with rigid radially expansible drum (1986) TIME — Business: Total Recall (1978) This documentary is for historical information and is not financial advice. Some scenes are illustrated with reconstructions. #Akron #IndustrialHistory #BusinessHistory About this film: some scenes are AI-generated reconstructions, used only where no original footage or photographs exist, and they are marked on screen as reconstructions. The narration is an AI voice. The script is researched and fact-checked against the sources listed above.