Perhaps the P stands for Plywood?
1948 is before google, so you need to look at a book.



"greg" wrote in message
...
I have an historical query.

In renovating an old Australian house we removed some lacquered 1948
plywood covering original 1900 dado. On the back of this plywood were
stamps saying J.P.I.B. Passed and Inspected (and the date 8.8.1948),
along with a sticker saying it was made by a company in Osaka, Japan
whose name starts with TOYO... and ends with ...D CO., LTD (Toyota Wood?
- half the sticker is missing).

JPIB is now a Japanese bank created in 1999, but what did those letters
stand for in 1948? Was it something like Japan Primary Industries Board?
Japan Prison Industries Board? What? It's rather interesting history - I
had no idea Japanese plywood was exported to Australia only two or three
years after the end of WW2 - must have been part of post-war
reconstruction by the West?

Greg