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Paging Rosie: 1942
... by a woman worker." (With, yes, a power drill.) 4x5 Kodachrome transparency by Alfred Palmer, Office of War Information. View ... wanted to have a flashy but technically incorrect picture, and endangering the quality of his nice new aircraft section in the process. ... 
 
Posted by Dave - 08/21/2012 - 8:34pm -

October 1942. "Douglas Aircraft plant at Long Beach, California. An A-20 bomber being riveted by a woman worker." (With, yes, a power drill.) 4x5 Kodachrome transparency by Alfred Palmer, Office of War Information. View full size.
Staying feminineLove the lipstick. 
RivetingShe must be just posing since where she is about to drill has already been riveted. Love the color! 
Compressed AirRosie is using a pneumatic (air-powered) drill, for those of you who care about such things.  Pneumatic hand tools are preferred in dusty settings where a motor spark can cause explosions.  Kudos to all the Rosies, including my grandmother.
A-20 "Havoc"Built by Douglas also converted to a night fighter P-70, sold to eight other countries, the Brits called it the Boston, even the Russians used them, they were called The Box, 7,478 were built, the cost of each aircraft was $74,000.
What's the problem, anyway?Before you can buck a rivet you do have to drill a hole. 
However, I rather hope that lady didn't inadvertently press the button on that drill, or at least its hose wasn't hooked up. Because another hole in this otherwise rather complete looking section would seem to be a bit superfluous. 
I can imagine the shop foreman grinding his teeth about those stupid press freaks who wanted to have a flashy but technically incorrect picture, and endangering the quality of his nice new aircraft section in the process.
By the way, if I had to guess I would place the lady in or near the center wingbox. 
Poor RosieWow!  Drilling in these close quarters without eye protection.  Not a good idea.
These gals did a tremendous job mobilizing America when it needed it the most.  I doubt if we could do that any more.
One of the lesser known planes.A friend's father flew one over the Pacific during the war. I was given his flying boots that show the wear and tear from the long hours spent flying missions. They are in excellent condition considering their age. I hold them in highest regard.
Keep 'em flying!I will always be in awe of the Greatest Generation.  While the boys were away fighting Hitler, Mussolini and Tojo, women like the one pictured here kept them armed and ready to take the battle to the enemy.  God bless 'em all.
Black & DeckerShe is using a Black & Decker 1/4" electric drill. You can see the electric cord hanging down. Those holes were not drilled in that position. They were drilled in the shop on a jig. Yes, it was a Photo-Op.
For the War EffortMy Mother worked as a Rosie at Willow Run, (now a defunct GM plant) and it was through that job that she met the man who became my Father. Ironically, he worked at Willow Run after the war. 
I think that's an electric drillThe housing is too fat for a pneumatic. An electric drill contains a big motor and gearbox. A pneumatic contains a turbine, and that's it. Note the slots just aft of the chuck, for cooling the motor. Also see the rubber cone strain relief on the cord, where an air tool would have a quick-release fitting. I'll admit the oversize cord does resemble an air hose.
She is wearing what I think of as "old lady pants", mainly because old people often continue to wear what they liked when they were young, without regard for current fashion. My memory for such things only goes back to about 1974, and both of my grandmothers wore pants like this. They were born eleven years apart, but both would have been the right age to work in this factory. 
Built 'em and flew 'emIn 1955, 32-year old civilian pilot Diana Bixby died in a borrowed A-20 when it ran out of fuel and she crashed in the Pacific off Baja, Mexico. She was well-known back then, having attempted a round-the-world flight in a De Havilland Mosquito with her husband but ending in India with engine trouble. Btw of the 7000+ A-20s built only 15 airframes or so survive, and I don't think there are any flyable. The A-20 was a single-pilot airplane and with a 385-mph top speed was relatively fast for the early 1940s.
Great Aunt Pinky's PlantMy great-aunt Pinky (she had red hair, thus the nickname) worked in that plant. She drafted rivet layouts for the workers to follow when building the planes. After the rivets were placed, she checked that they were placed correctly and were secure.
During the war, the entire plant was covered with camouflage netting. When photos of it were posted on barnstormers.com last year, I asked my cousin, her daughter, if Pinky had ever told her about the netting. Indeed, my cousin already knew all about it, but none of the younger generation in our family had ever seen a picture of it until last year.
During this same period, Pinky was going to Long Beach Community College at night to take classes to further her career as an engineer. She was an early trailblazer on that path for her gender, and worked for many years at Westinghouse among a department that was otherwise entirely male.
Rosie the RefinerWonderful picture. My Grandmother worked at the Shell refinery in Houston during this period making the AV gas for these planes. She was a Rosie the Refiner. She met my Grandfather there at the refinery (he was hit by friendly fire so was already home from the war).
(The Gallery, Kodachromes, Alfred Palmer, Aviation, WW2)

Rosie Takes a Break: 1942
... heavy bomber form the background." View full size. 4x5 Kodachrome transparency by Alfred Palmer. Is that... the same girl as in ... sandbags"? [It is indeed. - Dave] The Socks And I love the red socks! The perfect touch for the photo, just like Nat'l ... 
 
Posted by Dave - 07/27/2012 - 12:26pm -

October 1942. "Noontime rest for an assembly worker at the Long Beach, Calif., plant of Douglas Aircraft Company. Nacelle parts for a heavy bomber form the background." View full size. 4x5 Kodachrome transparency by Alfred Palmer.
Is that...the same girl as in the picture titled "Madonna of the sandbags"?
[It is indeed. - Dave]
The SocksAnd I love the red socks! The perfect touch for the photo, just like Nat'l Geographic used to do (still does?), a bit of red in every image.
WowAfter all the comments on differing ideas of feminine beauty, this picture is a stunner!  You ought to put it in the pretty girls gallery.
The coloursThe vibrancy of the colours in this picture are an advertisement for Kodachrome, even if there's been work done  on them. The vibrancy of the blues and the reds, not to mention the colour of her blouse - absolutely stunning. And she ain't bad either - every time you run one of these pictures of women war workers I end up falling in love with women who were born before my 78-year-old mother.
I'll second that"every time you run one of these pictures of women war workers I end up falling in love with women who were born before my 78-year-old mother."
Absolutely. These womenfolk are examples of true, timeless beauty.
Amazing ClarityAlthough everyone rightly raves about the colors from these old Kodachromes, what amazes me is the absolute clarity of the pictures even when viewed full size.  This is an aspect of the large format (4x5) combined with, I'm sure, some very expensive glass.  I can't even imagine what the megapixel equivalent would be, if you could even get this clarity with a digital camera.
(The Gallery, Kodachromes, Alfred Palmer, Pretty Girls, WW2)

The Ladies Who Lunch: 1943
... Marcella Hart is at left, Mrs. Elibia Siematter at right. Kodachrome transparency by Jack Delano for the Office of War Information. ... Also note the mason jars to carry a beverage and the wax paper used to wrap food. Locomotive Wiper "a Wiper's job was ... 
 
Posted by Dave - 06/08/2017 - 8:42pm -

April 1943. "Women workers employed as wipers in the roundhouse having lunch in their rest room, Chicago & North Western Railroad, Clinton, Iowa." Marcella Hart is at left, Mrs. Elibia Siematter at right. Kodachrome transparency by Jack Delano for the Office of War Information. View full size.
Painted nails!I love the lady with the red bandana has her nails painted!
Thermos BottlesInteresting that two of them have matching Thermos bottles . . . blue with red stripes. Wonder what they had in them, something cold or hot?
Wiper's JobAccording to a Google search: a Wiper's job was to pack the internal moving parts of a steam locomotive with wads of greasy gunk. Sounds like that would make for a long day in the roundhouse.
This is real "Rosie theThis is real "Rosie the Riveter" stuff! Marcella - what a gal!
LUNCH PAILSNote that the majority of the lunch pails are wartime non-metallic.  Also note the mason jars to carry a beverage and the wax paper used to wrap food.
Locomotive Wiper"a Wiper's job was to pack the internal moving parts of a steam locomotive with wads of greasy gunk."
Not exactly.  An engine wiper's primary job was to "wipe down" the locomotive.  Coal-burning locomotives were obviously dirty, and the soot settled on the boiler jacketing and cab roof.  A wiper cotton waste (basically stringy offal from textile production) dipped in a light oil to remove the soot.  S/he also swept cinders off the "running boards" (the walkways alongside the boiler) and the tender deck, and cleaned the running gear motion.
Wonderful character studyThis is another wonderful shot of railroaders. There is lots of character and determination in those faces - wives, mothers, grandmothers. They look relaxed but "all business" at the same time. Patriotism in 1943 wasn't just a popular phrase back then - you lived it! 
America Fights a WarThis picture powerfully shows the way everyday Americans fought a War to Win it.  Ten years earlier these ladies most certainly did not work down at the shop.  Every family was somehow touched by the War effort.  A sharp contrast to today's wars intimately touch maybe one in ten families.  The rest have yellow ribbons and "Support the Troops" bumper stickers as their sacrifice.   
Interesting lunchpailsI have never seen this type of lunchpail before. It looks like some WW II item that was created for consumer usage  to save metal for the war industry.
Great photoThanks Dave for posting that again. Long been one of my favs, as others have said it oozes character and the type of arduous work many people toiled at during the War. Those Thermos bottles were standard accompaniments every day for millions of US workers. Probably these had hot (warm by noon) coffee or tea, sometimes soup. They'd just barely stay warm til noon. These wipers got quite dirty every day, so surprising their clothes weren't very dirty yet. But hands and fingernails were.
Wiper in actionAlso from 1943 in Clinton, Iowa: https://www.shorpy.com/node/21255.  Perhaps this woman wiping the window is one of our lunch ladies?
Paging Norman RockwellThis looks like something he would have painted during the war.
Waxed PaperYou fold it up, take it home in your lunch box, and use it for the next several meals.
(The Gallery, Kodachromes, Jack Delano, Railroads, WW2)

Wright Cyclone: 1942
... motor at North American Aviation in Long Beach, Calif." Kodachrome transparency by Alfred Palmer. View full size. Rosie the ... her sister. RH - LH The motors are marked "833 LH" and "333 RH" which I'm certain means they are bound for the same aircraft, left ... 
 
Posted by Dave - 05/10/2017 - 12:19pm -

June 1942. "Inspecting a Cyclone airplane motor at North American Aviation in Long Beach, Calif." Kodachrome transparency by Alfred Palmer. View full size.
Rosie the riveter?Nope.  This is her sister.
RH - LHThe motors are marked "833 LH" and "333 RH" which I'm certain means they are bound for the same aircraft, left and right handed, but can someone more knowledgeable inform me - would they have been counter-rotating, that is one a clockwise and one a counter-clockwise rotating engine? Are they mirror-images in terms of exhaust placement, etc?
One Way OnlyAll of the Cyclones turn the same way, so there isn't a left handed engine. However the accessories are not identical. One might have a hydraulic pump where the other has a generator etc, so there IS a difference in RH and LH engines on the same airplane.
Counter Rotating Engines on AircraftSeveral aircraft had counter rotating engines.  The best known was probably the P-38 Lightning.  The idea was to reduce torque steer if an engine failed during take off.
Oppostie-Rotation ReduxA little more than torque involved, getting into the interaction of prop vortices and wings.
In any case, opposite rotation engines are the exception rather than the rule, and all of the US radial engines turned the same direction. Interchangeability and commonality was deemed far more important than any gains from an LR engine.
The P-38 is one of the few widely produced exceptions (and was offered to the RAF in a version with both engines turning the same direction)
P 38Not so much eliminating torque steer, but more making the effects on either engine the same, so no "critical engine".  The other big advantage of counter-rotating engines was a lack of torque effects with power changes in combat.  The P38 was jet like in this regard in being free of rolling or slewing effects with power changes.  A very advanced airplane in spite of development troubles; in some ways the P38 was the F22 of its age (and similarly expensive).
(The Gallery, Kodachromes, Alfred Palmer, Aviation, WW2)

Avenging Angel: 1942
... motor, Douglas Aircraft Co., Long Beach, California." Kodachrome by Alfred Palmer, Office of War Information. View full size. ... 3 ladys also installing engines, you wouldn't be that clen and neat or wearing a loose hanging sweater and rings on your fingers doing any ... 
 
Posted by Dave - 02/15/2019 - 9:13pm -

        "Now I am become Death, the destroyer of worlds."
October 1942. "Woman at work on bomber motor, Douglas Aircraft Co., Long Beach, California." Kodachrome by Alfred Palmer, Office of War Information. View full size.
Recently spotted on PBSNo, but she's the spitting image of Ruth Gemmell who played a similarly aged woman in a 1940 UK setting ~73 years later.
Rosie the Riveter?As part of our world war II time line - we could include the working women who built the machines to doom Hitler.
[This one is more Ruby the Ratcheter - Dave]
Engine installerFor one thing, I think this picture is posed as well as the other one with the 3 ladys also installing engines, you wouldn't be that clen and neat or wearing a loose hanging sweater and rings on your fingers doing any type of engine or mechanical work. Safety would require anyone to remove those items to prevent getting stuck on the equipment or any FOD (Foreign Object Damage) to engines while being assembled.
[As we have pointed out elsewhere, most of the Palmer photos were posed. Some were used as studies by illustrators painting recruitment and bond drive posters. - Dave]
It's the Wright engineAfter it's first startup a piston engine will never again shine so pretty. Looks like a Wright Cyclone R-2600, 1,600 hp beast mounted on Douglas' A-20 Havoc. 
(The Gallery, Kodachromes, Alfred Palmer, Aviation, WW2)

Take Me to Your Welder: 1942
... for a ship." A definite 1950s sci-fi vibe here. 4x5 Kodachrome transparency by Alfred Palmer, Office of War Information. View ... of "our boys" overseas, the ladies picked up the slack and did and admirable job of it! [The workers in this series of ... 
 
Posted by Dave - 11/27/2012 - 10:36am -

June 1942. "Combustion Engineering Co., Chattanooga, Tennessee. Welder making boilers for a ship." A definite 1950s sci-fi vibe here. 4x5 Kodachrome transparency by Alfred Palmer, Office of War Information. View full size.
Rosie, is that YOU?This is probably a woman welding. With most of "our boys" overseas, the ladies picked up the slack and did and admirable job of it!
[The workers in this series of Combustion Engineering photos by Alfred Palmer are all big burly men. - Dave]
(The Gallery, Kodachromes, Alfred Palmer, WW2)

We Met at Work: 1942
... performs many important tasks for the Army. It ferries men and cargo across the oceans and mountains, tows gliders and brings paratroopers ... equipment to scenes of action." View full size. 4x5 Kodachrome transparency by Alfred Palmer for the Office of War Information. ... 
 
Posted by Dave - 03/19/2016 - 10:02am -

October 1942. "Riveting team working on the cockpit shell of a C-47 transport at Douglas Aircraft Company, Long Beach, Calif. The versatile C-47 performs many important tasks for the Army. It ferries men and cargo across the oceans and mountains, tows gliders and brings paratroopers and their equipment to scenes of action." View full size. 4x5 Kodachrome transparency by Alfred Palmer for the Office of War Information. Happy Valentine's Day from Shorpy!
The planeThe plane in question is the cockpit windscreen of a C-47 transport, the plane that dropped paratroopers into Normandy in advance of D-Day.
[Indeed it is. A second photo of the riveter (see above) correctly identifies the plane. I fixed the caption, thanks. - Dave]
This picture is fake.Erm ... you might want to point out that this photo is
a) not vintage
b) staged
c) very much modern
d) not any of the things you say it is.
For example, the film is wrong. She's wearing purple socks. That dude would be IN THE WAR. Her  rivet gun isn't attached to anything, and is the wrong make and model, not to mention about twenty years beyond the correct kind. That's not the cockpit of a B-25. her shoes are wrong. his pants are wrong. that's not how airplanes are made.
Come on. Seriously. It's a decent picture, but to claim that this is 'vintage' is utter bullshit.
------------------------------------------------------------
[A not unusual comment from people who are
a) new to the site
b) ignorant of the history of photography
c) possibly ignorant in general.
(There is a (d) but this is after all a family newspaper.)
Alfred Palmer's large-format Kodachromes for the Office of War Information weren't "staged," they were posed, as studies for recruitment posters, exhibits, etc. It is one of many hundreds in the Library of Congress FSA/OWI archive. As for the riveter on the right, there were of course thousands of young men engaged in factory work during WW2 who were deferred from military draft because they were doing essential war work. And the woman's rivet gun is indeed attached (see below). As for the the plane not being a B-25, the commenter was right about that. It's a C-47. - Dave]

InterestingI've always been amused to see that the ladies in most of these pictures have quite obviously reapplied their lipstick for the camera.  This one did not - and it sort of makes me wonder and giggle a little.  Did she not want to be seen doing so in front of her male colleague?
Wannabe photo expertThat's Kodachrome for you.  A youngster that thinks he knows everything simply cannot accept film reproduction this accurate, that long ago.  Clearly this person has just stumbled upon a site he knows nothing about.
Also, his accusations are ludicrous given what David Hall does for a living "off-line," where personal credibility must exist before anything said or written can be believed.
Very funny post, that.
Foy Blackmon
Interesting ReasoningAs a mere dabbler in the study of history, I was previously unaware that:
- Purple socks had either not yet been invented, or were banned from civilian use for some obscure wartime purpose
- The war resulted in the complete absence of all males from the industrial workforce.
Thank you, anonymous scholar, for your insights!
Those kids think they are smarter than us...>>That dude would be IN THE WAR.
That dude might had flat feet or tunnel vision. There were several men classified unfit for the duty, they didn't go home and cry about it. They went to contribute the war effort by working in the factories.
Amusing AssumptionHa! That assumption made a few posts ago is actually pretty funny. It reminded me of a Calvin & Hobbes comic from several year ago in which Calvin is looking at some old family photographs. He asks his father why the old photos are all black and white and only the newer pictures are in color. His put-upon father, acting as my own father did on occasion, explained to him that back then, color hadn't been invented yet. Not just color film, but actual color. Sky, grass, hair, skin and clothing only existed in various shades of gray so that's how it showed up in old photos, movies and TV shows. I'm sure Calvin's mom eventually straightened them both out.
As incredible as digital photography is, it's not really as big an improvement as it's been made out to be. Mainly it's just faster, and that's all that seems to matter much anymore. Working with film had a learning curve, you had to study what you were doing and over time you developed a skill that you didn't previously possess. Well geez...who's got time to screw with that anymore. You can just take a shotgun approach to photography now and if things still don't look right you can pump it up with editing software.
So when a beautifully lit, sharply focused, highly detailed, well composed, color saturated photo is seen now some people are going to assume that it had to have been taken recently and digitally manipulated. Because it looks so much better than the pictures they're taking with their cell phones.
Look at a zoomed in crop of the woman's ear in this picture. You can tell that the back lighting is actually passing through her ear. Her ear isn't just reflecting light, it's glowing. Many modern cameras are capable of recording this kind of subtlety and detail as well, but this photo says so much more about the photographer than the type of camera or film he used. That's not to say that these guys didn't have their own bag of tricks for developing and printing their photos that made them even more eye catching, but they didn't tend to be pasted together from the best parts of two or three individual shots.  
One of the joys..of coming to this site, beyond the fantastic pictures, are the intelligent comments that often reveal even more about the subject. It is just as enjoyable to see comments that do exactly the opposite, and the ease with which the audience can put them in their place. 
Beautiful picture, BTW. My great aunt was a "Rosie" and I have a whole photo album of her and her 'girlfriends' whooping it up in their off-time in exotic Wichita, KS (well, exotic when you've come from Sapulpa, OK, I guess).
Re: Not how airplanes are made.Yes it was, and still is.
Look up "bucking bar".
You'd be surprised how hand-built even the most complex airliners are.
Mom Bucked RivetsMy mother got her start at Boeing in the 1960's bucking rivets just as depicted in the photo.  Only it was her holding the bucking bar, and the guy held the riveter.
This picture is a fake?Blame it on digital photography.  Kids today are so used to digital photography, they have no idea as to the quality of film.  As a professional photographer, digital doesn't come close.  Most people today only use digital because it's faster, cheaper and uses less light.  Digital is based on the amount and quality of the mega pixels, the size of the sensor and the size/quality of the lens.  Film has many more variants; in the film alone the size, grain, speed all make a difference.  Not to mention the camera, lens, etc.  And the other submitter's right about the light and the ear, there's a big difference in the way film and digital captures light.  Lastly, bobby sox were popular in many different colors (including purple) during the war, my mom had a drawer full.
Pomposity deflatedThis series of posts perfectly displays one way the site is so edifying and entertaining.  Dave posted a beautiful, educational photograph, made an educated guess at the background and then graciously accepted a correction to a detail. He and others, in scholarly, civil fashion then made mincemeat out of a pompous nincompoop. Made. My. Day.
[As for me making a guess at the background, I just copied the LOC caption info. Which turned out to be wrong about what kind of plane this is. - Dave]
How planes are made    Yes this is how it is done still. It might surprise anyone who does not work in manufacturing how labor intensive building airplanes or most anything still is. Yes we have come a long way but there is no substitute for the human touch.   
KodachromeI realize I am 8 years late to the party here, but one big thing in favor of a "historic" interpretation of this photo is how the reds just "pop" at you.  You'll see it in any National Geographic from the early 1960s or before--back into the 1940s--or any color film of that period as well.  
I bet there's a digital camera filter to get that effect, too (boy that would be fun), but it's a nice little "tell". 
(The Gallery, Kodachromes, Alfred Palmer, Aviation, WW2)

Doing Her Part: 1942
... October 1942. "Rita Rodriguez. Production of B-24 bombers and C-87 transports at Consolidated Aircraft, Fort Worth, Texas." 4x5 Kodachrome transparency by Howard Hollem for the Office of War Information. ... 
 
Posted by Dave - 08/30/2012 - 4:43pm -

October 1942. "Rita Rodriguez. Production of B-24 bombers and C-87 transports at Consolidated Aircraft, Fort Worth, Texas." 4x5 Kodachrome transparency by Howard Hollem for the Office of War Information. View full size.
Always in my underwear ...... I find little paper notes that say "Inspected by No. 17." So she's the one!
Heavy DutyThose must be some industrial strength skivvies, Yoda.
Wheel of FortuneSo, what manufacturer of machine tools has a company name that ends in Y?
Kent-Owens Horizontal MillAccording to this guy selling the identical horizontal mill on eBay, these are Kent-Owens No. "O" machines.
http://cgi.ebay.com/KENT-OWENS-HORIZONTAL-MILL-14-X-36_W0QQitemZ37010447...
If these old machine tools could speak, what stories they could tell.
OuchAs Safety and OSHA Compliance Officer at my workplace and the son of a retired shop teacher, my first reaction was "Safety Glasses!" Just looking at all of the metal particles on the machine and her apron makes my eyes hurt.
[If there were something in the vise and if Rita were really working instead of posing, she'd be wearing goggles. - Dave]
Pratt & Whitney Machine ToolsTwo possible machine tool companies ending in "y" - Pratt & Whitney and Lodge and Shipley. (Pratt & Whitney machine tools is very distantly related to Pratt & Whitney div of UTC which makes aircraft engines).
I believe the Ft Worth factory is still in use, producing F 16s and F 22s. It's owned by the US govt and currently operated by Lockheed. According to an article on the web, the plant occupies 7 million square feet which I calculate to be about 175 acres!
[The name looks like it ends in "AY," or maybe "MY." Then something ending in "AS" or "MS" under that. - Dave]

LightingDave. do you think that was a flash that was used for lighting or daylight from a nearby window?
[Neither. Probably floodlights. - Dave]
U.S. Machine ToolsFor the third time, it's a U.S. Machine Tools mill. A pretty positive ID can be seen towards the bottom of this thread.
Now it's quite possible, if not probable, that USMT was a dealer/seller rather than the manufacturer, but it's not a Kent-Owens.

Viva RitaThis is great. You don't see too many Latinos represented in media of this era. Who would have thought that Rosie the Riveter's real name was Rita Rodriguez.
K&TCould this milling machine be a Kearney & Trecker?
[As noted below, the letter before the Y seems to be an A or an M. - Dave]

Fark FactoryFarked again.
Machinist's realitiesI'm sure she worked her butt off for the effort, but this is obviously posed, my shop aprons lasted about five minutes in that pristine condition. Plus the lack of, even then, federally mandated safety equipment is a sure sign of war time photo-op. Horizontal mills, like K&T's and Bridgeports didn't come with shields, so you had to do the quick step to avoid coolant and chips, but you ended the day pretty wet anyway.  
(The Gallery, Kodachromes, Aviation, Farked, Howard Hollem)

Riveting: 1942
... Aircraft factory in Fort Worth. View full size. 4x5 Kodachrome transparency by Howard Hollem. Mom! My mom, Rosie (real ... see my own grandmother, 65 years ago. She was 20 years old and she repaired airplanes that were shot to pieces. Somewhere deep down in ... 
 
Posted by Dave - 07/17/2012 - 10:09pm -

October 1942. Riveter at work on a bomber at the Consolidated Aircraft factory in Fort Worth. View full size. 4x5 Kodachrome transparency by Howard Hollem.
Mom!My mom, Rosie (real name), worked at a food dehydrator in WWII (not as a riveter). She passed away 6 years ago today (12/7/2001). Here's to all the hard working gals of WWII.
Thanks Mom!
Pixelboy
BiBI didn't know babes in blue built big bombers. Nice!
Factory ChicI adore that outfit. I would so copy this look.
RivetingIt's like I see my own grandmother, 65 years ago. She was 20 years old and she repaired airplanes that were shot to pieces. Somewhere deep down in Germany...
(The Gallery, Kodachromes, Aviation, Howard Hollem, WW2)

Teamwork: 1942
October 1942. "Men and women make efficient operating teams on riveting and other jobs at the ... shown here for the carrying of troops and cargo." 4x5 inch Kodachrome transparency by Alfred Palmer for the Office of War Information. ... blatantly and utterly posed. Look at how the supposed "Rosie" is dressed, right down to gleaming shoes. Do you think for a moment ... 
 
Posted by Dave - 03/19/2016 - 10:05am -

October 1942. "Men and women make efficient operating teams on riveting and other jobs at the Douglas Aircraft plant, Long Beach, Calif. Most important of the many types of aircraft made at this plant are the B-17F 'Flying Fortress' heavy bomber, the A-20 'Havoc' assault bomber and the C-47 heavy transport plane shown here for the carrying of troops and cargo." 4x5 inch Kodachrome transparency by Alfred Palmer for the Office of War Information. View full size.
What?  What?What did you say? what?
Great picture!The composition, the color - just a beautifully composed shot.
Riveting!I just had to say it: This is a riveting photo! ;-)
I love the chiaroscuro, the focussed concentration, the saturated colors, the flesh tones and the gray metal.
They are both beautiful people, too!
MOM!No comment necessary
Blatantly, Utterly PosedTechnically, it's a great feat of photography, but, like many Office of War Information photos, this image is blatantly and utterly posed.
Look at how the supposed "Rosie" is dressed, right down to gleaming shoes.  Do you think for a moment that even the most unsophisticated viewer would not instantly recognize this as propaganda ?
Would it not be more informative to have captured the way the work was actually being conducted ?  Would that not instill greater appreciation of the war effort in the general public? 
On the plus side, the models are at least holding the rivet gun and the bucking bar in the correct alignment.
[These photos were used to produce posters and other promotional materials intended to motivate women to work in war-related industries; in other words, advertising, not documentation. -tterrace]
C-47Dad flew as aerial engineer / crew chief on C-47's in the Pacific War. Battle Stars for Guadalcanal and Northern Solomons. His unit, the "Thirsty 13th" Troop Carrier Squadron island hopped for almost 4 years. Places and air strips long since forgotten.. Dumbea, New Hebrides, New Caledonia, Espiritu Santos, etc. . C-47's were unarmed, flew low and slow, frequently to airstrips carved out of the jungle at the front lines (ie Guadalcanal). His unit lost aircrews. Also, heavy experience with malaria (take your Atabrine !!) and combat fatigue. C-47's were also used to tow gliders to the front lines. Dad made the Sep 7 1942 cover of Life in a "war glider". Dad never discussed much of his experience, but made sure we remembered his lost friends. Mom served in the Atlantic. Greatest generation indeed. 
This photo series... famous, yes posed, but served an important function. Front line airmen depended on the manufacturing excellence portrayed in the series.    
Posed? Of course!Made a pretty decent living taking photos like that. They were posed because the people who were paying me to take them wanted them that way. The shot we're discussing here is a beaut. Alfred Palmer made what could have been a snoozer most compelling.
When I was taking photos for newspapers, I still would, depending on the situation, ask the subjects to move this way or that way, so you could say those were posed, too. Most of the stuff I shot captured students of the month or new garden club officers. I wanted the subjects, who would be happy to be in the next edition of the paper, to look nice and for the photo to reproduce well as 65dpi black-and-white printed on newsprint.
Sports stuff, crime (what little I ever took) stuff: not posed but not always good, either! 
Posed or not...Yes, it's obvious that the photo was posed.  As tterrace noted, this and other similar photos seen here on Shorpy were used to create posters and other paraphernalia for the War effort.
But...  My Grandmother worked in an aircraft plant during the War.  She worked on an assembly team, not riveting but an equally taxing and dirty job.  She had several photos I've seen that showed her daily outfits and for the most part it looks like she always tried to look her best, at least in the morning.  She actually wore her hair the exact same way.
Yeah, there were (and still are) a lot of dirty jobs but you only have to peruse the photos in Shorpy for a bit to tell that people took the time to dress better, more formal back then.
(The Gallery, Kodachromes, Aviation, Factories, WW2)
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