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Paging Rosie: 1942
... been riveted. Love the color! Compressed Air Rosie is using a pneumatic (air-powered) drill, for those of you who care about ... place the lady in or near the center wingbox. Poor Rosie Wow! Drilling in these close quarters without eye protection. Not a ... 
 
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
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. ... 
 
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)
Avenging Angels: 1943
... for the Office of War Information. View full size. Rosie the Riveter Looks like a Rosie the Riveter working on the platform on the right on the plane in the ... 
 
Posted by Dave - 12/07/2021 - 1:11pm -

February 1943. "Looking up an assembly line at Ford's big Willow Run plant in Michigan, where B-24E (Liberator) bombers are being made in great numbers. The Liberator is capable of operation at high altitudes and over great ranges on precision bombing missions. It has proved itself an excellent performer in the Pacific, Northern Africa, Europe and the Aleutians." 4x5 acetate negative by Howard Hollem for the Office of War Information. View full size. Rosie the RiveterLooks like a Rosie the Riveter working on the platform on the right on the plane in the foreground. Her shoes don't seem appropriate for an assembly line, but shoes were probably in short supply in 1943. This is What Won the WarObviously, there were many, many factors that went into the Allied victory in WWII, but I think most historians agree that it was America's vast industrial capabilities, which allowed us to churn out bombers, fighters, tanks, ships, Jeeps, etc., by the tens of thousands that ultimately won the war. Girl powerRosie peeking up from a hole (someone who knows the correct name for that, please correct me) near the nose of the first plane is pretty cool. Rosie II, wearing fancy shoes with her overalls, inspecting something just to Rosie I's left. We can do it! Deceased "Liberator"There is a young man (James S. King) buried next to my grandfather who was a navigator on a B-24 called "Fickle Finger of Fate". He was killed in a bombing mission over Vienna, Austria on Oct 13, 1944. He was 23 years old. I try to decorate his grave every Memorial Day. https://www.findagrave.com/cgi-bin/fg.cgi?page=gr&GSln=King&GSfn=James&G... Next stepsHow did the planes move from those positions? Were the elevated racks disassembled and reassembled each time or is there some kind of overhead crane system? Neat photo. Designed in One NightIn the book, "My Forty Years with Ford," Charles Sorensen, Ford's Chief Engineer discussed how this plant came about. During a visit to Consolidated Aircraft's plant in San Diego, it was proposed that Ford gear up to manufacture subassemblies that would be shipped to Consolidated. Sorenson declared they were not interested in such work but were prepared to manufacture the entire plane. Using the principles he had developed designing automobile plants all over the world, Sorensen stayed up all night in his hotel room sketching out the layout that would become the Willow Run plant which was up in running within 18 months. Aunt Betty's 1943 Willow Run ID CardAunt Betty's Willow Run ID card was found among her belongings after her passing in 2001. Postwar, she worked for the Detroit Times, then NY Times, then Northwest Airlines. A lifelong career girl, she was well-educated, well-read, well-traveled, and interested in everything except marriage. Barely a year after Pearl Harborthis incredible mobilization of American industrial might was fully underway. Walter? Oh, sorry pal.I know the Willow Run plant employed thousands, but I can't help myself. Every time I see a picture of the Willow Run plant in this era, I look for my grandfather. He worked there throughout the war and after, when Kaiser-Frazer took over the plant. I'm not even sure I would recognize the man I first knew twenty-plus years later, but I still look. There was even a song about them.Broadway, of course. Enjoy! https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2X6EkUQ7DRw "More bombers to attack with, More bombers 'til the skies are black with ..." How'd They Do ThatHow the US produced so much for that war always amazes me. Looking at this picture makes me wonder how did the assembly process work here? Did each plane get moved up to the next work station after a certain number of assemblies were completed? Coordinating the timing of all that must have been a nightmare. Construction sequenceIt looks like the planes in the background, where they are in two rows rather than one, might be the same model but without the outboard wing sections attached. If so, they maybe assembled the fuselage and main wing sections where they could fit two rows into the assembly space and then moved them forward into a single row and added the wing extensions. Response to girl powerThe unfinished area of the nose you are referring to is just above the navigator's position and is the navigator's observation dome, AKA "astrodome". It was used to enable navigators to obtain fixes on stars when flying at night to establish the latitude over which they were flying. There were 18,482 B-24's made, the most of any combat aircraft ever made in the U.S. Willow Run Story on YouTubeThere's an excellent (and VERY detailed) 33 minute long video about the Willow Run plant and the B-24 assembly on YouTube. https://youtu.be/p2zukteYbGQ The Arsenal of DemocracyIn that very location in 2017 I participated in an attempt to achieve a world record of the "largest gathering of people dressed as Rosie the Riveter." I was only one small part, but altogether 3,734 of us broke the record. Several authentic Rosies attended as well, many of whom worked at Willow Run. The Flying BoxcarAmerica doesn't win wars, it overwhelms them. The Arsenal of Democracy! Moving UpThe sections of deck under the outboard side of the inboard engines, where the main landing gear were, were "drawers" that slid in tracks under the outer deck to allow rolling the plane forward to the next station. There is a separate "drawer" ahead of and behind the landing gear, the gap for the landing gear between the drawers is visible. At the left side of the picture foreground, it's where the temporary stairway is placed. It's neat that the decks stepped up to match the slight wing dihedral, maintaining ideal work height. The selection of Ford was appropriate, as the company understood mass production. The work items would have been divided up between stations so that all airplanes were ready to move up about the same time, with the planes in front moving up first. The timing probably followed Ford's standard practice, where an issue with a work step on a plane meant that the plane would come of the line, then be taken to a rework area to rectify the problem, without holding up the line. We toured Rouge in the early 50's, and the level of organization at that time was amazing. 13 leftI think I counted 13 B-24s in various states of assembly. As of 2021, there are only 13 complete B-24s left in the world. Only 2 are still flying. The rest are restored to museum displays. https://www.airplanes-online.com/b24-liberator-surviving-aircraft.htm Found photosWhile cleaning out my FIL's house, we found some snapshots taken by someone in a B-24 unit. We were able to identify the unit and I actually went to a reunion to see if anyone there could ID the photographer. No joy, but the slice-of-life photos made their way to someone doing a display for a USAF strategic missile unit which had inherited the original B-24 unit's number. I got a nice thank you for sending them, but never did find out who took them (FIL was in the MPs and his service dates don't match up) The production during WWII was nothing short of an all-out effort, coordinated by the War Production Board. Wikipedia has some details. Can you imagine something like that happening today, with all the bickering and nonsense we're currently experiencing? The HypeI always wondered why the B-17 got all the hype, pomp and glory while there were 50% more B-24s. Maybe Boeing had the better PR department? Flow chart San Diego And B-24 CutawayHopefully, I did it correctly. How the assembly line worksFortunately, the photo is very high resolution, so it's possible to deduce how these planes are moved and when. The platforms are wired with conduits on the floor, so they don't move. The planes have to be moved into position. The planes in the foreground with full wings attached all appear to be in the same state of construction. A clue is that the same uninstalled fairing piece is visible on top of each horizontal stabilizer. This means that the planes are most likely to be rolled into position between shifts, a whole batch at a time. We see eight planes in these workstations. That's a power of two, so it's a sensible batch size since the stations in the rear are dual column. Want to see what a B-24 looks like on the inside?Click on the link (US Air Force museum website) https://www.nationalmuseum.af.mil/Visit/Museum-Exhibits/Fact-Sheets/Disp... Scroll down and click on any of the "Cockpit360 Images" How'd they do that flow chartThis flow chart is part of a collection of Willow Run artifacts at The Henry Ford The Yankee Air Force is still based at Willow Run and also maintains a
Rosie the Router: 1942
December 1942. "Mary Miller, operator of a router at the Boeing plant in Seattle, drills holes in a part for a new B-17F (Flying Fortress) bomber. The Flying Fortress, a four-engine heavy bomber capable of flying at high altitudes, has performed w ... 
 
Posted by Dave - 11/07/2013 - 7:12pm -

December 1942. "Mary Miller, operator of a router at the Boeing plant in Seattle, drills holes in a part for a new B-17F (Flying Fortress) bomber. The Flying Fortress, a four-engine heavy bomber capable of flying at high altitudes, has performed with great credit in the South Pacific, over Germany and elsewhere." Photo by Andreas Feininger for the Office of War Information. View full size. Heavy!Behind her are some really big castings that I wish I could see what they belonged to. I see a counter in her right hand. could that be her pay basis? Part or parts?That would probably be a stack of aluminum sheets, anyway? Drill once, get 5 parts. And the limit of the stack would probably what the machinist can do by force of hand and arm. These days sheets tend to get machined one by one on account of CNC laser cutters and punch-nibble machines. However, in between they did do it like shown in the photo, less templates, with a stack of sheets clamped to the bed of a CNC router. Position available: RobotWorking on the B-17F assembly line looks dull, tedious, and dangerous. Thankfully, we now have robots that do this kind of work. It reminds me of my old two things...Battlefield 1942 game and my Netgear RT311 router. :P (The Gallery, Andreas Feininger, Aviation, Factories, WW2)
The Ladies Who Lunch: 1943
... for a long day in the roundhouse. This is real "Rosie the This is real "Rosie the Riveter" stuff! Marcella - what a gal! LUNCH PAILS Note that ... 
 
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)
Approach With Caution: 1919
... most dangerous street machine I have ever seen. Before Rosie the Riveter I love showing people these sorts of images, in light of ... 1919, look like they just ... have jobs. I love the proto-Rosie coveralls and headscarves, the likes which show up again a scant fifteen ... 
 
Posted by Dave - 09/29/2014 - 9:43am -

San Francisco City Hall circa 1919. "Peerless truck." Three young ladies aboard what seems to be some sort of street-cleaning, finger-ripping machine. Hide your children and stand clear! 5x7 glass negative by Christopher Helin. View full size. FrighteningThe single most dangerous street machine I have ever seen. Before Rosie the RiveterI love showing people these sorts of images, in light of the fact that most of our images of American Women in Action come from the WWII era, where they were pressed into service because men had gone to war. These ladies, in 1919, look like they just ... have jobs. I love the proto-Rosie coveralls and headscarves, the likes which show up again a scant fifteen years later as something unusual in "The Saturday Evening Post" and LIFE magazines. Crazy Contraptions I think if Rube Goldberg had ever designed a truck, it would look just like that. Finger ripping is putting it mildy.That truck looks as if it was designed to inflict injury. I hope those women got hazardous duty pay. AwesomeI just stumbled upon this site. I love vintage photos, and this one is terrific -- who knew that there were women filling roles like this in the early 20th Century? Safety guards ! Safety guards!We don't need no steenking safety guards! GoldbergianIn 1904, freshly minted from the UC-Berkeley Engineering School, Rube Goldberg took a job with the San Francisco Department of Water and Sewers. Although he left in a few months to be a cartoonist for the SF Chronicle, it appears he kept his hand in by designing machines for the Department. More Danger LurkingAnd if you do get passed the hair pulling - finger ripping apparatus, there's always that two foot section of lead pipe on the floor to worry about. Tot-TwirlerWhen I see gear like this, I'm just going to start labeling it "babyshredder." The third operator was necessary for when the first two inevitably got caught in the machinery. Count your fingersI trust those open belt and chain drives are OSHA approved. But I bet it was more interesting when you could see the parts of machinery doing their thing. Pilot for short subject seriesI believe this is a still from "The Three Stoogettes", an unsold movie short series which was way ahead of its time -- "We'll clean your sheets, we'll clean your streets, in half the time, no more grime ... zots!" PeerlessI infer that to mean returning from the job with fewer of one's peers in the passenger seat than one left with that morning. Hey HoneyThis truck looks a heck of a lot like a "honey dipper" to me. Other than the 1919 running gear and mechanism, they still look like that today. [Like our previous street flusher, this rig was one of many deployed as a public-health measure during the flu epidemic of 1918-1920 to control dust. - Dave] WowserDefinitely high tech for its day. The belt drives appear to be increasing the speed to a (pump?) under the end of the tank. I can't see any spray nozzles so I would assume it's used to refill the tank? Street Cleaner??It looks more like the kind of equipment that would be used to spread liquid asphalt (aka tar) on a roadway before spreading a layer of stone on it. Admittedly, it's very clean, so this might have been a publicity shot for the manunfacturers. "So simple the ladies can operate it!" You can't make this upThanks to Jim Page for informing us "Here we see a 1918 Peerless Isadora-model Pinchmaster 3000 truck". "Pinchmaster", could there be a more appropriate name of it than that? [Jim did make that up. The reference to Isadora Duncan was especially sly. - Dave] Original power washerBelt driven PTO runs the rear mounted pump. Two control levers by the closest operator regulate how much flow is produced to swish the road apples to the gutter. Vehicle IDI usually allow others to handle the vehicle ID chores here at Shorpy, but since no one has stepped up: Here we see a 1918 Peerless Isadora-model Pinchmaster 3000 truck. Few were made, as this model required a three-person crew, and the replacement 1919 Peerless Fargo-model Chopmaster 4000 only required a crew of two-and-a-half (two in a pinch). The three P'sPeerless, Packard and Pierce Arrow were makers of some of the best cars and trucks of their era. Chain drive has its advantages: (1) less unsprung weight; (2) ease of gear ratio change; (3) lack of rear wheel spin in soft ground; (4) great sound going down the road. CrewThe third crew member is the flight engineer. Unsightly Limbs and Appendages...Removed While You Wait! Just step a little closer, please. (The Gallery, Cars, Trucks, Buses, Chris Helin, San Francisco)
Wright Cyclone: 1942
... transparency by Alfred Palmer. View full size. Rosie the riveter? Nope. This is her sister. RH - LH The motors are ... 
 
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
... 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 ... 
 
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)
Dragon Slayers: 1897
... the subject of a Renoir. I can imagine the colors. Rosie and Mr. Allnutt Does anyone else see the guy with the rifle and the ... 
 
Posted by Dave - 05/11/2020 - 4:48pm -

Volusia County, Florida, circa 1897. "On the Tomoka." The nice people last glimpsed here. 8x10 inch glass transparency by William Henry Jackson. View full size. BlaseThe girl in the boat seems more interested in her apple than the beast. Someone's not into alligator huntingThe lady eating the apple seems completely out of place in this photo. PursuingSizing it up. Draining the Swamp?To folks brave enough to crowd aboard that obvious firetrap of a boiler-fired, awning-bedecked launch, what matter a few alligators? Could not do this nowAlligator hunting in Florida is now strictly controlled. You have to have a permit and only hunt in special seasons. It is now a class III felony to do what they did here. You can get five years in jail. Winchester '73It looks like the slayer has used his trusty Winchester 1873 model to dispatch the beast. GatorIt actually tastes like chicken, ladies. Lady with appleShe’s just hungry. Check the other photo in the link Dave provides: she’s chowing down there, too. This picture is so over the top repulsiveWhat vanity! What bravery! Goint out of your way to kill a gator, particularly a baby gator. I sure hope Karma exists. Girl in boatThe girl at eye level with the gator but seemingly a million miles away, sniffing an apple, looks like the subject of a Renoir. I can imagine the colors. Rosie and Mr. AllnuttDoes anyone else see the guy with the rifle and the woman on the boat and think this is a preview, 20 years in the future, of Charlie and his passenger on The African Queen? I bet that guy didn't like leeches, either. Presumption of InnocenceWho knows that they were, in fact, hunting alligators? Is it not possible they had the firearm for protection, and used it in self-defense? It is reasonably foreseeable that an alligator (or other dangerous reptile, etc.) might threaten a boating party. Maybe it's a small alligator, but who among us would volunteer to let it bite us? Let's give the benefit of the doubt. Better yet, the law of the land is presumed innocent until proven guilty. (The Gallery, Boats & Bridges, DPC, Florida, W.H. Jackson)
Take Me to Your Welder: 1942
... Palmer, Office of War Information. View full size. Rosie, is that YOU? This is probably a woman welding. With most of "our ... 
 
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)
Some Assembly Required: 1942
... Looks like Dennis the Menace all growed up. Rosie the Riveter's younger brother Dennis the Driller! (The ... 
 
Posted by Dave - 05/08/2014 - 12:32pm -

August 1942. "Vultee Aircraft Co., Nashville. Using an electric drill on a fuselage in a sub-assembly section." Another boy putting an airplane together during WW2. Photo by Jack Delano for the Office of War Information. View full size. Missing his SlingshotLooks like Dennis the Menace all growed up. Rosie the Riveter's younger brotherDennis the Driller! (The Gallery, Aviation, Factories, Jack Delano, WW2)
Mighnon Gunn: 1942
... always a housewife. A very noble occupation indeed. Rosie the Riveter There may have been some women who resented loss of ... 
 
Posted by Dave - 09/06/2011 - 1:55pm -

July 1942. Back at the Melrose Park Buick plant near Chicago. "Production of aircraft engines. Reconditioning used spark plugs for use in testing airplane motors, Mighnon Gunn operates this small testing machine with speed and precision although she was new to the job two months ago. A former domestic worker, this young woman is now a willing and efficient war worker, one of many women who are relieving labor shortages in war industries throughout the country." Photo by Ann Rosener, Office of War Information. View full size. Family TiesHer husband's death is officially recognized here. Some searches on names in this document reveal Mighnon's life (1915-1974) more fully. The togs of warI'm always charmed by how the classy ladies who worked for the War effort were DRESSED for work. Sure, you may have had to wear a coverall, and perhaps your hands were grimy, but by golly, your curls were tight, and your brows were plucked, and you had in your earbobs. Setting the gapsIt looks like she's using a tool that sets the gaps between the two side electrodes and the center electrode. I also notice that the tool has the AC Spark Plug logo (then a division of GM). My guess is the plugs were made by AC as well. Reconditioning spark plugs usually consists of using some kind of small compressed air-powered sandblaster to remove carbon deposits around the electrodes, resetting the gap, and checking for shorting between the shell and the center electrode. Re: Family TiesUm, the link provided above is to a resolution honoring her FATHER, not her husband, upon his death. Spark PlugsWe still use these same type spark today on our B-24 we take over the country to air shows. They are referred to as massive electrode because they have more than two side electrodes. Note the three electrodes on the spark plug laying on the work bench beside the base of the gaping tool. Mighnon Gunn: 1942This is Joe Manning. I just talked to Mrs. Gunn's grandson. He knew nothing about the photograph. I will be mailing it to him tomorrow, and I plan to interview him soon. HousewivesI have heard that women working during WWII gave them independence and the experience of making their own money. When their husbands came back after the war a lot of women balked at going back to being full time housewives. That could have something to do with our modern workforce being close to 50/50 men and women. Just a thought. My mom didn't work during WWII because she had 3 young children, and she was always a housewife. A very noble occupation indeed. Rosie the RiveterThere may have been some women who resented loss of industrial jobs, but the ones I knew, growing up in the Fifties, had handed over the riveting machine and gone home in relief, to (or looking for) husbands and kids. It was a tolerably common subject of conversation, and little pitchers have big ears. (The Gallery, Ann Rosener, Chicago, WW2)
Cheers: 1937
... arm. Alternate casting suggestions Left to right: Rosie O'Donnell, Robert Ryan, Margaret Hamilton, Walter Huston. Whatever is ... 
 
Posted by Dave - 07/19/2012 - 10:17pm -

September 1937. Craigville, Minnesota. "Saturday night in a saloon." Medium format negative by Russell Lee, Farm Security Administration. View full size. White gasKerosene lanterns had just an open flame. These pictured were fueled by white gas and the tank had to be pressurized with a hand pump. Hands-Off policyInteresting that the "Cheers" folks removed the fellow's hand from the lady's shoulder. Indoor campingPretty rustic. The lights are kerosene lanterns. Slim pickin'sA James M. Cain novel is written all over that woman's face. P.A.Do you have Prince Albert in a sign? Cheers...... it ain't.... Cheers!Hey! Doesn't the guy holding glass appear in the old lead-in for "Cheers"? Cheers to you too!Oh my gawd it's the folks from the "Cheers!" intro. I must have seen their colorized faces a thousand times (thanks to reruns), and now I know where they're from. It's like running into long-lost family members. Thanks Dave! Where everybody knows your nameThis photo was used in the opening sequence of "Cheers." As I remember, it was cropped, to highlight the couple in the center. 0:43Character actorsCentral Casting, eat your heart out! Cheers!Remember the opening titles to the TV show "Cheers"? It shows old photos of people at bars. One of the "Cheers" photos is THIS photo; they did a close-up of the guy on the left. And yes, I watch too much TV. Casting? Sure ...That's Howard Hughes, Patricia Neal, and G.W. Bailey on the right. Can't quite make out the lady on the far left, though. A certain dignity.Even though these people have seen more than their fair share of hard times, there is a kind of dignity in the way the hold their drinks. Serious drinkers for sure. The guy on the right looks kind of like George Clooney. They all exhibit character with a capital C. The guy on the left is giving a major superiority pose to the guy taking a nip. The lantern in the back corneris a Coleman. I have one just like it. Still works very well. A rose is a rose is a rose.A barfly is a barfly is a barfly. Nice hat on the alcoholic on the extreme right, looks like he stole it from a horse. Not politically correct but my opinion. GaslightNotice the fixture in the upper left of the photo is providing light via gas, not electricity. [As noted below, that's a kerosene lantern. The tank holds the fuel. - Dave] CamelsAnd I'm thinking that's a Camel cigarette pack on the bar. Recognize the "pillars" from my father's smokes. That's where I've seem him!Thanks everyone for restoring my sanity. I saw the guy on the left and immediately thought "were have I seen him before?" I am a child of the 80's so that's why his face was burned into my brain. Camels for sureI used to smoke them before Pall Mall. Cigarettes didn't have filters in those days. Maybe it was the "Hits or Cracks" game that made me switch from Camels to Pall Mall. As I remember, you guessed if it was the letter H or C under the stamp. If you picked wrong you got slugged on the upper arm. Alternate casting suggestionsLeft to right: Rosie O'Donnell, Robert Ryan, Margaret Hamilton, Walter Huston. Whatever is transpiring, it's interesting enough for the Missus to delay her request to "light me." SimplicityThe beer looks great. Camel Caravan"Camel" was the first nationally advertised and distributed brand of American cigarettes, beginning in about 1914. My dad's first real job was with their NY Distributor, Metropolitan Tobacco, back in 1921. He smoked Camels and only Camels for the nexr 65 years, and never had so much as a cough ("Not a Cough in a Carload"). Back in my time, if I ran out of my favorite, Lucky Strike, I'm bum a Camel from him. Without any exception, they were the strongest, looseest and hottest burning American cigarette that ever existed. They would have killed me after a year! And yes, I do also remember the H and C thing from under the revenue stamp on the packages. LanternsActually both lanterns are probably Colemans. The one over the bar is an indoor table lamp, which would have originally come with a shade, much like an electric table lamp. The other one is an outdoor type lantern. Both are missing their globes, a rather alarming fact, as the furring strips on the ceiling suggest that it is made of combustible fiberboard, a cheap and popular building material at that time. Like most Colemans, these burned "white gas," which I believe is actually naphtha, but kerosene models were also available. More common kerosene lanterns have wicks, but pressurized ones do exist. They can be distinguished from the white gas version by the primer cup below the mantle. You fill this cup with alcohol to preheat the kerosene; otherwise, it does not vaporize properly. BTW, "not a cough in a carload" was the slogan of Lucky Strike, not Camel. And I don't believe for a second that anyone smoked any brand for 65 years without coughing. Lumberjack TownSome history on this town, and this saloon can be found here: http://www.lakesnwoods.com/Craig.htm This place was evidently both a saloon and a barbershop. There are some photos here of other customers, as well as another shot of these folks. Another image in original Cheers Theme SequenceThe original Cheers Theme Sequence has a picture of my Great-Grandfather W.T. Price II in the Horseshoe Saloon in Junction City, Kansas taken in 1905 by a photographer named Pennell! (The Gallery, Eateries & Bars, Russell Lee)
A Chorus Line: 1925
... They're Sure Not Rosies While all those beautiful Rosie the Riveters captured our hearts... these ladies could be auditioning for ... 
 
Posted by Dave - 08/13/2012 - 3:59pm -

November 24, 1925. Washington, D.C. "Uncle Sam's Follies." View full size. National Photo Company Collection glass negative, Library of Congress. Love & DeathReminds me of the line from Woody Allen's "Love and Death" where the Napoleon character asks Diane Keaton if she finds him attractive as a man and she says, "I think it's your best bet." A Chorus LineWhile these are not the prettiest chorus line ever( though I rather like the one in the middle and would love to have her outfit), I think you'd find that a lot of the "ugliness" is the weird strained facial expressions from the awkward pose, and at least one of them looks like she's been sweating a great deal. I'd say these ladies have been putting a lot of practice into a difficult and/or very energetic dance routine and the photographer caught them at a bad moment. I'm also surprised by the apparently wide variety of ages -- second from the right looks no more than 16, while a couple of the others appear middle-aged (though that might be partly due to sweat-streaked makeup). La Cage aux FollyEven Divine would hang her head in shame. Some amazingly cute shoes --Some amazingly cute shoes -- but what's that on their faces? Are they the clowns from the previous act? [Stubble. - Dave] Uncle Sam's FolliesSo which one is Uncle Sam? They're Sure Not RosiesWhile all those beautiful Rosie the Riveters captured our hearts... these ladies could be auditioning for a horror movie. 2 out of 7This is a scary lineup of mostly very unattractive women, only two of whom would pass muster today. Are women really prettier today or are we pickier? BTW, I am female so this is not just a male sexist remark. [What's your opinion of them as men? - Dave] MistakeI don't think they were supposed to be photographed above the knees. MisfiledI don't think you can file that one under Pretty Girls. I'm not even convinced all of them are girls. [I think that's kind of obvious. Isn't it? - Dave] StepfordTheir shoes have more variety than their (lovely?) faces do! So, variety is the spice of life but a few of these ladies look like twins! 2 out of 7 revisitedI meant 2 were pretty. Now I wonder if 2 (perhaps 3) are even women. Come on, let us in on on the fun. [The best guess of the Shorpy Gender Certification Committee is that at least two of these girls are women. - Dave] Miss JaneThe two on each end could be Jane Hathaway's paternal and maternal grandmas. 3 out of 7I'd say that 2nd, 3rd and 4th from right are girls. They are women.They're not men. Look at the (lack of) muscle on their legs & arms. They're women, just not particularly attractive ones. [Well I guess you won't be my wingman anytime soon! That's the acrobat-comedian Dick Nash on the left. The other guys were performers in his "Pony Ballet." Below, the leg of the third girl from the left in the photo above without the stockings. - Dave] (The Gallery, D.C., Natl Photo, Pretty Girls)
Penn Varsity: 1914
... budget cut. Hmm again They have all been looking at Rosie O'Donnell. More Support Actually, the jockstrap dates back to ... 
 
Posted by Dave - 04/14/2022 - 1:18pm -

Summer 1914. "Penn varsity crew team in Poughkeepsie." Bain News Service glass negative. View full size. HmmLooks like Penn cut the jockstrap budget that year. Hah!Glad I'm not the only one who noticed the budget cut. Hmm againThey have all been looking at Rosie O'Donnell. More SupportActually, the jockstrap dates back to 1874, invented by the good people at Bike: http://www.bikeathletic.com/History.aspx SupportFrom About.com, history of clothing: In 1920, Joe Cartledge, the owner and founder of the Guelph Elastic Hosiery Company, invented the first jockstrap or athletic supporter, marketed under the name Protex. Another great photographThis is a great photograph on a few levels. Compositionally it is very interesting because of all the vertical and horizontal plains created by the oars, the bridge and the dock. The little guy dressed in black who I think would be called the coxswain anchors the bottom of the photo. The rowers are all rather glum looking while the guys in the background with the white hats and shorts look like a hive of activity. Another thing which is a little eerie is that all the rowers have a timeless look about them. They all look like the photo could have been taken last week. Considering that this photo is almost a hundred years old. The Boys, the Boat & the BookThough taken 20 years earlier, this image reminds me of one of the most compelling and inspiring books I've read recently, The Boys in the Boat, which is about the hardscrabble group of young men who comprised the 1936 Olympic rowing team. The individual stories are so engrossing that competing at "Hitler's Olympics" is not the climax of the book. The author also adapted the original book to a middle school audience, and it has been a favorite among the students at my school for several years, as well as an object lesson in how one chooses to confront the inevitable obstacles the life presents. https://www.danieljamesbrown.com/books/the-boys-in-the-boat/ The future they did not expectSince this is the varsity team, I'm guessing each of these nine men is around 22 years old. Most likely for them, the years just before and after the turn of the last century were pretty good in terms of peace and prosperity. Their futures were bright. But the summer of 1914, when this photograph was taken, is when World War I broke out in Europe. In four more years, the United States would join the English, French, and Russians to fight the Germans and Austro-Hungarians. As American soldiers crossed the Atlantic they very likely took what would be called the Spanish Flu with them. Young people in the prime of life was who the Spanish Flu killed most. But at least American forces and weapons helped bring the war to a close in November 1918 and by early 1920 the Spanish flu was done. Then, as these nine men entered their thirties a very vocal group shamed enough elected officials about the evils of alcohol that the Eighteenth Amendment to the United States Constitution was passed, effective January 1920. For the families of these nine young men who made their incomes from the manufacture or sale of alcohol or from restaurants or hotels for which alcohol was and still is a major profit center -- they very likely faced bankruptcy. Double takeI assume we're all looking at the same thing... ... the coxswain dressed all in black. (The Gallery, Boats & Bridges, G.G. Bain, Sports)
El Paso: 1903
... love with a Mexican girl... Night time would find me at Rosie's Cantina...etc... Sign punctuation Something I've always been ... 
 
Posted by Dave - 08/20/2012 - 9:55am -

"El Paso, Texas. 1903." Detroit Publishing Co. glass negative. View full size. DateDoes the overhead banner not say 1889? [1903. - Dave] Telephone cablesWhat a remarkable chapter in the history of telephone communications this photo displays. Notice how the lower six crossarms on the closest telephone pole, which used to hold 36 wire pairs, have been rendered obsolete by the three cables strung in the upper foreground of the photo. I'd guess that those cables hold 25 pairs apiece, but they could be a hundred pairs each. Nowadays there can be up to two thousand pairs in a cable. This marked a glorious transition for a forest of wires to a telephone system with some hope for future expansion. El PasoNot an automobile to be seen. However we can see streetcar tracks and a Bell Telephone sign. What else was going on in 1903.When I see the date on a picture or when a Hymn was written I try to relate the date as to what else was going on in the world. El Paso in 1903 with no cars was to change because in Detroit Henry Ford was starting the Ford Motor Co. Driving through El Paso today on I-10 you do not see much of El Paso because of all the cars you have to keep your eyes on. Great PictureLots to see here. But I keep coming back to the 2nd store from the right. Just beyond the W.G.Walz banner. Does anyone else see two eyes looking at the lens? El Paso Grand Midwinter CarnivalThe El Paso Midwinter Carnival will take place from January 12 to 17 Inclusive, some of the features of which will be: World's championship Miners' Drilling Contest, prizes $2000; Roping and Tying Tournament, prizes $2000: Fraternal and Civic Parade, prizes $1000: free shows on the streets. Oriental midway, music, parades, bull fights, confetti battles and generally a hot old time. Ammunition can be bought on the grounds. Programmes of the El Paso Grand Midwinter Carnival shoot will be mailed on application. -- Sporting Life Oregon and MillsBased on the address of the old Grand Central Hotel and the bend in the streetcar line, this appears to be taken from the corner of Oregon and Mills (formerly St. Louis), looking almost due west. Just to the right of the photographer would be San Jacinto Plaza. 1886 map. [The label in the lower left corner of the photo says it's El Paso Street. - Dave] View Larger Map Mama was a cowgirlMy mother was born in El Paso in 1918 and I imagine it looked pretty much the same 15 years after this photo was taken. Out in the West Texas...Town of El Paso, I fell in love with a Mexican girl... Night time would find me at Rosie's Cantina...etc... Sign punctuationSomething I've always been curious about - this is the first example I've seen on Shorpy since I signed up. From the pre-Civil War era up through about the turn of the 19th-20th century, sentence fragments on billboards are always followed by periods. See "Antiquities." in this photo for an example. A nineteenth century hardware store might advertise: Tools. Wire Fencing. Lumber. Nails and Staples. You see it in newspaper ads of the 1800's as well. By the 1920's this usage is just about extinct, you never see it today unless intended to create a mock-dramatic effect. Somehow there must have been a change in the teaching of business English that caused every ad agency in America to decide "this usage must go!" [Check out this post, and the comments. - Dave] Sign Punctuation and the Future of ShorpyYears from now, Shorpy.com (or its successors) may generate comments on the ersatz punctuation evident in commercial signage circa 2009. An infamous example is the use of apostrophies to indicate plurals (e.g. "soda's"). Period Signage, Signage PeriodsThe use of periods in 19th-century signage seems to derive from the similar usage on book title pages. The typographic fashion for long phrases and numerous ornamental typefaces on the same page or sign was perhaps thought to be more confusing to the reader without the periods. So in the present photo, the periods help us to sort out the discrete phrases in the "wordy" sign at the far left: "Wholesale & Retail Dealers in All Kinds of Mexican & Indian Curiosities. Mexican Straw, Felt & Fur Hats." As page and signage design simplified in the 20th Century, the perceived need for the periods became redundant and was dropped from designers' and editors' style sheets. The use of a period in single-word signs such as "Office." or "Coalyard." also renders the word into a declarative sentence, as if spoken in an announcement to the viewer. My favorite badly painted 20th-century building sign, with too-evenly spaced block letters, would have benefited from the addition of periods, or at least better spacing. As seen from the road in Beirut in 1973, it read as one word: "GARGANTUADANCINGCREPERIERESTAURANT" Electric streetcarsLooking at the streetcar system I don't see any overhead catenary system, but I am viewing the image on a google phone so the detail might not be as clear. In most cities where I have researched, primarily in the southeast, the electric distribution was handled by the streetcar companies as a secondary service to sell excess power not used in the primary transportation network. Streetcars were animal powered until electric motors were improved to handle the cars; steam powered trolleys were considered undesirable and banned in the franchise agreements needed to operate. In some cities the power was generated by the local mill since they had the hydro power, others it was a municipal system or local business group. Lighting was primarily gas until the late 1890's. The electric system is present with a transformer and service cut-ins but I was curious to know if the streetcar was still animal powered? [The photo shows an overhead catenary line. - Dave] S. El Paso StreetThis same photo (and 112 others from Detroit Publishing, some already seen here on Shorpy) is contained in the Dover Publications collection "Main Street, U.S.A. In Early Photographs" (1998). The book's caption notes this is South El Paso Street's 100 block, looking to the south. At the time the photo was taken, this area was the business center of El Paso, "although that hegemony slipped away in the subsequent decade." The two buildings at the extreme right were torn down in the 1980's for the exppansion of the Paso del Norte Hotel. Believe me, Dave has managed to bring up a great amount of detail from the mud of the original photograph (and I ain't talking about the street.) Steve Miller Someplace near the crossroads of America J.W. HardinThe outlaw J.W. Hardin was killed here 8 yrs prior to the photo. I'd say it was a rather hectic town at the time. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_Wesley_Hardin CoincidenceHaving just watched the HBO series Deadwood last night, I smiled when I saw "The Gem" and "Billiards" on the same building down the street. Must have been a common name in those days. CURIOUSMIGHT THAT BE A SIGN FOR AN OPTOMETRIST? [I BET IT WAS. ARE YOU HARD OF SEEING? - DAVE] Making it workThe sign painters have also effectively worked the decorative brickwork and windows into their design. It is hard to say if the people who originally designed and built the structure on the left had any aesthetic compunction about using the walls as a billboard - or was this the work of later owners? Imagine spending $50 million to build an office building today and then using it for advertising space. [It is hard to envision. - Dave] 1886 MapThanks Vic for the map. I see those railroads via El Paso. My great-great grandpa went to El Paso from Ohio in 1870's to work on the railroad for few years. I make the connection with family history, personal letters with this map. Thanks so much. (The Gallery, DPC, Horses)
We Met at Work: 1942
... place. Beautiful picture, BTW. My great aunt was a "Rosie" and I have a whole photo album of her and her 'girlfriends' whooping it ... 
 
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
... in media of this era. Who would have thought that Rosie the Riveter's real name was Rita Rodriguez. K&T Could this ... 
 
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)
Home Again: 1918
... humiliating at all. Women's Work? Tell that to Rosie Grier. And if you don't know who Rosie is, Google him. [And if that doesn't work, try googling Rosey ... 
 
Posted by Dave - 08/27/2012 - 3:44pm -

"Army soldiers, Walter Reed Hospital." Back from the trenches in Washington, D.C., circa 1918. Harris & Ewing Collection glass negative. View full size. An old yarnI would love to have that knitting machine! On a side note, speaking of "women's work," my dear grandfather took up cross-stitching when recuperating after World War II. He enjoyed it immensely and found it to be very relaxing. He kept it up until his death in 2007. He would do a couple stitches on whatever he was working on each day after smoking his after lunch pipe. He made gorgeous tablecloths and other items as gifts for everyone in the family. Stick to your knittingThe man on the left is using a circular sock knitting machine, which is a pretty cool (and rather complicated) gadget. http://www.oldtymestockings.com/CSMMuseum.html 999 scarves left to goThe guy on the right appears to need a bit more rehab. Thousand-yard stareLooks like the shell shock hasn't quite worn off yet. Looks likeThey made their own robes. Got Yarn?"Yeah I knit. You got a problem with that?" From man's work to women's workIt seems odd that soldiers who had recently been engaged in that most masculine of work--war--should have been given women's work to do in their recuperation. It could have been either very soothing or very humiliating. Smoke Em if You Got EmCheck out the burning cigarette by the young lady. Women's work?If you look at the history of knitting, it was solely men's work at one point, when it was mostly used to produce caps and stockings. Before the various knitting machines came along, there were entire villages in England devoted to knitting stockings, and then it was the work of the whole family. Only when knitting became less necessary and more of a recreational activity did it become solely women's work. During the war, knitting was pushed on everyone, regardless of age or gender, as a way to help the war effort. It was considered therapeutic for patients, and probably wasn't humiliating at all. Women's Work?Tell that to Rosie Grier. And if you don't know who Rosie is, Google him. [And if that doesn't work, try googling Rosey Grier. - Dave] WeightyWhat were the hanging weights for? Maybe to keep tension on the yarn? Heavy KnittingWhen you are using either a sock (shown) or flatbed knitting machine, you use weights to pull on, or tension, the already knit material. It keeps the knitted stitches out of the way of the ones currently on the needles. There are groups solely devoted to antique sock knitting machines and a company in New Zealand that produces new sock knitting machines based upon the antique machines. http://autoknitter.com/ Knitting as therapyKnitting and other needle crafts were widely used as occupational therapy during both World Wars. It also was used in refugee camps in Asia Minor (according to one of my old needlework magazines) as a coping mechanism for children, to soothe them and get them to calm down. Speaking as a knitter/tatter/seamstress/etc, I find most forms of needle crafts very soothing. And logistically it is a great choice as needles and yarn are portable and don't take up lots of storage space (unless you have a stash as large as mine). (The Gallery, D.C., Harris + Ewing, WWI)
Danny the Driller: 1942
... a sub-assembly line." In other words, doing prep work for Rosie. Photo by Jack Delano for the Office of War Information. View full ... than glamorous position of prep worker for the ubiquitous Rosie makes me wonder how he felt about his own war efforts. I see him in ... 
 
Posted by Dave - 05/08/2014 - 12:00am -

August 1942. "Nashville, Tennessee. Vultee Aircraft Company. Drilling holes for rivets in a fuselage on a sub-assembly line." In other words, doing prep work for Rosie. Photo by Jack Delano for the Office of War Information. View full size. Poor nutrition?At the start of World War II large numbers of recruits were rejected for health reasons due to poverty-related poor nutrition. Don't forget, this was on the heels of the Depression. After the war the Federal Student Lunch Program was instituted to provide free or reduced cost lunches to schoolchildren who otherwise might not get a nutritious meal otherwise. This was in fact a Cold-War national-security measure done to ensure that draft-age men were fit for military service. Now this man looks very fit and muscular even by the standards of the time; he was probably a working man his whole life. He looks older; maybe in his thirties. My grandfather was a fit, young-looking man of 40 when the war started out; he worked in a Pittsburgh steel mill which was a critical defense industry. America needed skilled industrial workers as much as soldiers then, and women couldn't do all of those jobs. Needed at homeMany, many men fought the war at home in factories, shipyards and on the farm. In Peoria, where I grew up, Caterpillar and Keystone Steel and Wire shifted full tilt into war production, with Cat making Sherman tanks. Pabst Brewery and Hiram Walker Distillery both switched their vats to penicillin production. Boys graduating from high school were exempt from the draft if they were going straight into a war production related job, as above, or many other areas such as transportation/barge traffic or mining. My dad was a 43 year old single music teacher. He got drafted. What kept him out?That guy is fitter than 99% of the people any of us know today; there's not an ounce of fat on him. Makes you wonder what made him 4-F, or which of the other few exemptions he qualified for that were available to an able-bodied man at the time. [There were thousands of young men working in factories during the war -- there's nothing unusual about his situation. - Dave] I wasn't questioning his dedication. [You were questioning "what made him 4-F" or why he's exempt. Like most young men not in service during WW2, he is most likely neither of those things. - Dave] Prince Valiant?I'm no Vultee expert, but that could be a BT-13 Valiant basic trainer -- or is it a P-66 Vanguard? Vultee A-31 VengeanceThis appears to be an A-31 Vengeance dive bomber, built in Nashville at the Stinson plant. It was not used in combat by the US, but instead saw service with the RAF, RAAF, and Indian Air Force, in Southeast Asia and the Southwest Pacific. Its only use by the US was as a target tug. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vultee_A-31_Vengeance NamelessI see much to contemplate in this photo. The aircraft, war production, the plant are the obvious points of interest. The man, generally goes unremarkable. The year is 1942. This man is obviously not in uniform. I wonder why and how he feels not being able to serve in the expected venue. What was the reaction of his fellow workers? Even his less than glamorous position of prep worker for the ubiquitous Rosie makes me wonder how he felt about his own war efforts. I see him in no less a position of importance to the defense effort, but I speak from the objective position of the present. I would like to have known what his day was like, what he thought and felt other than just the unremarkable man with the drill. My dad tried to enlist in the Navy early 1942But was rejected because he had flat feet - go figure! So he worked in the war material procurement field throughout the war. There were many vaild reasons why some men were not in uniform. [The notion that most of men of draft age were serving in the military during WW2 is a mistaken one. Out of the approximately 50 million men registered for the draft during World War 2, only around 10 million, or one in five, were actually under arms. In other words, 80 percent of draft-age men were not in the military during WW2. - Dave] Dave, believe your numbers are off.Check this out. http://www.historyshots.com/usarmy/backstory.cfm Also want to keep in mind the numbers who were drafted/volunteered but were killed, invalided out for sickness/wounds, and who were discharged for other reasons. So the percentage of draft-age men who weren't serving is smaller than might be thought. [I used numbers from the National World War 2 Museum. If we use the 16 million figure, that means less than a third of the 50 million registered for the draft actually served, with maybe 1 in 4 serving at any given time -- all of those millions weren't serving simultaneously. So young men working in factories weren't some sort of anomaly -- they were far more likely to be doing that than serving in the military. - Dave] Let's Not AssumeI doubt the guy is feeling unmanned by his job - he's old enough to know better. Fire-eater that I was at 22, by 30 I would have been more than happy if somebody else had volunteered to get shot at. [Voluntary enlistment ended in 1942. - Dave] Change ahead?Dec 7, 1941, my dad was a welder in a shipyard, a job I would think would be war essential. Two months later he enlisted in the Marines. You can never tell what will happen. What kept him out?He could have easily served pre-war and decided that he simply did not wish to re-enlist or participate in the war or could have been wounded and medically discharged in 1941-42. As a child my father hunted with an old man who was around 20 when the war started and simply chose not to enlist... no one ever came looking for him as his number was never called. A miracle!This photo is of my dad, John M. Graves, of Whites Creek, Tennessee. Daddy graduated from Joelton High School in 1940. He worked on the family farm and then got a job at the Vultee plant in Nashville. He worked there until late 1942 when he shipped out with the Merchant Marines. He was on a Liberty ship called the Pio Pico which transported materiel to North Africa, Corsica, Sicily, and Italy. After that voyage he came back to Nashville briefly, then signed up for another voyage in the Pacific near the end of the war. He ported in Iwo Jima, Saipan, New Caledonia, and other Pacific islands. He left the maritime service in 1946, moved back home, married my mom, and started a family. I was born in 1954 and Daddy passed away at the young age of 40 in 1962. I have his seaman's papers, as well as his letters home, W-2 forms from Vultee, and more. His time at Vultee was always a bit of an unknown to me, and of course I never had the chance to hear about his experiences. As I've been working on my genealogy over the years, questions about his job at Vultee came to me often but I never made much effort to find out more. Last week I sat down, did a simple web search for "Vultee plant Nashville", selected "images" for my search results, and saw this photo. I looked at it long and hard, in astonishment. There's no doubt whatsoever that it's Daddy. He didn't wear glasses, but undoubtedly these were issued as eye protection. I'm surprised at how muscular he looks here. Hard work has a way of doing that to a young man. I still cannot believe that he happened to be in the right place at the right time when the photographer came through that day, that the photo was in the archives all these years, that Shorpy picked it up, and that finding it was so easy. Truly a miracle, and I treasure this photo more than you can imagine. (The Gallery, Aviation, Factories, Jack Delano, Nashville, WW2)
A Ball of Yarn: 1918
... recovering from an injury (he taught Melanie Griffith), Rosie Greer and Randy Grossman do (Rosie does needlepoint and crocheting).... ... 
 
Posted by Dave - 08/28/2012 - 3:53pm -

Washington, D.C., circa 1918. "Soldiers at Walter Reed." Harris & Ewing Collection dry-plate glass negative. View full size. An old yarnSoldier on the left is holding knitting frame. A common threadThere's definitely some homogeneity in this shot. I'd like to see the finished product of their knitting. SweaterThe soldier in the middle appears to be working on a sweater sleeve. You can see the ribbing on the bottom edge. From the size, the soldier on the right is working on the same thing. Tough guys knittingIn his youth, my uncle had surgery on his ankle. To occupy his mind and fingers, the nurses taught him how to knit, crochet and tat. As he grew to an adult, he kept on knitting, crocheting and a bit of tatting. Today he is in his late 70s and still knits and crochets. Homogeneity?I'm confused. Ok, five figures, two women, three men, all look human, no chimps, gorillas or bonobos. Because they are all white? Or because the men are holding incomplete knitted objects? Or the woman look attentive and focused? Or the image looks staged? One has a knitting rake, used to make socks by unskilled knitters. The other two are at least holding the needles like they know how to knit. The second man is wearing pince-nez, the others, sans glasses. During the war, knitting was something asked of all people, to free production of fabrics for war materials. Everyone in America would know, at the time, what was being made and why. BeatificIt's nice to see no dopey comments about these guys for once. Who knows what these men went through? God bless them all, both then and now. I love the beatific expressions in the nurses' faces. The picture just projects such a kind and gentle feeling. ConnectionThe third soldier's smile made me smile back at him across all the years. I pray he healed mentally and physically, that they all did. My boyfriend knows how to knit. He's Scottish. He's also a 2nd level blackbelt, so I wouldn't mock. Real Men Knit...Knitting, until the invention of the knitting machine, was a man's occupation. Sailors knitted (as an off-shoot of making nets). When the knitting machine was invented, they could pay women low wages as "unskilled labourers" and knitting became "women's work". Russell Crowe is a knitter, so is Laurence Fishburne, Montreal Canadien Hoceky player Jacques Plante was, Antonio Banderas learned to knit from Catherine Zeta-Jones while recovering from an injury (he taught Melanie Griffith), Rosie Greer and Randy Grossman do (Rosie does needlepoint and crocheting).... http://www.menknit.net/history.html http://www.csmonitor.com/1997/1205/120597.home.home.1.html Glad to be part of the tradition!I was an Army Occupational Therapist at WRAMC in 1985 and I learned how to knit from my patients on the psychiatric unit. Since then the artist in me has learned to spin wool, and create my own patterns as well. Knitting is an extremely healing art form, requiring concentration, attention to detail, problem solving, and abstract thinking skills just to name a few benefits. I'm male by the way, glad to be in the company of Russell Crowe. (The Gallery, D.C., Harris + Ewing, Medicine, WWI)
Goggles Girl: 1942
... sweater doesn't look very fireproof. Those Goggles Rosie clearly has a nice set! Cutting or welding? Perhaps someone with ... what's with the welding rod? Wanda We have seen "Rosie the Riveter", so she must be "Wanda the Welder". Predominant Wool ... 
 
Posted by Dave - 10/30/2013 - 2:33pm -

        This young lady is training to work on the assembly line of one of our great war plants. In preparation for this task, she devotes six nights a week to a WPA vocational training school where experienced instructors show her the technique of modern welding. July 1942. "Work Projects Administration vocational school in Washington, D.C." Photo by Howard Liberman, Office of War Information. View full size. Safety Equipment?One good pop from her weld and that sweater will be kaput. And she really ought to be wearing gloves as well. FireProofThat fuzzy sweater doesn't look very fireproof. Those GogglesRosie clearly has a nice set! Cutting or welding?Perhaps someone with more metalworking knowledge can enlighten me. She's using a cutting torch, so what's with the welding rod? WandaWe have seen "Rosie the Riveter", so she must be "Wanda the Welder". Predominant WoolHer wool sweater is perfect for welding. Looks good and won't start on fire. I can't tell you how many cotton and synthetic clothes I've lifted up my welding helmet to see aflame. Welding ClassThis is the same way I learned to weld 30 years later. The torch is not a "cutting" torch, but rather an oxy-acetylene welding torch. This is one of the ways welding was commonly done prior to the advent of electric welding. The heat from the flame creates a "puddle" of molten metal, the filler rod is added, and the process is moved along the seam to create a weld. The dark lenses in the goggles are much lighter than those used in electric arc welding. The entire arrangement (torch, table, bricks, test "coupons") will be quite familiar to anyone who took a welding course at least up through the 1980's (and possibly even today, I don't know). Neither cutting or weldingShe's brazing. Brings Back Memories"Gas welding" was one of the neatest things I've ever learned- almost magic. Being able to push that steel puddle along and then watch it solidify as the flame passed was nearly mesmerizing. (The Gallery, D.C., Howard Liberman, WW2)
Two Dollars a Week: 1913
... help the mother on garments: Joseph, 14, Andrew, 10, Rosie, 7, and all together they make about $2 a week when work is plenty. There ... 
 
Posted by Dave - 09/11/2011 - 7:18pm -

New York City, January 1913. "1 p.m. Family of Onofrio Cottone, 7 Extra Place, finishing garments in a terribly run down tenement. The father works on the street. The three oldest children help the mother on garments: Joseph, 14, Andrew, 10, Rosie, 7, and all together they make about $2 a week when work is plenty. There are two babies." View full size. Photograph by Lewis Wickes Hine. Mrs. C.What beautiful needlework on the tablecloth and curtains! And an embroidery hoop on the wall. This lady knew her way around a needle and thread. Extra, ExtraExtra Place on the Lower East Side today in Google Maps Street View. The plywood construction fence is the east side of Extra Place. View Larger Map The CottonesOnofrio Cottone of 7 Extra Place became a United States citizen on Sept. 9, 1920, at New York County Supreme Court; volume 430, page 198 per Ancestry.com. Thank you all Americans. Joseph William Cottone of 7 Extra Place was born Dec. 2, 1898, in Italy according to his World War I registration card. Beautiful but SadWhat a beautiful little girl that is third from left. Such a wistful and sad expression, though. What money cannot buyThis family obviously had very little in the way of material goods, but that mom was "home schooling" before it became fashionable. These kids spent TIME with their mom, and I am certain they all knew one another as few families do today, what with endless hours of conversation and each expressing their likes, dislikes, hopes, dreams and fears. Mom is probably telling her kids all about Italy and how lucky they are to be in America, even though we today see the scene as pretty dismal. (World War I was happening at this time, and hopefully they all were spared that era of European suffering). How many kids today have heard daily stories of their parents' experiences and details of their country of origin? And I am impressed that even though they work at home, each one is DRESSED in real clothing and not pajamas or sweats. When one is a child, there is nothing so precious as your family spending time with you, talking and listening to you, acknowleging your existence, making you feel useful and needed. Yes, they were poor in being without luxuries, but they were very rich to be blessed with such close family relationships and time spent together. Lots of today's kids should be so lucky. ThreadsMy father and his sister were not allowed outside to play. They sat inside and their job was to cut the threads on the purses their mother was sewing beads onto. He does not remember enjoying the activity, but his parents were terrified of losing another child, as their first son was killed by an automobile, part of what was referred to by the local paper at the time as an epidemic. The board of health finally forced my grandmother to let her children attend school when my father was 7 years old. Home schoolingAnd as for the comment about the wonders of home schooling, at least in my father's and mother's families, (both of Italian heritage) once the children appeared to be old enough to do the work, that's what their parents expected them to do. Reading, writing and arithmetic, even with literate parents (all my grandparents were literate) was not taught in the home. They were hungry and poor and their precious time was spent making paper flowers, sewing, beading, whatever piece work their families worked on. Extra PlaceNY Times article about Extra Place, off East First Street near the Bowery. Seems as though there's a dispute about whether or not the byway should be eliminated at the expense of new upscale apartment construction. The back door of the CBGB Hard Rock club exited into Extra Place. Round thing on the wallThat round thing on the wall above the little girl's head on the right hand side of the picture seems to be a wooden flour sifter with a wire mesh bottom. I have one like it for decoration in my kitchen (brought over from Italy). Why it would be so important to hang it in the living room is beyond me unless it might be an Italian custom of some sort (good luck perhaps?). [It's an embroidery hoop. - Dave] Sweet NewsPosted today on Gothamist: "A compact chocolate shop called Bespoke Chocolate opened yesterday on Extra Place, the historic 30' by 120' alley tucked away north of 1st Street between the Bowery and 2nd Avenue. The shop itself, owned and operated by chocolate maker Rachel Zoe Insler and her fiancé, is a tiny 280 square feet, open production space included." Must disagree with Dave, uh oh!An embroidery hoop needs to be "hollow" you cannot embroider if a screen/net is attached to one side. My vote goes is for sifter also. (The Gallery, Kids, Lewis Hine, NYC)
Santa's Helpers: 1924
... The dance numbers starred the Dolly Sisters, Jennie and Rosie, and this contemporary photo of them suggests that they were never ... 
 
Posted by Dave - 08/19/2012 - 5:05pm -

December 6, 1924. "Greenwich Village Follies girls mending toys." 5x7 glass negative, George Grantham Bain Collection. View full size. ToylandWow, Bernice bobbed her hair, and we love it. I like the one on the far left, and yes the one in the middle too. Thanks for this on. Not just hairThe clothes, makeup, attitude -- everything says "transition" to me when women were really breaking loose and doing their own thing. It even appears that dentistry has been discovered. Toys of DestinyThis photo helps explain all the fuss about Broadway showgirls in the 1920s. Not even the old hairstyles or fashions get in the way in this image. The Greenwich Follies of 1924 opened on September 16 in the Shubert Theater and ran for 127 performances. Cole Porter wrote all the music for the two-act revue, including a number titled "Toy of Destiny," which might explain the idea behind this publicity shot. The dance numbers starred the Dolly Sisters, Jennie and Rosie, and this contemporary photo of them suggests that they were never upstaged by all these vivacious chorines. Something Dad used to sayMy father often used an expression I never really understood but it popped into my mind immediately when I looked at this picture: "All that meat and no potatoes!" ToysI find it interesting that the chorine in front left has the horse Spark Plug, which was, of course, Barney Google's horse -- Barney Google, with those Goo-Goo-Googly eyes. He was actually the star of the comic strip by that name, but later took a back seat as an occasional visitor, to Snuffy Smif. HairGotta love the variety of "do's." Marcels, bobs, don't know what they called the ear buns. And a spit curl to die for. Please Use My PaletteHow in the world do some guys get such great jobs? BoyishformThey mashed the potatoes on purpose. The style was to be flat as a board. There was even a brand of foundation garments called "Boyishform." Small-breasted (relative) waifs come into fashion cyclically. Star PowerLeonardo DiCaprio on the left, Madonna on the far right. Are you sure this is from 1924? (The Gallery, Christmas, G.G. Bain, NYC)
Midnight Snackers: 1943
... somewhere overseas instead of sitting at a lunch counter; Rosie could replace them at their drill press. Dave Clark Gable from an ... 
 
Posted by Dave - 10/14/2014 - 1:34pm -

        "We'll have what she's having." April 1943. "Baltimore, Maryland. Third-shift defense workers getting snack at drugstore on corner where their shared car will pick them up around midnight." Photo by Marjory Collins for the Office of War Information. View full size. Fancy ClienteleThere's Clark Gable on the left, and Elvis peeking over the root beer barrel. Clark GableSeated in front of the Coca Cola dispenser I'll have a slice of life, please.Looks like everyone but the woman with the fur trimmed coat collar, the guy in the leather jacket next to her, and the man standing behind them in the fedora are all wearing workingman's clothes. There must be a story in there somewhere. The fedora guy could be an upstairs management type or a news reporter trying to get a cuppa on his way home. Leather jacket and fur collar might have stopped in to the drugstore to have something to eat on their way home from a date at the movies when the shift at the plant let out and they were instantly surrounded. At least they all seem to look happy or at least amused about something. Interesting reading on the walls. A 'How To Buy' wartime poster. On the magazine rack above there's Official Detective, Photoplay, Esquire and War News and a magazine titled Gags with a girl behind a steering wheel. If it's about gags, this may not end well for her. Anyone recognize the actress on the cover of Photoplay? [Gene Tierney, April 1943. -tterrace] Is it a clown car?Thats an awful lot of people to squeeze into one vehicle. I'm assuming 'car' must refer to something somewhat larger than what immediately springs to mind for me. ["Car" was also common shorthand for streetcar. -tterrace] Here Comes The JudgeI have never heard of or even seen any old copies of "Judge" magazine. It was a humor magazine that started in 1881. Couldn't find the issue shown here in the magazine rack, but here's a cover from later that year. "Car" = "Streetcar"......Notice the folded-back blackout curtains by the entrance. Hmmm, those two young ones nearest the camera look like they should be toting a gun somewhere overseas instead of sitting at a lunch counter; Rosie could replace them at their drill press. Dave Clark Gable from an alternate universeThe one where he just wasn't quite handsome enough to make it as a movie star. Another gem to gaze at for hours!Just when I think Shorpy can't be any more remarkable comes this photo. We are all there as the flash goes off. Thanks for the ride, Dave. Lost (?) stampsOne of my few wartime memories is of my mother in a panic having 'lost' her food ration stamps like those pictured in the poster in the upper right. I mobilized all the kids on the block to find them. We diligently searched her path from the neighborhood grocery store (that was in pre-supermarket times) to our rented flat only to find that she had miss-filed them in her voluminous purse. Come to think of it that term, super market, has vanished from common usage along with the stamps. I'm assuming....Are those black-out curtains in front of the doorway? (The Gallery, Baltimore, Eateries & Bars, Marjory Collins, Stores & Markets)
Riveting: 1942
... transparency by Howard Hollem. Mom! My mom, Rosie (real name), worked at a food dehydrator in WWII (not as a riveter). She ... 
 
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)
Future Fridge: 1959
... duration of WW2 advertising the things that GIs and their Rosie the Riveter wives could look forward to after victory, and one of those ... 
 
Posted by Dave - 07/16/2018 - 10:54am -

1959. "Anne Anderson in RCA-Whirlpool 'Miracle Kitchen of the Future,' a display at the American National Exhibition in Moscow." Photo by Bob Lerner for the Look magazine article "What the Russians Will See." View full size. Retractable FridgeThe RCA-Whirlpool "Finger-Chopper," Model FC-1959. Predictions can be wrong“Miracle Kitchen” from back in the day when they predicted nuclear power would make electricity too cheap to meter. Yeah, right. June Lockhart, Barbara Billingsley, TV moms, etc.This lady could be any one of the bunch with that outfit and string of pearls. Except Dale Evans. Eggs?If I'm understanding this, what the Russians will see is somebody refrigerating eggs, which pretty much nobody but Americans does. At long last, will no one mention the Kitchen Debate?This was expected to be the propaganda coup for western capitalism. US corporations spent the duration of WW2 advertising the things that GIs and their Rosie the Riveter wives could look forward to after victory, and one of those things was the modern kitchen. Whatever western intelligence services had to guess about the home lives of communist-bloc nations, they could be pretty confident of a lag in kitchen convenience technology. Ike tasked his veep, Richard Nixon, with hammering this point home, in his debates with Khruschchev. [Actually we have mentioned it, here and here. - Dave] USA! USA! USA!Looks like we were winning the "cold war" in 1959. GE preceded RCA-Whirlpool by two yearsIn 1957, some friends had an identical wall-mounted model in a brown tone, but it was relegated to their garage/shop in 1964 during a remodeling. When they sold the house in 1983 it was still working perfectly. [Hardly identical. This was a motorized unit that retracted up into the cabinets with a wave of the hand. - Dave] Caesar SaladDiscovered by keeping the eggs over the lettuce. Why yesI remember this disinformation campaign well. Our 1959 kitchen looked just like it. Not. The oil stove and refrigerator which iced up regularly featured as did the mangle-equipped clothes washer. Forget the Russians, most people I knew wanted a kitchen like that depicted. At least we got an over-and-under auto defrost freezer/fridge in contemporary lime green plus a new electric range and washer and dryer when Dad remodeled in 1962! And a double sink. Don't forget that double sink! Luxury. We also got a Roto-Tiller for the veggie garden and a snow blower for the driveway. The future had arrived. Then I went to London for grad school in 1969. The kitchens I saw there resembled the ones from the '30s shown here on Shorpy but with full-size gas ranges. (Technology, The Gallery, Kodachromes, Kitchens etc., LOOK)
Teamwork: 1942
... 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)
Window Shopping: 1943
... Madame would be interested in something from the "Rosie the Riveter" collection? Ironic Ironic that Spiegel, Sears, and ... 
 
Posted by Dave - 05/25/2016 - 12:40pm -

June 1943. Arlington, Virginia. "Ordering clothes from a mail order house at Idaho Hall, Arlington Farms, a residence for women who work for the U.S. government for the duration of the war." Photo by Esther Bubley. View full size. Hope they have overnight shippingThe poor girl literally doesn't have a thing to wear and she certainly cannot go to work like that. The old vintage chenille robe hanging on the curtain rod was the norm in the forties. I don't think girls even wear slips anymore but nowadays that would pass for a dress. As for catalogs, what boy doesn't remember looking at the ladies' underwear pictures in Sears and Wards mail order selections when Mom wasn't looking? It was a rite of passage. Perhaps Madame would be interestedin something from the "Rosie the Riveter" collection? IronicIronic that Spiegel, Sears, and Montgomery Wards were close to today's Amazon business model of ordering at home. Growing up it was also fun to thumb through the pages of mail order catalogs. If only they had managed to hang on until Jeff Bezos and the internet had shown up. Window shoppingLooks like she should also be shopping for drapes Drapes and bedspreadThe photo reminds me of my two years spent at the Barbizon Hotel for Women in NYC. Every few months our so, the staff changed out our drapes and bedspreads in patterns very much like seen in the picture. DéshabilléA glance at the date of the photo explains the lady's state of undress. It's probably in the 90s, with humidity to match. Until mid-20th Century, when air conditioning began to proliferate, personnel assigned to Her Britannic Majesty's Embassy in Washington drew the same hardship allowance as they would in Calcutta or Freetown. (The Gallery, D.C., Esther Bubley, WW2)
Chinese Temple: 1940
... all those years ago when he ordered a Grape Nehi at Rosie's Bar. Not being a citizen of the US. Jimmy D. The driver of the ... 
 
Posted by Dave - 03/10/2019 - 5:12pm -

November 1940. "Main street. Delano, California." Medium format negative by Russell Lee for the Farm Security Administration. View full size. Radio centralThe pool hall has several "long wire" antennae attached to a pole. I'm guessing that would be the place to hear the game, etc. from the big city (LA & SF, about 160 miles away), or even international shortwave news. Deluxe radios of this era could tune shortwave and longwave in addition to commercial AM. Alternate theory: Local radio dispatch for trucks, etc. Not a deuceelbeaver, the car you are looking at it a Willys 77. The body style shown here was used from 1933 until '36. I can't tell without seeing the front end what one it is. Not a '32 FordThe "strange coupe" that is "four cars over" appears to be a circa 1933 Willys. "Old" CaliforniaFlorsheim Shoes always remind me of going to the mall in So. Cal. and my grandfather, who often wore them. And the side-on view of the grille of that late-30's Ford(?) in the front of the row of cars is fascinatingly almost transparent. I have never seen that angle on that before. 1937 FordReally nice '37 Ford Deluxe Fordor front and center. Pretty shiny looking for a three-year-old car in that era. Starfish on the GrilleOn the auto far left. Must be amphibious. Strange coupe.The '37 Ford is easy to identify but not the fourth car in. A five-window coupe with very interesting wheel design. I don't believe I've ever seen one before. Four Cars OverFourth car from the left I believe is a 1932 Ford -- tough looking 80 years ago. NehiI finally got what Radar O'Reilly was talking about in M*A*S*H all those years ago when he ordered a Grape Nehi at Rosie's Bar. Not being a citizen of the US. Jimmy D.The driver of the first car appears to have a large pointy nose and smoking a pipe. I realize it is really the hat brim of the person sitting in the right seat creating the nose illusion. I am not sure who is smoking the pipe. My first thought however was that the driver was Jimmy Durante. (The Gallery, Cars, Trucks, Buses, Eateries & Bars, Russell Lee, Small Towns)
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