July 1942. "Ford bomber plant at Willow Run, Michigan. Inspection of more than a thousand separate tubing pieces composing the fuel, hydraulic, de-icing and other systems in a bomber is a highly important job. This young employee at the giant Willow Run plant uses her tiny flashlight to discover any internal defects in the tubing." Photo by Ann Rosener, Office of War Information. View full size.

August 1942. "Inspecting thousands of drills each day, women employed by a large Midwest drill and tool company must learn to detect the tiniest flaw in these vital machine accessories. Republic Drill and Tool Co., Chicago." Medium format negative by Ann Rosener for the Office of War Information. View full size.

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.

July 1942. "Production of aircraft engines at Melrose Park Buick plant near Chicago. Hundreds of gears pass through the expert hands of Dorothy Miller and Sylvia Dreiser during their eight-hour working day in a large Midwest aircraft plant. Inspection of these vital cogs in America's war machine is a delicate task and one which requires infinite patience and precision." Medium format negative by Ann Rosener for the Office of War Information. View full size.

July 1942. Melrose Park, Illinois. "Production of aircraft engines. Buick plant. Foreman F.I. Bowman shows Marietta Morgan how to operate this bomb-test machine used to test reconditioned spark plugs. A young Negro girl, Marietta had been a clerk in a meat market. Her lack of industrial experience, however, has been no handicap for her present war job in a large Midwest airplane plant. She's rapidly becoming a skilled and efficient machine operator." Medium format safety negative by Ann Rosener for the Office of War Information. View full size.

August 1942. "Women at work for victory. Republic Drill and Tool Company, Chicago. These young employees of a Midwest drill and tool plant are operating cylindrical grinders which taper drills to specified size. Used in the manufacture of guns, ships and tanks, these drills demand precise and accurate grinding." Medium format negative by Ann Rosener, Office of War Information. View full size.

February 1942. "Ask the man who repairs one, and he'll tell you to turn the freeze control back to normal after quick-freezing ice-cubes or ice cream. If you leave it on high, foods will freeze and you'll waste electric current." Medium-format nitrate negative by Ann Rosener, Office of War Information. View full size.

July 1942. "Willow Run bomber plant. A small part of the world's largest one- story war production plant, the giant Ford bomber factory at Willow Run, Michigan. Fixtures in background hold bomber wings during assembly." Photograph by Ann Rosener for the Office of War Information. View full size.

June 1942. "Why greases must be saved. Introducing two good soldiers of the home front: the housewife who saves her waste household fats and greases, and the butcher to whom she gives this salvaged fat after she has collected at least one pound, strained it through a metal sieve and poured it into a large, wide-mouthed can. Butchers displaying the poster shown here will pay househoulders for the fat, and sell it to rendering plants thereby turning this valuable material into industrial channels where it will be processed into ammunition for America's fighting men." Medium format negative by Ann Rosener for the OWI. View full size.

February 1942. "Something the matter with your wringer? It probably needs a few drops of oil. Regular lubrication by your repair man assures smooth functioning of the mechanism. If you attempt to do the job yourself, you may find the family wash oiled." View full size. Medium-format negative by Ann Rosener, OWI.

July 1942. Ford plant at Willow Run, Michigan. "Steady of eye and hand, women workers at the great Willow Run bomber plant are among those throughout the country who are relieving serious shortages of skilled workers by doing such semi-skilled jobs as the one here. She's welding parts of the cooling system direct to the supercharger." View full size. Medium format negative by Ann Rosener.

August 1942. Republic Drill and Tool Company, Chicago. "Women in industry. Tool production. Eyes averted from the white shower of sparks, this young employee of a drill and tool plant touches the button that welds drills to their shanks. She's one of nearly 1,000 women who have replaced men at the production machines of this Midwest factory." View full size. Medium format negative by Ann Rosener for the Office of War Information.

February 1942. "Do you know why sugar must be rationed? Why you can't buy any more refrigerators or pleasure cars? There's plenty of material available on these subjects which can be obtained from the government." View full size. Medium format negative by Ann Rosener for the Office of War Information.

February 1942. "Don't let pretty labels on cans mislead you, but learn the difference between grades and the relative economy of buying larger instead of small cans. The Pure Food Law requires packers to state exact quantity and quality of canned products, so take advantage of this information and buy only after thorough inspection of labels." View full size. Medium format nitrate negative by Ann Rosener for the OWI. This woulda made a great Kodachrome.

June 1942. "Why greases must be saved. A soldier of the home front -- and there's one in every American kitchen -- saves all waste fats and greases so that they can be processed into ammunition for America's soldiers on the battlefronts. Pan and broiler drippings, deep fats, renderings from bacon rinds: These are some of the fats which should be put through a strainer to remove meat scraps and other solids, and poured into wide-mouthed cans such as coffee or fat cans." 4x5 safety negative by Ann Rosener for the Office of War Information. View full size.