Posts Tagged Women

Wonder Women: 1942

August 1942. “Formerly a sociology major at the University of Southern California, Mrs. Eloise J. Ellis (left) now “keeps ‘em flyin’” at the Naval Air Base, Corpus Christi, Texas. She is a supervisor under civil service in the Assembly and Repair Department. It is her job to maintain morale among the women by helping them solve housing and other personal problems. With her is Jo Ann Whittington, an NYA trainee at the plant.” Large format Kodachrome transparency by Howard Hollem for the Office of War Information.

Shorpy Historical Photo Archive

By an unknown photographer, unknown location, December 22, 1943

“A Bell System switchboard where overseas calls are handled. Not all of the services shown here are available under wartime conditions”

The most famous female worker of World War II was the mythical Rosie the Riveter, who patriotically joined the industrial workforce to do her bit in a shipyard or an aircraft factory. There were many real-life Rosies, but many more women worked in service or clerical jobs as secretaries, bank tellers, retail clerks, and telephone operators.

(National Archives, Records of the Women’s Bureau (86-WWT-28-3))

Alfred Eisenstaedt—Time & Life Pictures/Getty Images

The caption that accompanied this image when it appeared in the January 23, 1939, issue of LIFE: “The top box-office star of Warner Bros., in blue slacks, skims through the morning newspapers in the playroom of her home. The walls are decorated with Mexican posters.”

LIFE

Instructing nurses on the use of respirator for a polio patient, May 23, 1958

Nursing uniforms initially resembled maids’ uniforms and emphasized the subservient nature of their position. By the early 20th century, however, nursing schools adopted distinctive uniforms to foster professional identity. In this particular photograph, the nurses are being instructed on the use of an iron lung for polio patients.

(National Archives, General Records of the Department of Labor (174-G-30-1))
[See Also: The Iron Lung]

With some of New York’s skyscrapers looming through clouds of gas, some U.S. army nurses at the hospital post at Fort Jay, Governors Island, New York, wear gas masks as they drill on defense precautions, on November 27, 1941. (AP Photo)

(AP Photo/Source: The Atlantic)

Keeping a man "in his place" - A WAAF member demonstrates self-defense on January 15, 1942.

Specially chosen airwomen are being trained for police duties in the Women’s Auxiliary Air Force (WAAF). They have to be quick-witted, intelligent and observant woman of the world – They attend an intensive course at the highly sufficient RAF police school – where their training runs parallel with that of the men.

(AP Photo/The Atlantic)

Women turn out in large numbers for the anti-Prohibition parade and demonstration in Newark, N.J., October 28, 1932. More than 20,000 people took part in the mass demand for the repeal of the 18th Amendment.

(AP Photo/Source)

In this and dozens of other, similar pictures made at New York’s Penn Station, LIFE’s Alfred Eisenstaedt captured a private moment repeated in public millions of times over the course of the war: a guy, a girl, a goodbye — and no assurance that he’ll make it back. By war’s end, more than 400,000 American troops had been killed.

Members of the Women’s Army Corps (WAC) pose at Camp Shanks, New York, before leaving from New York Port of Embarkation on Feb. 2, 1945. The women are with the first contingent of Black American WACs to go overseas for the war effort From left to right are, kneeling: Pvt. Rose Stone; Pvt. Virginia Blake; and Pfc. Marie B. Gillisspie. Second row: Pvt. Genevieve Marshall; T/5 Fanny L. Talbert; and Cpl. Callie K. Smith. Third row: Pvt. Gladys Schuster Carter; T/4 Evelyn C. Martin; and Pfc. Theodora Palmer.

via The Atlantic

1935: American actor Shirley Temple presents the Best Actress Oscar to French-born actor Claudette Colbert (1903 – 1996) for her role in director Frank Capra’s film, ‘It Happened One Night’, Los Angeles, California. Colbert holds a fur coat over her arm, preparing to travel to New York City. (Photo by Hulton Archive/Getty Images)

Screen star Marlene Dietrich once stated that “Mystery is a woman’s greatest charm.” During a 1952 photo session, photographer Milton Greene captured this idea by playing on the idea of being hidden and shrouded in darkness.

LIFE

Lone Star: 1942

Shorpy Historical Photo Archive

Panoramic view of Niagara Falls, the American Falls on the left and the Canadian Falls (Horseshoe Falls) on the right

Annie Taylor in her barrel right before her ride over the falls

Daredevils have risked their lives to accomplish dangerous and seemingly impossible feats all for the lure of fame and fortune. From the beginning of the twentieth century to today, some daredevils have even attempted the odds of death and the wraith of Mother Nature by tackling the rapids and falls that comprise Niagara Falls.

Annie, looking dishevelled, is assisted from her barrel after the fall

At the age of sixty-three, Annie Edson Taylor became the first woman to challenge Niagara Falls and the first to do so in a barrel. On her birthday, October 24, 1901, the widow and schoolteacher rode her barrel over the Horseshoe Falls on the Canadian side of the falls. She hoped that this stunt would bring her fame and fortune.

Annie with her infamous barrel during her "Heroine of Niagara Falls" tour

Taylor’s barrel was 22 inches in diameter at the head, 34 inches in the middle and 15 inches at the foot. Made with white Kentucky Oak, the barrel was four and a half feet long and weighed the same as Taylor – 160 pounds. At the bottom of the barrel, a 100-200 pound anvil was place for ballast. The inside was padded with a small mattress and after she climbing in, the air pressure was compressed to 30 p.s.i with a bike pump. 

At 4:05pm, Taylor went over the Falls. It took 35 minutes for rescuers to get close enough to the barrel to cut it open. Inside they found Taylor with cuts and bruises but no major injuries. Upon climbing out she muttered, “nobody ought ever do that again.”

While Taylor received her initial goal of fame and was dubbed “Queen of the Mist,” it was only fleeting and did not last. She died in poverty on April 29, 1921.

Annie Edson on tour for fame and fortune

Information
Annie Edson Taylor: Daredevil One
Daredevils of Niagara Falls
Marvin Kusmierz, “Anna Edson Taylor (1839-1921): Bay City Teacher was First Person to go over Niagara Falls,” Bay-Journal,  Feb., 2003.

Photos
Panoramic photo of Niagara Falls
Annie in her barrel before
Annie being helped out
Annie and her barrel
Annie on tour