# Working Girls (no, not what you are thinking!)



## Tony Wells (Sep 23, 2012)

Gotta love working girls.


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## Old Iron (Sep 23, 2012)

*Re: Working Girls*

Your title is kind of misleading:rofl::rofl:

Paul


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## 7HC (Sep 23, 2012)

*Re: Working Girls*

Great pics............never underestimate what women are capable of! :whiteflag:


M


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## porter_jamie (Sep 23, 2012)

*Re: Working Girls*

awesome! 

pic #6-  i haven't worked a turret lathe for years.


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## 8ntsane (Sep 23, 2012)

*Re: Working Girls*



7HC said:


> Great pics............never underestimate what women are capable of! :whiteflag:
> 
> 
> M




Yes, I fully agree with that.


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## November X-ray (Sep 23, 2012)

*Re: Working Girls*

What is the machine in the last picture? My thought is at least she has on what appears to be safety glasses, even if she is in a dress! My Thanks to these hard working women and men whom did what they had to do during WWII so we can enjoy the freedoms many take for granted today!!!


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## Tony Wells (Sep 23, 2012)

*Re: Working Girls*

All I can figure on that one is some sort of grinder, based on the electric motor. If it were a spot welder, I'd expect her to be wearing different PPE, as little as was used back then. But if it's a grinder, it must be running dry.

Here's one that just seems wrong!


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## 7HC (Sep 23, 2012)

*Re: Working Girls*



November X-ray said:


> What is the machine in the last picture? My thought is at least she has on what appears to be safety glasses, even if she is in a dress! My Thanks to these hard working women and men whom did what they had to do during WWII so we can enjoy the freedoms many take for grnated today!!!



Lots of sparks coming out the back of it, and as she's wearing clear safety glasses I'd guess it's a grinder of some sort rather than a welder.


M


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## 7HC (Sep 23, 2012)

*Re: Working Girls*



Tony Wells said:


> ....................Here's one that just seems wrong!



Way more posed than the others, maybe a publicity shot of some sort?


M


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## Pacer (Sep 23, 2012)

*Re: Working Girls*

Only took til the 3rd-4th pic when I realized - by golly these girls havent been chowing down on Mcdonalds fries etc - I dont think there was an obesity problem back then :thumbsup:


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## swatson144 (Sep 23, 2012)

*Re: Working Girls*

Most of them seem to be publicity shots ala "Rosie the riveter" . Fact is that all the hard working people get dirty the same way and seldom get war paint, or just grimy hands.  Really nice pictures and certainly a part of history!

I am not taking anything away from the ladies, they did amazing work and completely replaced the men who went overseas to fight.   It took some prompting to get them to realize they could http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rosie_the_Riveter . These pictures are all a part of why we don't speak German. As soon as our mothers new they could fight from home they kicked buttocks!

Steve


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## Hawkeye (Sep 23, 2012)

*Re: Working Girls*

At first I thought the sparks from that grinder looked like high speed steel (might still be), but it has to be a pretty heavy cut, since there are plenty left to bounce when they hit the floor.

The traces do appear similar to the description in Henry Ford's Shop Theory - "High speed steels show several interrupted, dotted, brownish-red spark lines with ball-shaped end sparks of dark blood-red color. Some of these burst into small red stars of few rays, slightly lighter in color."

That could suggest a large cutter grinder.


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## Rbeckett (Sep 23, 2012)

*Re: Working Girls*

100% USDA my kind of woman.  My wife loves the shop and playing out there with me when she has time and is not worn out from her two jobs.  Bet my wife welds better than yours.........
Wheelchair Bob


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## churchjw (Sep 24, 2012)

*Re: Working Girls*

#2 Would make a great poster.  Has that mad scientist feel.  Wife saw these and her first comment was "I am not posing for pictures in the shop."  There goes my idea for my new screen saver.  Oh well great pictures thanks for posting.

Jeff


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## core-oil (Sep 24, 2012)

*Re: Working Girls*

Hi Guys,

  The title made me wonder if we were visiting a strip club, & the forum had taken a "down turn"  The first photograph makes me think of a war time story my dad used to tell, of two lady munition workers , One was reading her micrometer & the other said"How many thous are in an inch?,(To which the first lady  said,) I dont know there must be Millions of them!"

  The last illustration seems to be a nice war time recruitment posed shot, Look at the nice headband & necklace she is wearing made of cuttings


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## jgedde (Sep 24, 2012)

*Re: Working Girls*

The title had me wondering what the topic was all about...  I was already armed with the statement that this is an "off-topic" section not an "off-color" one.  :whistle:

I bet with metal being at such a premium item in those days - for the war effort - the floors were swept up as fast as the machinist could make chips!

John


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## ScubaSteve (Sep 25, 2012)

Yeah, those look like advertisements, campaign shots, etc. But it got me thinking....aside from the fact that most of our manufacturing is now off shore....what is different nowadays? Women still work in these fields, even though they are a minority. I bet if you had asked one of these women about the work they did, they would say that the work was hard but satisfying, and they were glad to have a job. There is nothing about welding, machining, mechanical stuff that would prevent a woman from doing the work....it's a cultural thing; women are generally groomed for other types of professions. 

I will say this though.....I'm pretty sure that back then women worked on all female crews, with a female supervisor. There's a LOT to be said for that. It eliminates a lot of sexual harassment and empowers women to work in a non-traditional field without the intimidation of having to compete with men. Being in the Navy, I have worked on all-male and mixed teams, and find that there is usually a lot less headache when you're not having to deal with male/female interpersonal issues like fraternization, harrassment, infidelity, etc. Maybe they should bring that back.


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## 7HC (Sep 25, 2012)

ScubaSteve said:


> ............
> .....I'm pretty sure that back then women worked on all female crews, with a female supervisor. There's a LOT to be said for that. It eliminates a lot of sexual harassment and empowers women to work in a non-traditional field without the intimidation of having to compete with men. Being in the Navy, I have worked on all-male and mixed teams, and find that there is usually a lot less headache when you're not having to deal with male/female interpersonal issues like fraternization, harrassment, infidelity, etc. Maybe they should bring that back.



I'm not so sure.  I wasn't around at the time, but from what I've read the foreman or supervisor would usually be a man with the necessary technical skills, normally a member of the original workforce who wasn't fit for active service.

However, apparantly it was often the case that the poor guy was run ragged by the harrassment from the women.
Nothing overtly physical, but a lot of sexual innuendo and embarassing comments.

In those days a foreman would often have to be pretty tough to keep discipline on the factory floor, and it wouldn't be unusual to have to give a guy a shove to get the point across.

If he tried that with the women they'd tear him apart, or pull down his pants and sit him hard into a pile of swarf.  :nono:

Apparently it was common for a foreman who was regarded as an ogre and feared by the men to turn into a real pussycat after working with the women for a while.

I can understand it, as in years gone by I had the experience of being the only male worker in a bunch of females, and believe me, it's not always the fun experience you'd think it might be!   :scared:


M


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## core-oil (Sep 25, 2012)

7HC has raised some interesting valid points with his posting, Many years ago, i had a foreman who was ex British Aircraft production -1939--45 War effort, He had in those far of days been supervisor over a bunch of women,  He tended to have adopted the female sarcastic "put downs etc"  Still, even in the late 1950/s-early 60/s , Guess these females had infected his tiny mind, He could be a caustic unbending so &so

  Up until twenty thirty odd years ago near where i live, was a machine shop still with two lady turners , Ex war effort, they were very good lathe operators, Another two factories which spring to my mind, The first one, had in the foundry  lady coremakers, on the light mass production section, Again most nimble & quick workers , All day long Yak, Yak, Yak, But still making large batches of the same repetitive item, Working at a fast rate constantly, mind numbing repetative working was something they were immune to wher as a man would have got the "wanderlust"

 The second factory in my area, was a large bolt producing works, My word, They had some big women! Fearsome but hearts of gold  One of our apprentices leaned out of the workshop window, & made an  unwarranted obnoxious comment to them,  One of these Amazons ran into the work, straight into the workshop, & gave the little so &so a piece of her mind, Mind you she had him by the throat.

 Fast forward from the early 1960/s to the mid to late seventies  I was taken round the said bolt works, Before its demise, These big females were long gone retired after many years of long service,   By then operating the thread rolling machines autos & capstan lathes, were a bevvy of the prettiest little female operators one could have met, Maybe time changes things more than we think


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## ScubaSteve (Sep 26, 2012)

Interesting. I can speak from experience about the caustic comments and game-playing....I have worked as a nurse for the past 8 or so years. Men in the nursing profession is still a relatively new thing, and we are the minority. I've never met so many difficult, controlling, and VINDICTIVE women in my life. Must come with the territory. i have a lot of respect for those "Amazon" types who can hold their own when insulted...but the game-players and "Queen-Bee's" I cannot stand. I have to say, I never encountered any of those dynamics working around a bunch of guys. You show up on time, do your work, do it well, and generally respect each other. If you don't do those things, you'll generally get made fun of until you can hold your own. Or, you might get fired. If you disrespect another guy, you'd better be ready to defend yourself. Simple.


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## core-oil (Sep 26, 2012)

ScubaSteve said:


> Interesting. I can speak from experience about the caustic comments and game-playing....I have worked as a nurse for the past 8 or so years. Men in the nursing profession is still a relatively new thing, and we are the minority. I've never met so many difficult, controlling, and VINDICTIVE women in my life. Must come with the territory. i have a lot of respect for those "Amazon" types who can hold their own when insulted...but the game-players and "Queen-Bee's" I cannot stand. I have to say, I never encountered any of those dynamics working around a bunch of guys. You show up on time, do your work, do it well, and generally respect each other. If you don't do those things, you'll generally get made fun of until you can hold your own. Or, you might get fired. If you disrespect another guy, you'd better be ready to defend yourself. Simple.



  Scuba,  I thoroughly concur with your sentiments,  Maybe though, Much of what you say is a by product of todays "political correct dynamics, materialism, keeping up with the joneses, must get to the top of the garbage pile, better education etc"  The old females i alluded to were not particularly well educated, a night at the bingo & a weeks holiday in the sun with their husbands, well that was the sum total as to their wish list in life,   I also have in my last occupation fell foul of the works Queen Bee type   The old guys i worked with many years ago, Well they were the old school there was a loyalty around then

 As regards the little female sand coremakers, the deft nimble &fast movements of their hands, A man could not have equalled


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