World War II in Europe and North Africa by George Enzo;

Author:George, Enzo; [George, Enzo]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Cavendish Square Publishing LLC

Women at Work

The whole U.S. economy was geared to war production. With so many men away fighting, millions of women worked in factories and offices. Men often did not want their wives to work, but many of the women found working outside the home rewarding. They had to juggle work with looking after their families, but the work was generally well-paid.

A worker welds a gas tank in a factory on the West Coast; many women learned new skills.

“While my girl friends worked in the shipyards at Vallejo for 65 cents an hour, I was among the elite: I made guns at Yuba, and was a machinist second class. I joined the union, paid my dues, and earned $1.31 an hour. And on that grand amount, with the help of three housemates, I bought a house and furnished it.

Women working the plants usually wore denim coveralls. They were quite trim, tight at the waist and rather becoming. Hair had to be covered so that it did not get caught in the machinery. This was done with a “snood.” A snood was a heavy hairnet that hung loose on the back of the neck to accommodate our long hair. There was a denim cap that came with the snood attached and matched our uniforms…

We were living in a special time and place. There was an energy in the air and in the people. We were wanted and needed and important to the war effort.

V-E Day, on May 8, 1945 was a day of celebration, but one of mixed emotions for us. We lost our jobs… When the foreman of my section said goodbye, he added, ‘You were the best man I had.’”

Delana Jensen Close spent two years making field guns for the Yuba Company, near San Francisco.

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