Rosie Riveter - A little background

First, a note: My use of Rosie as both an alter-ego and an icon are in no way connected with the vice presidential campaign (for me, that particular use of the image just doesn't work...) and I've been using Rosie as an icon for some time. My use of the image in no way is to be taken as an endorsement of any candidate. My political views aren't going to be expressed in this post, other than to say I don't want my blog to be associated with that particular campaign in any way.)

That disclaimer aside: The topic of this particular blog is American industry during World War II.
During the second world war, industry across the world did some remarkable things: Not only did the American wartime industry work together, sharing technology, in order to create what was needed for the war effort; industry worldwide also called upon women, who up to this time had been expected to be mothers and homemakers, to step in and do the work that had been done by men, before those men entered the armed services and the war.

In the US, that was where the image of Rosie the Riveter began: A government campaign urged women to take up these industrial production jobs and the posters that were circulated contained various images of a character, and that character was Rosie. (There is a wealth of information out there about this fictional character, who was apparently based on a real factory worker. I won't go into the story here, but instead provide a link to the history of Rosie.)

The first part, how US industry worked together and shared technology, is probably the most remarkable thing of all. Imagine, say, Apple and Microsoft freely sharing their code, their product design, and their engineering, in an effort to make products... you'll get a feeling for why this sharing of technology was special.

Of course, industrialists are always interested in making money from what they manufacture, and many of the big industries at the time were making lots of money... and not all industrialists of the day were heroic figures, but they did pull together for the war effort. That's something that we can be pretty proud of. And a lot of the industrial ephemera of the time reflects that mood of cooperation, of working together for a common goal.

Here are a couple examples of Wartime literature that this Rosie found interesting:

These are Hoof Governor brochures from WWII. Governors were installed on vehicles during this time in an effort to conserve gasoline (they governed the top speed at which a vehicle would operate). It's an interesting example of how rationing and government-enacted regulations actually created a market for a product that would help companies and individuals conserve resources. (click on the image for a larger view).

Next blog: What happened to US industry after the war.