You’re no doubt familiar with the famous poster of ‘Rosie the Riveter’ – the steely looking woman wearing a red polka dot bandana, the sleeves of her blue overalls rolled up, flexing her arm to the slogan “We Can Do It!”. Before she became a feminist icon, Rosie was originally a figure of American propaganda, designed to encourage women to help the war effort by working in factories. Newspapers reported that women could rivet, solder and build military facilities rather than working in the home or in traditional female occupations such as the textile industry. Rose the Riveter appeared in many poster campaigns; one of these was inspired by Michelangelo’s Sistine Chapel, while another showed Rosie the Riveter as the Virgin Mary stamping on a copy of Mein Kampf. She was a powerful, legendary heroine.
In Canada, too, they knew of Rosie the Riveter. The women who worked the factories were known as the Rosies, and they were many. They took on a wide range of jobs previously reserved for men, building parts of ships and planes and producing munitions. They also drove buses, taxis and trams. This was a first for the women of Canada, and they were proving that they possessed the skills, the strength and the ability to perform the same tasks as men. “Ladies, Roll up your sleeves for Victory!” went the rallying call.
The Canadian government’s Plan Bouchard factory was built to produce armaments. Here they made all kinds of munitions – mines, grenades, bombs – and in spite of the strict security measures in place, danger was omnipresent. The conditions for admission set by the ministry of Defence were flexible; to join one of the military corps, candidates needed to be between eighteen and forty-five, single or married, but with no children, and not have an existing job in another essential sector. Candidates also had to pass a medical exam, be at least 5 feet in height and weigh no less than 100 pounds, for the labour was hard going. In this factory the Rosies marked, weighed and packaged the shells. Some of them even went as far as etching their initials or writing “Go to hell!” on the casings. The Rosies were both proud and emotional as they whispered encouragements to one another under the supervision of a Canadian army officer. “Excellent work, Miss Labelle. Congratulations!” the officer announced to one of them. The Rosies did their work with precision and finesse; the slightest error could be fatal, but the Rosies were unerring. Miss Labelle chatted to one of the co-workers who had just joined them:
“Before I came to Plan Bouchard I worked at the Plywood factory. I made 17 cents an hour. Since Bouchard opened we start at 34 cents, and after a few months you can move up to 36. Some get as high as 58! We’re so lucky.”
“I would never have thought we women could help with the war effort like this. I’m so proud. Canada will be victorious! My sister’s a nurse, stationed off the coast of England. She was sent to care for the wounded on a battleship. She even fell in love with an officer, and told me all about him in her last letter...”
Alan Alfredo Geday
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