Our lecture today was all about the jobs women had in WW1 from phone operator to nurses and doctors to the donut girls to working in the munitions plant to just about anything.
The women who worked in the munitions plant did have gloves to wear and there was no OSHA to protect them. Because they used sulphur in the ammunition their hands turned yellow and when the children were born the babies were yellow, hence the canary babies. Some of them made up to 12 pounds a week and many thought it was terrible a woman would make that much money.
Many of the women went to work and left the oldest child in charge to mind the little children. The women would work all day and then stand in line for food and gas that was rationed. They then went home to prepare the food and take care of the children and the house because their husband was off to war. With my allergy to sulphur I could not work in the munitions plant but I think i would have loved to be a donut girl.
Women were thought to be the weaker sex and therefore needed to be protected, but yet they basically worked themselves to death working a job and taking care of the kids and house. Definitely not a weaker sex.
Some of the women had pekinese dogs. They used to groom them 3 times a day and weave the fur into the wool the soldiers wore. When the men had sores the wool was too scratchy so the dog fur helped make it softer for them to wear.
Knitting was also a big part of what women did to make clothing items for the soldiers. Even though women were thought to the weaker sex they played many a big role in helping out with the war.
