Slacks and Calluses: Our Summer in a Bomber Factory

by Constance Bowman Reid and Clara Marie Allen

Book Overview

In 1943 two spirited young teachers decided to do their part for the war effort by spending their summer vacation working the swing shift on a B-24 production line at a San Diego bomber plant. Entering a male-dominated realm of welding torches and bomb bays, they learned to use tools that they had never seen before, live with aluminum shavings in their hair, and get along with supervisors and coworkers from all walks of life.

They also learned...

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 156098368X
• ISBN13: 9781560983682
• Release Date: October 2004
• Publisher: Smithsonian Books
• Length: 200 Pages
• Weight: 0.47 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.5" x 5.5" x 7.5"

Customer Reviews

Highly recommended!

This is a wonderful little book! Written in an easy and unpretentious style, it has merit not just for "women's studies" readers, but for anyone interested in the nuts and bolts of period airplane manufacturing and indeed, the whole spirit of Homefront America in World War II. This book is both very entertaining and a real slice of "you are there" in a bygone era. Good history and good writing.

A First Hand Account

This book is a find--a first hand account of two Rosie the Riveters. The contemporaneous memoir of two school teachers who spent the summer of `43 building B-24s in San Diego fascinates with details--getting hired, what was security like in wartime factories, how were these two educated women treated differently when they donned slacks and became factory workers? The writing is quick and humorous, like Betty MacDonald's The Egg and I which has remained popular since 1945. Constance Bowman Reid's epilogue, written in 1999, is a touching finale. You'll want to know what she's been up to in the intervening 50 years.

Refreshing look at a unique slice of american history

This Book evokes a unique time and experience for women in this country. It accurately depicts the rigors and effort that came as a surprise to all of the work force as women pitched in for the war effort. That it is cleverly done with good humor and the ability to poke fun at the situation, makes it even more of a jewel.

Slacks and Calluses: Our Summer in a Bomber Factory

A great Read! Cleverly written and laugh out loud funny. An interesting primary source of history--a must read for WW II enthusiasts. My wife was intrigued by the women's history angle. We both loved the illustrations.

Delightfully droll! We enjoyed every minute of it!!

The fresh, unusual and highly amusing account of two young teachers who spend the summer of 1943 working the swing shift on the production line of a San Diego bomber plant. A hit when it first appeared in 1944, the book has now been reissued by the Smithsonian. Just as much fun to read today as it was then, the book, with its light hearted text and illustrations, will surely be a hit again!