Photos of Gillette factory conversion to wartime production

[mblakele]

I was poking around the Library of Congress (LOC) website and found this picture:

From razor blades to V-blocks in few weeks! That's the story of Estelle Wilson, one of a New England razor company's many women employees who are now operating machines recently converted to production of war essentials.

Here is the full series of links:

• http://www.loc.gov/pictures/resource/fsa.8e10917/
• http://www.loc.gov/pictures/resource/fsa.8e10918/
• http://www.loc.gov/pictures/resource/fsa.8e10919/
• http://www.loc.gov/pictures/resource/fsa.8e10920/
• http://www.loc.gov/pictures/resource/fsa.8e10921/
• http://www.loc.gov/pictures/resource/fsa.8e10922/
• http://www.loc.gov/pictures/resource/fsa.8e10923/
• http://www.loc.gov/pictures/resource/fsa.8e10924/
• http://www.loc.gov/pictures/resource/fsa.8e10925/
• http://www.loc.gov/pictures/resource/fsa.8e10926/

 

[syngent]

thats cool man, thanks for the share

 

[Vivasanti]

Cheers!

thats pretty cool.

 

[Topgumby]

“That’s impossible. The Americans only know how to make razor blades.”

Herman Goering, when told by Rommel of the effectiveness of US tank busting aircraft.

 

[rebos]

These are great photos. Thanks for posting them.

 

[nessus]

Very cool photos, a bit of history there....

 

[Time Bandit]

Thank you for sharing what you found with all of us. It's important to remember the past.

 

[Absolute Mustard]

I guess I am the only one who can't get the pics to load

 

[JaggerDragger]

EDIT: the photo works now.

What is that on the wall of this factory??? Windows? holy smokes!

 

[michiganlover]

I assume these are posed pictures right? That this isn't the actual clothing the women wore to work in a metal fabrication factory, where one would be sure to get quickly dirty?

Especially in the case of the first photo, it's some sort of milling machine that supplies the cutting head with a constant source of lubricant. I have used such a machine before, and it quickly covers the operator in hot greasy wet crud!!