Customer Reviews

Slacks and Calluses: Our Summer in a Bomber Factory

5 star:		(12)
4 star:		(1)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

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!

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.

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.

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.

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.

Just finished reading this book. I bought it to do some research about women working for the war effort during that period. I really enjoyed the detailed account of their experiences. I also really appreciate the fact that they wrote it in the first place, so that people like me, who were not around at the time, can read it and get a good idea of what it was like. At the end of the book the author says she has been embarrassed about the book over the years. She has no reason to be and I wish she didn't feel that way. She recorded history (herstory) so that the rest of us can learn from it and get a slice of life during that period. I for one, sincerely appreciate them taking the time to write this book!

I plan to order a copy on payday. My mother worked in that plant at the same time that those women did. Farm girl from the hills of Eastern Kentucky becomes Rosie The Riveter. I wonder if the authors ever met my mom.

I loved this book. It shows the point of view of two female workers in a aircraft factory during WWII. It was an interesting and often times humorous look into this time period and women's roles during this time.

I love to read about women war workers of WW2. I have many books about the subject and this is hands down my favorite. Perfectly written. Very descriptive. Detailed. My only complaint....it's not 500 more pages! It left me wanting more...much more. If the author ever reads these comments, I want to thank her for her service during the war. Way to go!

"Slacks and Calluses" was exactly what I'd hoped it would be and then some. The honest, unvarnished depiction of daily life for young women war workers at a bomber factory. The two women recount the insane process for getting their jobs (after an interview that consisted mainly of being asked, "Are you available? Good, you're hired.") and the many stations and stamps and officials that they were required to endure. Their training in building bombers was scant - they were responsible for not terribly important parts at first, but the parts still had to go on, and the factory had to have bodies to put them there.

Co-workers were - then as now - a collection of the hard working, the working hard at hardly working, the brilliant and the stupid. Bosses were much the same, but more to be listened too. Life outside the plant - the officers who were no gentlemen for refusing to give up bus seats to these women who were building 'their' bombers, the sadistic woman ice-cream vendor who flat out refused to serve the women, the never ending attempts to wash all the dirt, aluminum dust, grease, and oil from skin and hair, and the inability to have any time for a real life outside of work.

The authors were two high school teachers, who subjects - English and Art - made them the perfect duo to write this book.

Too often books are written solely because the author wants to; this book would have been missed by the world if not written.