A Mouthful of Rivets
A Mouthful of Rivets: Women at Work in World War II, was a collaboration by mother and daughter, Nancy Baker Wise and Christy Wise, published by Jossey-Bass Inc., Publishers (now John Wiley & Sons Inc.) in 1994.
“We wanted to work on a project together and were both interested in women’s place in the labor force during World War II,” Christy Wise said. “Mom was impressed with what women achieved during the war and with their quick acceptance into the workplace. I was amazed that women willingly gave up those achievements after the war ended and men returned from overseas.”
The mother and daughter team explored women’s work during the war including the womens’ reactions to leaving the workforce at war’s end.
“Few generalizations could be made about how women felt about leaving the workforce after the war – each woman’s outlook depended on where she worked, what she did, and why she went into the workforce,” Christy Wise said.
“Common to almost everyone was the confidence they gained while working and the fun they had. They hesitated to say they had fun, given that it was wartime, but most thoroughly enjoyed their work and believed that those years were life-changing.”
A Mouthful of Rivets: Women at Work in World War II not only features women working in manufacturing fields; it also highlights stories of women in white-collar jobs and other professions where men’s absence required women’s participation. Some women took the jobs of their own husbands, one became a postmaster and another was a door-to-door insurance salesperson.
Christy and Nancy Wise interviewed more than one hundred women from every part of the country to create this compilation of oral histories by women who traveled across the country to meet the nation’s wartime needs, faced discrimination and harassment, overcame inadequate training for jobs they took on, and triumphed over emotional and physical challenges.
“The women are the heart of this book. They’re fascinating, funny, insightful and courageous,” Christy Wise said. “We hope readers love their stories as much as we do.”
