Why does CAN DO Rosie the Riveter talk about Wendy the Welder’s costume? A couple of days ago, we blogged about Rosie the Riveter’s cousin, Wendy the Welder. We heard from several people that they would love to know more about Wendy and the components of her costume. So, here goes…
First There Was Rosie
Our Rosie gear has become popular with women and kids around the world. They love Rosie, and they also love our attention to detail. We research (often in the National Archives) all the details of our items. Historical accuracy is important to us.
Even professional photographers like to use our gear as shown by this photo by David Mong.
Rosie the Riveter is well known. We started with
her distinctive red and white polkadot bandana. Through our research, we found that the accurate size was 27 inches square and the pattern of white dots was random — not in rows and columns.
But, We Were Stumped on How We Could Honor Wendy with Something Special
There were tens of thousands of women working during WW2 as welders — welding ships and planes and tanks. The challenge for us was to find out more about the hard-working Wendys. Then honor them with a fabulous costume. What would put it over the top? And that’s when it hit us…the goggles!
CAN DO Rosie the Riveter Talks about Wendy the Welder
Welders Need Protection When "Sewing with Fire"
Riveting takes strength and stamina. Rosies were good at that. But Wendy was working with a welding torch. Our favorite Wendy quote is, “Welding is like sewing with fire.” What a great image that creates.
Welding Goggles Have Unique Safety Properties
Wendy protected herself from hot sparks with gloves and long sleeves. She protected her eyes against the bright flame with special goggles.
We looked at hundreds of photos of women welding. The WW2 pictures helped us see her work environment and the clothing she wore. From various photos we even drew two Wendys and made them into our inspirational doll ornaments.
Wendy as an Inspirational Doll?
I know, we’re talking about our Wendy the Welder costume accessory kit. But, we’re so excited about our two Wendy ornament dolls, that we wanted to show you the images.
And those photos we looked at? We examined many — both photos of real women welders as well as several WW2 posters showing women welders. We took different elements from the images and created two composites. The major inspiration for one of the dolls was Gladys Theus and for the other was Katharine Booth.
Goggles, Goggles, Goggles!
Wendy flipped the dark safety lenses down just when she was about to weld. Trust me. The dark flip-down lens are REALLY dark. That means they protect eyes.
The goggles (yes, we got red ones because they are so cute) are actual welding goggles. That means the dark glasses are probably too dark to flip down and think you can see to walk around. But if you decide to push the goggles up on your head, you may decide to leave the dark lenses in place.
And the Rest of the Time...
The rest of the time, Wendy used the clear lenses. In many photos you will see Wendy and her sister welders walking with the dark lenses flipped up so she can see through the clear glass.
The goggles are a reminder of just how dangerous the work was. But Wendy, like Rosie, was up for the challenge.
She was a CAN DO woman.
Be a Wendy the Welder This Halloween
You can be a CAN DO Woman this Halloween. And remember to use Discount Code: WENDY10.
Buy Now Introductory Pricing — Get our Rosie the Riveter’s Cousin — Wendy the Welder’s — Costume Accessory Kit
Next time, we’ll discuss the research that helped us design the Wendy the Welder employment badge. Authentic in all its details.
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