Jill Monroe
Female Factory Worker
Responses to Fate Cards
Fate 1
You miss your brother who gave his life in service for your country and fear a
similar fate befalling your husband. As a riveter in a factory that builds airplanes for
the war effort, you, too, are doing your patriotic duty. However, are your pre-school age
children paying the price? What kind of daycare provisions are available to you in a
society in which women have not participated in the work force in the large numbers that
war has necessitated? Are your obligations to your children less important than your
personal need to support the war effort?
Response
My children are not paying the price. If I was not working, then my family wouldn't have
the money it takes to live comfortably. I am also partially forced to work, because my
husband's army pay isn't enough to support our family. By working, I earn enough money to
be able to send my children to daycare. Food and supplies are rationed very
conservatively, so I buy only what I need, and rarely buy extravagant things, like the
ingredients to make a cake. For my daughter's birthday, I saved our ration cards up so
that I could purchase enough sugar and flour to make a small cupcake for her. Otherwise, I
spend my ration cards, my husband's army pay, and my salary on very small pieces of meat,
salt, flour, and potatoes. When I have enough money to spare, I'll go to the movies or buy
something special for my children. Daycare centers are very new, because in the past, most
women have been home to take care of their children. With the men gone, the women have to
be in the factories working to support the war effort. Our children shouldn't be home
alone without someone to look after them, so daycare is a good solution. My parents were
willing to look after my children, but I wouldn't want to put that daily pressure on them,
especially after they have retired from work and raising two children of their own.
Although I am not happy about the daycare service, I feel that it is incredibly important
to support my country's war effort. I love my children dearly, and I hope they will
understand why I couldn't be with them during their early years. I think that it will be a
long while before they will be able to completely understand why I am working in a
factory, because the concept of the whole world at war is a pretty foreign idea.
Hopefully, I'll be able to make clear to them that it was my duty as an American citizen
to support my country. I had to make sacrifices for the benefit of the nation, and the
world, as a whole.
Fate 2
In addition to being asked to save your cooking fats and donate them to the war effort,
the government has also announced a rationing program. You find it is difficult to obtain
household items you are accustomed to using regularly. Among these items are sugar, coffee
and pantyhose and car tires. Which rationed item causes the most inconvenience in your
life? What changes are you forced to make in your daily life?
Response
Food is one of the most rationed items that is important to my family. We had been used to
eating three, hearty meals a day, but now they have rationed it. It took a while to get
used to, and I felt that they were rationing food too much, but that was because I was so
used to the portions that I had grown up eating. Now I have gotten used to the food
rationing, and understand that it's a good thing for our soldiers. Butter is scarce. It is
an inconvenience to have small amounts of butter to cook with, because many of the things
I make for meals use butter as an ingredient. Food rationing has created an even
distribution of what is available, so people don't get greedy and "stock up" on
all of one supply, leaving others without any. Every person is given rationing cards that
are distributed every other month. The amounts of food distributed not only vary for
children and grownups, but also for people doing physically exhausting work; these people
receive cards with more food supplements. Some items aren't rationed, but are unavailable.
These are the foods that have to be imported over seas, like coffee. Some foods are not
scarce, like potatoes, vegetables and fruit grown nearby. I give my children some of my
rations of food, which forces me to eat less food. Luckily, most of the food necessary to
have a healthy diet isn't rationed. Even at restaurants, rationing cards are required. If
you order a certain type of soup, the waiter might have to cut off one of your 5g butter
subdivisions. The required items and amounts are listed on the menus. I also have only one
pair of pantyhose, which has a rip in it, but I can't buy another pair because they need
the materials in the pantyhose to make uniforms for our soldiers.
Fate 3
After a busy Thursday afternoon, your boss stops you a and tells you that you have
been selected to be interviewed by the local daily. Why do you think you have been
selected? What do you anticipate being asked? What do you say?
Response
I think that I may have been chosen because I am a dedicated worker. I believe in the
cause of doing our duty and fighting in this war, by doing anything we can. Because my
brother was killed in the war, and my husband is overseas, I still pitch in and do what I
can for the country. I think that I might be asked what my opinion is about the war, and
why I'm working instead of staying home waiting for word from my husband. I believe that
it is our duty as American citizens to fight in this war because we have to protect
Democracy. Hitler and his allies are evil, and if we didn't fight against them they would
easily take over the world! We can't let that happen. Even though I miss my brother and
husband dearly, I know that without their efforts, we probably wouldn't still be here. I
feel that it is my duty as an American citizen to participate in the war effort, because
it sure is better than staying home and not doing anything, while everyone else is out
there, doing what they can to help. When I'm working, I'm helping create fighter airplanes
for our men overseas. The new technology that has been created in this war is amazing.
(Factory work has improved so much in this war, to make everything more efficient. The
head of the factory keeps raving about how much faster everything is being produced.) I
rivet airplane parts together, especially the shield on top of the plane. Every little bit
that us women can do to help goes a long way. Although factory work is unfeminine, we
workers know that in times like this, gender shouldn't matter because if we didn't do it,
no one else would.
Fate 4
For a few years now you have worried about your husband stationed in Europe. Each day you
anxiously await news from him and fear for his life and safety. Finally, the war is over
and he is coming home! How do you prepare for his arrival? What will you do?
Response
I haven't seen my husband in years. I'm both excited and nervous. I don't know if he's
changed since I met him, or whether he has the same ideas that he used to. I know that
from his letters that war is a devastating, horrible thing. He watched his friends die in
his arms, and people's limbs get blown off, but he knew that it was God's will. He also
knew that it was his duty and he felt that it was important to be a part of the fighting
lines in Europe. I'm preparing all of his favorite foods, even though it will cost a lot
of ration cards. He deserves it after all he's done, and after eating the horrible army
food (another thing he wrote me about). Several of my friends' husbands are in the same
regiment, so they'll all be coming home at the same time. All we've been able to talk
about is our husbands coming home. Even though I've had a wonderful experience in the
factory and being a part of the war effort, I miss the companionship of my husband, and I
get lonely without him. I wish that everything will go back to the way it was before the
war, where everyone was happy, and it was just my husband, me and our two children
together. I hope my children will be OK with the transition of their father coming home.
My youngest was born just before my husband left, so he doesn't know his child personally.
However, both of my children are anxious and excited to see him. I guess my emotions
rubbed off on them.
Fate 4A
Now that the boys have returned from overseas you and your fellow female factory workers
are being strongly encouraged to leave your jobs. Many of you are being terminated to make
room for the men returning to their jobs. You, however, have spent the last few years
making your own money, providing for your family, doing your patriotic duty and gaining a
new sense of independence and confidence. How do you respond to the idea of returning to
the way things used to be?
Response
I've always said that when my husband and the rest of the men return home, I'd happily
leave and let them take their jobs back. After all, we women took their jobs when they
were away. However, this has been such a wonderful experience for me. Before the war, all
I did was cook, do the laundry, and watch the children. Then, I was actually doing
something IMPORTANT, that was impacting the outcome of the war, and the country as a
whole. I think that it will pretty hard to give up that enormous sense of responsibility.
Hopefully, when my husband comes home, I will feel reassured that everything should, and
will, go back to the way it was before the war, happily.
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