From collection Kosti Ruohomaa Collection
ARMA Workers 22
In this image four men in business suits meet around a desk in an office. They are informal and animated; one of them lights a pipe.
In 1945 Ruohomaa took on a Time/Life assignment to capture life inside one of the home front factories: this one an ARMA Plant which produced electrical appliances for the U. S. military. Scenes include higher and lower skilled workers performing hand as well as machine tasks. The images reflect the modern machinery of the retooled plants as well as the new demographic of the wartime labor force: women, African Americans, and older people.