From collection Kosti Ruohomaa Collection
ARMA Plant Workers 30
In this close-up image a worker confers with a supervisor, who wears dark plastic-like arm protectors. He sits at a wood table outfitted with sides to contain the many small drafting and cutting tools in front of him. A woman works at her station just beyond. The setting is a factory outftted with modern lighting and work spaces.
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.
