Bon Voyage Rosie!

I had no idea that a real woman was the inspiration for this poster, which seems as inspirational today as it was during World War II. However, news reports today say that Geraldine Hoff Doyle, the inspiration behind the now-iconic Rosie the Riveter WWII poster, has died at age 86 in Michigan.

The New York Daily News says:

The poster of a young woman in a factory uniform and red polka dot head kerchief, her arm flexed to show off her muscle with a speech balloon stating boldly, "We can do it!" was designed to encourage young women to volunteer for the war effort while men were serving overseas.

Eventually 6 million women would heed the call and enter the workforce during the war years.

Accompanying the news article online is a poll asking, "Rosie the Riveter: Do you think she was an inspiration to women after WWII?"

At the time I answered (yes! of course), 80% of respondents had voted yes, she is still an inspiration.