Kingsley woman was a 'Rosie the Riveter'
By Judy Hayworth, Journal correspondent | Posted: Tuesday, November 11, 2008
Marge McLarty looks at earrings, replicas of the P38s she worked on during World War II. She was one of more than 6 million women who joined the work force, a "Rosie the Riveter" the catch-phrase that represented all women war workers. (Photo by Judy Hayworth, Journal correspondent)
KINGSLEY, Iowa -- War production pressed many women into the labor force during World War II.
Marge McLarty was one who left Iowa for the West Coast, traveling three days and two nights by train from Whiting, Iowa, to Glendale, Calif.
The 20-year-old, whose husband, Russ, was in the Army Air Corps, arrived in California March 7, 1943. She recalls, "There were hundreds of people on the train and when I got there, the USO, the United Service Organization, was there as Russ couldn't meet me. I didn't even get in the door and they had a bottle of pop and a doughnut for me."
It took little time to enter the work force. "I got there on a Sunday, applied at Lockheed in Burbank on Tuesday and began work Wednesday. "They were begging for workers," she said, "and the pay was good."
McLarty labored as a riveter on the P38, a twin-engine fighter plane. She worked on the twin gas tanks, pulling the swing shift from 4 p.m. to midnight.
"It was patriotic to work there and exciting, quite an experience. The first thing I got acquainted with was the chuck key," she says. "I crawled down in the body, near the gas tank, and a gal stood on the other side with a bar and put the rivet in. Then, I pounded it until it was stable. We switched jobs because it was noisy."
McLarty walked two blocks home after midnight to a house they rented with other military couples.
"It was a wonderful place to stay," says McLarty. "There was a little white dog with a circle around one eye that walked me home every night for a few weeks, walking me to the sidewalk and turning around and leaving."
That gave her security, but other things frightened her. Shades were pulled at night for fear of "airplane strikes, and we were almost not allowed to have the lights on. Searchlights went all night long," McLarty adds. "We had air raid drills at work at the plant shelter and that was scary."
After six months, McLarty became pregnant and switched to the assembly line. A little over seven months after arriving in California, she returned to Correctionville, Iowa.
Daughter Patricia was two and a half months old before Russ saw her.
People, she said, had a can-do attitude. "People didn't seem to be unhappy and weren't scared. They went on with their lives pretty normal."
"In California, it was unreal; for anyone in the service, others took care of you. Everyone was just wonderful to Army wives there."
In 1946, the McLartys moved to Kingsley. Marge McLarty worked at the Fashion Shoppe from 1968 until 1981, serving as manager for many of those years. Russ McLarty was Kingsley's postmaster from 1958 until 1981 when they both retired.
The couple had four children, Patricia, Michael, Kathleen and Debra. Russ McLarty died in 2007 and Marge McLarty continues to reside at the family residence in Kingsley.
Marge McLarty was one who left Iowa for the West Coast, traveling three days and two nights by train from Whiting, Iowa, to Glendale, Calif.
The 20-year-old, whose husband, Russ, was in the Army Air Corps, arrived in California March 7, 1943. She recalls, "There were hundreds of people on the train and when I got there, the USO, the United Service Organization, was there as Russ couldn't meet me. I didn't even get in the door and they had a bottle of pop and a doughnut for me."
It took little time to enter the work force. "I got there on a Sunday, applied at Lockheed in Burbank on Tuesday and began work Wednesday. "They were begging for workers," she said, "and the pay was good."
McLarty labored as a riveter on the P38, a twin-engine fighter plane. She worked on the twin gas tanks, pulling the swing shift from 4 p.m. to midnight.
"It was patriotic to work there and exciting, quite an experience. The first thing I got acquainted with was the chuck key," she says. "I crawled down in the body, near the gas tank, and a gal stood on the other side with a bar and put the rivet in. Then, I pounded it until it was stable. We switched jobs because it was noisy."
McLarty walked two blocks home after midnight to a house they rented with other military couples.
"It was a wonderful place to stay," says McLarty. "There was a little white dog with a circle around one eye that walked me home every night for a few weeks, walking me to the sidewalk and turning around and leaving."
That gave her security, but other things frightened her. Shades were pulled at night for fear of "airplane strikes, and we were almost not allowed to have the lights on. Searchlights went all night long," McLarty adds. "We had air raid drills at work at the plant shelter and that was scary."
After six months, McLarty became pregnant and switched to the assembly line. A little over seven months after arriving in California, she returned to Correctionville, Iowa.
Daughter Patricia was two and a half months old before Russ saw her.
People, she said, had a can-do attitude. "People didn't seem to be unhappy and weren't scared. They went on with their lives pretty normal."
"In California, it was unreal; for anyone in the service, others took care of you. Everyone was just wonderful to Army wives there."
In 1946, the McLartys moved to Kingsley. Marge McLarty worked at the Fashion Shoppe from 1968 until 1981, serving as manager for many of those years. Russ McLarty was Kingsley's postmaster from 1958 until 1981 when they both retired.
The couple had four children, Patricia, Michael, Kathleen and Debra. Russ McLarty died in 2007 and Marge McLarty continues to reside at the family residence in Kingsley.
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