Breaking the Shingle-Packing Ceiling
In an era where shingle packing is strictly men's work, a young woman in Gate City proves she can do the job just as well.
The story, cleaned up
A cleaned-up reading of the newspaper page: spelling and layout repaired, one story lifted off a crowded page. It follows the original closely but it is not a transcription. The original page is below; read it if a detail matters.
A new field of employment has been opened to young women who are not afraid to work. It is that of shingle packing, which up to this time has been monopolized entirely by men and boys. In the Sparms and Monaghan mill at Gate City, a young lady is employed daily in this kind of work and is making a success at it, too. There is nothing hard about it, dexterity and quickness being the main qualifications, and there is no reason why young women and girls should not earn their two and three dollars per day this way as well as their husbands and brothers.
“There is no reason why young women and girls should not earn their two and three dollars per day this way as well as their husbands and brothers.”
This early account of a woman breaking into a male-dominated industrial trade predates the massive shifts in labor during the World Wars. It reflects the constant struggle for economic agency in the Pacific Northwest timber economy.
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