Published: October 15, 2009 07:57 pm      

Event organizers searching for Rosie the Riveter

Contest a precursor to 10-day Cumberland Goes to War

CUMBERLAND — As a precursor to Cumberland Goes to War, a 10-day event that celebrates both the veterans of World War II and efforts on the homefront, a Rosie the Riveter contest will be held on Oct. 31 from 1:30 to 3:30 p.m. in Downtown Cumberland.

The winning photo will become the official Cumberland Goes to War Rosie and win two tickets to the Andrews Sisters Tribute Show, scheduled for Nov. 6. There is no charge to enter the contest, which is open to everyone who wishes to participate.

The Cumberland Goes to War event will be held Nov. 6 though 15.

“Last year, we replicated the famous ‘The Kiss’ photo taken on V-J Day in Times Square,” said Barb Buehl, Allegany County tourism director. “We took our photo in Downtown Cumberland facing the Emmanuel Episcopal Church. This year, we thought we should recognize all the women who went to work in the factories, both locally and nationally. Rosie the Riveter is a cultural icon. She symbolizes the American women who went to work in the factories, munitions plants and shipyards during World War II.”

Rosie the Riveter first appeared in a song. Written in 1942 and released in 1943, “Rosie the Riveter” was written by Redd Evans and John Jack Loeb. It was played on the radio and broadcast nationally and performed by various band leaders and became quite popular. Norman Rockwell painted Rosie for the cover of Saturday Evening Post, portraying her on her lunch break, eating a sandwich from her lunch box with a riveting gun on her lap and Hitler’s Mein Kamp underneath her feet.

However, the most well-known image of Rosie was a poster created by J. Howard Miller for Westinghouse Corp. in 1942.

The We Can Do It! poster was introduced by the government in its propaganda campaign to entice women into war work. The campaign promoted Rosie as loyal, efficient, patriotic and pretty.

By 1942, the U.S. labor pool had shrunk to dangerously low levels because so many men had gone to war. Production of war material was in jeopardy. When the United States entered World War II, there were 12 million women (one quarter of the work force) already working. By the end of the war, 18 million women (one third of the work force) were working. Three million women worked in war plants, while the other 15 million women worked in traditionally female occupations.

“It’s only fitting that we honor the Rosies and we hope that we’ll have a good turn-out,” said Buehl. “We’d love to add the Rosie the Riveter contest to our Cumberland Goes to War schedule of events every year.”

For more information on the Rosie the Riveter contest, call (301) 724-2453. For more information on Cumberland Goes to War, go online at www.cumberlandgoestowar.com.