Jobs  I   Worked   at   After   School and Beyond…

August, 1989

World War II had begun. Men went off to fight the war and women (Rosie the riveter) filled their vacated jobs. That left openings in feminine type employment such as office work and secretarial jobs.  Lois ‘s father was office manager of Sligo Iron and Steel Co. so he hired Lois and some of her friends despite our lack of experience.

On Saturdays I worked in the secretarial pool. We had the thankless task of trying to decipher hand written requests for nuts, bolts and farm repair equipment. Most of these items were not really available for non-war uses.

During two summers I worked in the order dept. When an order was taken over the phone, I filled in the address and then delivered the order to the proper department.  I became quite friendly with the employees in the shops. Blue collar people, but very friendly. The summer prior to my senior year in High School, I met Bob Forester, a young man working in the shop area. The telephone office staff used  to tease me…if they’d write an order for his department, I’d hear a shout, “Rush order, Hurry Elaine!” I probably turned three shades of red. Bob and I did begin dating.  My parents were probably not too thrilled because he was from North St. Louis. We lived on the West side.

I took horseback riding lessons (I was so afraid every time I got on a horse.) Bob also enjoyed playing pinochle…a game I learned to play because of visits to his parents in N. St. Louis. Bob was around for my graduation and party.    Then he went into the army and saw service in Europe. He was badly  injured stepping on a mine in the Battle of the Bulge.

But back to my topic. The summer after my graduation from Ursuline Academy, I returned to Sligo Iron and worked on the Dictaphone in a secretarial room. Soon I was promoted to private secretary for the shop manager. Probably  because  I could write and spell and  he couldn’t! He was pleasant and fun to  work for. He said he was a great talker but dictated letters poorly. So with my limited shorthand I’d get the “idea” from him and then write his letters. He’d be so pleased. It was more fun than the boring Dictaphone.

It was a fascinating year because the union had just forced (by vote of course) its way into this family owned business. I could see the good and the bad of the union…mostly bad impressions.  I had to type up the new union rules…job descriptions, etc. In a way, it was sad. In order to get a raise the employee had to move up into another job category. Some of the older employees had been happily doing the same job for many, many years. They did not want to change their work pattern. We, in the non-union office, had to cross the picket lines set up by outside union members.  It was truly a learning process.  I worked at Sligo Steel summers until I graduated from College.

After graduation and an LA vacation, I began to think it was time to use that  degree in Math. Some of my math friends took government jobs, Lois was doing her Dietetics internship, Anne Webb (Krieger) went to Michigan to get a master’s in pre-school education.

My mother talked to a neighbor who worked for Southwestern Bell Telephone Company at the downtown office. At his suggestion, I applied for  a job opening in the statistical dept. In 1948 my salary was $90 per month. My position, along with three other people, involved reading daily literature such as the local newspapers and the Wall Street Journal. We would then compose  a two page precis for the CEO (chief executive officer.)  We condensed his daily informational reading to two pages. I remember using a math calculator that was about 10’x18’x20′. Today high school math students carry pocket size machines. Our dept. saw the beginning of the telephone company’s use of the cards which had punch holes and said please do not fold or spindle!  Do you remember?

I could have made a career of that fun position, but after a year I became engaged, married and moved to Los Angeles. To my disappointment, the Pacific Bell headquarters was located in San Francisco and anyway, I had discovered I was pregnant. So we lived on one salary and awaited the arrival of our first child.

Fourteen years after the women’s movement was in full swing and my youngest child, Joe was about 12, I took a part time job at the Bay District offices of the Los Angeles Medical Assn. I guess I just wanted to prove that I could work if I wanted to!

It was a two woman office. Irene Parmeter was my boss. We had a pleasant two years together; then Irene became ill and decided to retire. I was offered the full time position, but decided to decline. I had proven to myself that I could function in the business world if necessary. I can sympathize with women who as single parents, struggle to raise a family and of necessity work full time. They deserve great praise.