Rosie the Riveter Bookends

If she's a riveter, why's she doing up big nuts with a spanner?

My kids and I met the real "Rosie the Riveter". She was in a car waiting to get into a parade for the one hundredth anniversary of the Oldsmobile, in Lansing Michigan.

We saw the sign on the car and figured "why not go talk with her" as she was just waiting there.

She told us that when she posed for that famous poster, she was just 17 years old, and was a model, working for a modeling agency, and had never worked as a riveter.

This was sometime around 1997 or 1998.

Nice comment D.D. I love older people. Living history books.
I've been very lucky like that myself on many occasions.
I could listen all day to someone who has had a unique life.

And Alex: damn you man! I can't afford these. lol They are wonderful.

Notice I said "older people" one more year for the half century mark for me. Odd, I still feel young in the mind, but def old in the body.

Rosie was based on Rose Monroe and she was a riveter at Willow Run Aircraft in Michigan. I think she is considered the "real" Rosie.

Shirley Karp was the model that played Rosie pretty much from 1940 - '45. She passed away this year.

Karp however was not the model for the We Can Do It! poster. That was Geraldine Doyle, who was working in a Montana factory operating a press when she was 17. She was only there for a couple weeks. She lives in Lansing. I think the story is that she didnt even know We Can Do It! was modeled after her until the 80s sometime.

Not sure if there are many gamers on here, but in the hugely popular video game "Bioshock" there's a character named "Rosie" that is armed with a "Rivet gun". Just another tribute I thought I'd share.

Not sure how to feel about the behind on that figure

Right on Skipweasel. No rivets or rivet gun to be seen.

$34.95 isn`t so bad for bookends.

Sounds like Rosie is as fictitious as Sant Claus or Uncle Sam.

Erm - what am I saying?

Kids, Santa Claus is real.

Nice post, really helped mate :) Thank You!

Those are pretty awesome.

LOL Skipweasel! Maybe it should be Suzie the Spanner lady. And thank you SenorMysterioso for the background info on Rosie the Riveter :)

The bookends proved to be quite popular - we've sold out within hours.

"Right on Skipweasel. No rivets or rivet gun to be seen."

Yup. This.

Haha, nice.