Vivian Engel Interview
- When did you work during the war (what years)? 1934 - 1944.
- Where did you work? Neenah, Wisconsin.
- What did your company do? They assembled anti-aircraft guns for tanks.
- What did you do? I checked the switches/buttons for the anti-aircraft tank guns.
- What was the name of the company you worked for? Kimberly-Clark
- Did the company provide uniforms, if so what were they? No, because the warehouse was temporary for the war.
- Did the company provide other benefits? No.
- How much were you paid for your work? 68 cents an hour.
- What were the working conditions (working hours, etc.)? Worked in a cold, drafty warehouse, from 7 a.m. thru 3:30 p.m.
- Was there any training required, if so what kind of training? No training necessary.
- How were you recruited, or did you sign up? I applied for work there because it was a defense plant, and I heard about it from a friend.
- Was anyone else in your family working during the war, if so, what did they do? Everyone else in my family worked on the farm, to provide food for the war.
- Was anyone in your family fighting during the war? Not that I know of.
- How many other women worked there, did you know any? About 40 other woman worked with me, but all were strangers. The women came from all different walks of life and applied for work in the defense plant in Neenah.
- Did you work with just women, or men and women? Both men and women.
- How many women worked BEFORE the war, if so, doing what? I’m not sure, probably working on a farm (something like that).
- What did you do before the war? I went to High School.
- What did you do after the war? After the war, I went back home and worked on the farm for a while.
- What happened to all the women working when the men came back from the war? Some women were transferred back to other defense plants.
- Did all the men want their jobs back? The plant was temporarily there to make guns for tanks for the war, but once the war was done, there was no need for tank guns, and the plant closed down.
Kimberly-Clark
"In 1942 “With America’s entry in World War II, K-C shifts much of its production capacity from consumer use to defense needs. Among the many products the company makes for the armed forces are anti-aircraft gun mounts and detonating fuses for heavy shells.”
"Following the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor on December 7, 1941, Kimberly-Clark’s and the nation’s plants, factories and mills rapidly converted from civilian to wartime production. K-C’s engineers, technicians and researchers discovered ways to substitute wood fiber products for scarce materials and ultimately developed camouflage paper, decontamination clothing, delousing bags, thermal vests, waterproof shipping containers, disposable foul-weather clothing, tarpaulins and laminates for ammunition boxes and military luggage. In addition to producing innovative material based on its paper expertise, K-C was a subcontractor for piston rings for aircraft landing gear, gunsight assemblies, bomb dies, cargo winches and rudder shafts for large amphibious landing ships. The company was also a major supplier of book and mimeograph paper to the armed forces.
Kotex® pads, which were in short civilian supply, were made available in vending machines in defense plants for the many women who had replaced men on the assembly lines. Equally scarce Kleenex® tissue was furnished to armed forces hospitals and defense plants. Production was limited because huge quantities of creped wadding were used for Kimpak®, a nonabsorbent packing material for protecting instruments, aircraft parts, medical supplies and other fragile products during transit. Creped wadding also went into Kimsul insulation, which protected navy Quonset huts against extreme heat and cold.
But that wasn’t all Kimberly-Clark did for the war effort. Although the company lacked the facilities to build ships, tanks or planes, proud K-C men and women desperately wanted to make an important weapon. Their chance came in August 1942 when K-C was tapped to manufacture electrically driven mounts and turrets for the new M-45 anti-aircraft machine gun.......Working out of the retooled Kimlark plant in Neenah, K-C’s newly formed Ordnance Division produced over 6,000 M-45 gun mounts from January 1943 to the end of 1944, and received the Army-Navy “E” Award for excellence in production....With the termination of the M-45 contract in 1944, K-C turned to manufacturing a detonating fuse....Within the 153 days of the contract’s life, Kimberly-Clark delivered over 750,000 fuses. Not a single fuse was rejected, and the company merited another “E” Award.
At Kimberly-Clark, more than 1,700 regular employees and 800 temporary employees had gone off to the war, and the percentage of women working for the company increased from 19.4 to 34.4."
- Kathie, Consumer Services, Kimberly-Clark Corp, email correspondence 1-31-11.
"Following the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor on December 7, 1941, Kimberly-Clark’s and the nation’s plants, factories and mills rapidly converted from civilian to wartime production. K-C’s engineers, technicians and researchers discovered ways to substitute wood fiber products for scarce materials and ultimately developed camouflage paper, decontamination clothing, delousing bags, thermal vests, waterproof shipping containers, disposable foul-weather clothing, tarpaulins and laminates for ammunition boxes and military luggage. In addition to producing innovative material based on its paper expertise, K-C was a subcontractor for piston rings for aircraft landing gear, gunsight assemblies, bomb dies, cargo winches and rudder shafts for large amphibious landing ships. The company was also a major supplier of book and mimeograph paper to the armed forces.
Kotex® pads, which were in short civilian supply, were made available in vending machines in defense plants for the many women who had replaced men on the assembly lines. Equally scarce Kleenex® tissue was furnished to armed forces hospitals and defense plants. Production was limited because huge quantities of creped wadding were used for Kimpak®, a nonabsorbent packing material for protecting instruments, aircraft parts, medical supplies and other fragile products during transit. Creped wadding also went into Kimsul insulation, which protected navy Quonset huts against extreme heat and cold.
But that wasn’t all Kimberly-Clark did for the war effort. Although the company lacked the facilities to build ships, tanks or planes, proud K-C men and women desperately wanted to make an important weapon. Their chance came in August 1942 when K-C was tapped to manufacture electrically driven mounts and turrets for the new M-45 anti-aircraft machine gun.......Working out of the retooled Kimlark plant in Neenah, K-C’s newly formed Ordnance Division produced over 6,000 M-45 gun mounts from January 1943 to the end of 1944, and received the Army-Navy “E” Award for excellence in production....With the termination of the M-45 contract in 1944, K-C turned to manufacturing a detonating fuse....Within the 153 days of the contract’s life, Kimberly-Clark delivered over 750,000 fuses. Not a single fuse was rejected, and the company merited another “E” Award.
At Kimberly-Clark, more than 1,700 regular employees and 800 temporary employees had gone off to the war, and the percentage of women working for the company increased from 19.4 to 34.4."
- Kathie, Consumer Services, Kimberly-Clark Corp, email correspondence 1-31-11.
