The forgotten 'Ghost girls'

A place to show and discuss your vintage watches
User avatar
FloridaPhil
Senior Forumgod
Senior Forumgod
Posts: 2483
Joined: Wed Jun 08, 2016 5:48 pm
CW-watches: 5
Location: Sarasota, Florida, USA

The forgotten 'Ghost girls'

Post by FloridaPhil »

Thought I'd share this fascinating and horrific story of the women who painted radium on watch dials during WW1. How the world has changed in just 100 years.

https://www.buzzfeed.com/authorkatemoor ... fiXJdk6enr

Image
WatchChat on Facebook
The friendliest watch group on Facebook chatting about our watch passion and whatever else happens to come up.
kiter65
Trusted Seller
Trusted Seller
Posts: 3959
Joined: Sun Feb 16, 2014 2:45 pm
CW-watches: 0

Re: The forgotten 'Ghost girls'

Post by kiter65 »

Very interesting and unbelievable how large organisations behave
Very brave ladies
User avatar
UncleDicky
Guru
Guru
Posts: 347
Joined: Thu Jul 07, 2016 1:14 pm
CW-watches: 7
Location: Northumberland, UK

Re: The forgotten 'Ghost girls'

Post by UncleDicky »

scary stuff, posted a link on degenerated radium paint - given the half life of radium it's only 4% less radioactive than it was 100 years ago.

The designers of the first nuclear bomb estimated that most casualties would come from flying bricks and glass, radiation sickness was not considered a real risk.

This blasé attitude to radiation was evident post WW2 when MacArthur very nearly used nukes against the Chinese during the Korean war, fortunately Ike intervened and fired him. However, the command structure permitted generals in the field to deploy nukes until this was made an executive decision by Eisenhower.
C9 Marine Chronometer Small Seconds, C8 Mk2 Aviator, C600 Trident Pro; Lum-Tec Combat B19, Elliot Brown Canford, Smiths Everest, Casio Protrek.
stolivar
Senior
Senior
Posts: 67
Joined: Thu Jan 02, 2014 10:42 pm
CW-watches: 1
Location: Kansas City, Kansas

Re: The forgotten 'Ghost girls'

Post by stolivar »

I just finished reading https://www.amazon.com/Radium-Girls-Sto ... 149264935X

It was a harrowing read. What these poor girls were put through is simply amazing and evil, but because these brave women fought so hard, we now have OSHA and many other laws and departments to watch our for employee safety. We all owe them a debt!
Boccia 3542-2
C60-GMT-SKWKC22 - nato black grey
Tudor Oyster Prince Date ref 75204
KevinB
Senior
Senior
Posts: 81
Joined: Sat Mar 04, 2017 7:41 pm

Re: The forgotten 'Ghost girls'

Post by KevinB »

The musical "Shining Lives" is a stunning tribute to the story of these women. If you love watches and history, this is a tremendous show.
sef
Newbie
Newbie
Posts: 5
Joined: Sun Aug 06, 2017 8:18 pm

Re: The forgotten 'Ghost girls'

Post by sef »

Very interesting read. Pretty crazy to think about the fact that those girls would paint their teeth with radium for a glowing smile :o


Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk
User avatar
Thegreyman
Trusted Seller
Trusted Seller
Posts: 12066
Joined: Sat May 21, 2016 3:45 pm
CW-watches: 6
Location: Edinburgh

Re: The forgotten 'Ghost girls'

Post by Thegreyman »

vfrock wrote:^LOL
I don't know if you've read the whole article, but there is not much LOL about it.
Patrick

C60 Pro 300, C60 Sunrise, C63 Sealander Lucerne blue LE, C65 Dartmouth, W11 Amelia (wife), C63 Sealander (son)

Some others + a few on the way
User avatar
nbg
Senior Forumgod
Senior Forumgod
Posts: 13151
Joined: Sun Nov 24, 2013 6:43 pm
CW-watches: 14
Location: UK

Re: The forgotten 'Ghost girls'

Post by nbg »

Thegreyman wrote:
vfrock wrote:^LOL
I don't know if you've read the whole article, but there is not much LOL about it.
Agreed. :thumbdown:

I think perhaps more about adding a short post to many threads, in pursuit of the promised land (SC)! :silent:

Neil
Other watch forums of interest:
TZ-UK
Mikkei4
Senior Forumgod
Senior Forumgod
Posts: 3587
Joined: Sat Jan 21, 2017 7:20 pm
CW-watches: 0

Re: The forgotten 'Ghost girls'

Post by Mikkei4 »

nbg wrote:
Thegreyman wrote:
vfrock wrote:^LOL
I don't know if you've read the whole article, but there is not much LOL about it.
Agreed. :thumbdown:

I think perhaps more about adding a short post to many threads, in pursuit of the promised land (SC)! :silent:

Neil
Averaging around 5 words per post.
User avatar
nbg
Senior Forumgod
Senior Forumgod
Posts: 13151
Joined: Sun Nov 24, 2013 6:43 pm
CW-watches: 14
Location: UK

Re: The forgotten 'Ghost girls'

Post by nbg »

^^^ Yep I counted them yesterday - don't think today's have Improved.

Neil
Other watch forums of interest:
TZ-UK
vfrock
Newbie
Newbie
Posts: 26
Joined: Sat Aug 05, 2017 5:46 pm

Re: The forgotten 'Ghost girls'

Post by vfrock »

nbg wrote:
Thegreyman wrote:
vfrock wrote:^LOL
I don't know if you've read the whole article, but there is not much LOL about it.
Agreed. :thumbdown:

I think perhaps more about adding a short post to many threads, in pursuit of the promised land (SC)! :silent:

Neil
:lol: :lol: :lol:
TG3N
Senior Guru
Senior Guru
Posts: 500
Joined: Thu May 23, 2013 1:27 pm

Re: The forgotten 'Ghost girls'

Post by TG3N »

One post elsewhere on the forum did actually contain multiple words, but was retrospectively edited down to just one (now deleted - good work, Mods) - which might be preferable, because the original comment was regrettably crass.
User avatar
Tyke
Senior Forumgod
Senior Forumgod
Posts: 5944
Joined: Mon Nov 29, 2010 9:47 pm
CW-watches: 0

Re: The forgotten 'Ghost girls'

Post by Tyke »

TG3N wrote:One post elsewhere on the forum did actually contain multiple words, but was retrospectively edited down to just one (now deleted - good work, Mods) - which might be preferable, because the original comment was regrettably crass.
Perhaps it's our friend with the multiple personalities cropping up again? :problem:
User avatar
FloridaPhil
Senior Forumgod
Senior Forumgod
Posts: 2483
Joined: Wed Jun 08, 2016 5:48 pm
CW-watches: 5
Location: Sarasota, Florida, USA

Re: The forgotten 'Ghost girls'

Post by FloridaPhil »

Amazon US has the Kindle version of the book Radium Girls by Kate Moore, the author of the original Buzzfeed story I posted, on sale today for just $2.99

https://www.amazon.com/Radium-Girls-Sto ... bemail6-20

Image
WatchChat on Facebook
The friendliest watch group on Facebook chatting about our watch passion and whatever else happens to come up.
0uatiOW
Trusted Seller
Trusted Seller
Posts: 1329
Joined: Thu Mar 15, 2018 11:46 pm
CW-watches: 4
Location: Cambridgeshire

Re: The forgotten 'Ghost girls'

Post by 0uatiOW »

A really interesting read, covering a terrible by-product of the interest we all share, but more telling is the shameful denials of the company in its own self interest. Looks like things haven’t changed too much in that respect.

The article got me wondering if the same risks exist today, and whether watchmakers working on vintage watches are also at risk. I found the answer to the first of these quite easily - Super-LumiNova (strontium aluminate) isn’t radioactive....
My name is 0uatiOW, but before you ask, no I don’t.
“Exquisitely minging” MissF, 19 July 2022
Just call me Diderot
  • Similar Topics
    Replies
    Views
    Last post