Sepia Saturday: A Woman in Uniform

Sepia Saturday challenges bloggers to share family history through old photographs.

This week the Sepia Saturday prompt is a photo of a nurse in uniform standing beside an official car marked “Health – Nursing” parked on a city street.  Since I have no nurses in my family, my thoughts went to uniforms and I thought about my maternal grandmother, Lucille Rucker Davis.  She was not a nurse, but her jobs always required a uniform. 

As a kid growing up, I was used to seeing her in the crisp white button-front uniform of a grocery store clerk at Colonial Store.

My grandmother is the last one on the middle row.
Wonder what's in the envelope?  A bonus?

Doesn’t that white uniform say, “Clean.  Professional.  At your service”?

But when I saw this next picture I was really confused.

My grandmother is the first woman kneeling on the front row.

The back of the picture gives the date and names of all the women pictured.  I knew my grandmother lived in Shenandoah, Virginia, at the time the picture was taken, but I didn’t know she had a job that required a uniform.   The building looks like a school – was she a cafeteria worker?  No.  It turns out, this is the knitting mill.  Fancy that – uniforms for factory workers.    

I’ve noticed that in all three photos, women’s uniforms are basic shirt-waist dresses that button in the front.  No commentary -- Just an observation.