Participant Info
- Membership Number
- 1216
- Newsletter
- No
- Salutation
- Mrs
- First Name
- Elaine
- Middle/Maiden/Previous
- Gurney
- Last Name
- Nelson
- Address 1
- 1012 12th Avenue
- Address 2
- City
- Clarkfield
- State
- MN
- Zip Code
- 56223
- Phone
- 320-669-4946
- Email
- Code
- RO
- Work Code #
- 1
- State Membership
- MN
- Status
- 1
- Date of Birth
- 02/01/1925
- Date of Death
- 08/11/2023
- Deceased At Join?
- No
- Name/Location of Company Worked
- California Flyers, Santa Monica, CA
- Dates of Work
- 1944-1945
- Type of Work
- Riveter on wings of B-17 aircraft. Elaine was 19 years old when she applied for work as a riveter. In 1944 she left New Jersey with her future sister-in law to travel by train to California where her brother lived. She left an admittedly good job at the Esterbrook Pen Factory. Was it an adventurous spirit, post-depression-era realism, or a childhood of many moves that sent her across country to an unknown future? Or was it luck?
They arrived in Santa Monica, California and stayed together until her friend and her brother married. Elaine found a room for $9.00 a month and applied for work in a small airplane factory called California Fliers. This factory was on the same street as the Douglas Aircraft factory in El Sagundo and likely was a sub-contracting company. California Flyers made wings for the B 17 which by then was being manufactured by a consortium of companies referred to as BVD (Boeing, Vega and Douglas).
Elaine remembers working as a riveter the entire time of her employment – about a year and a half. She had a “bucker” who worked inside the wing – the trailing edge of the wing. As Elaine would drive in the rivet, her partner would “buck” it, ensuring it didn’t drive completely through the wing and create a hole. “I don’t remember how we knew where to drive the rivet, but one time I missed the mark. A hole was created in the wing and the foreman came running over and berated me. They had to patch the wing. I was not fired, however, and I never made that mistake again.”
Elaine had a toolbox containing her riveting tool and other tools needed to do the job. She always liked to work with tools and kept a toolbox the rest of her life.
Elaine met her husband, Nefton (Nip) Nelson at the factory. He worked in maintenance and was introduced to her by another maintenance man who drove her to work every day. Due to childhood rheumatic fever, Nip was underweight and therefore ineligible for active duty. He went to California from Minnesota to seek work and contribute to the war effort in a production factory. Their first date was dancing on the Santa Monica pier. Elaine found out right away that Nip was not a dancer. But he liked music and didn’t drink and they were married in April 1945.
Elaine remembers small dolls that were sold at the lunch counter at the factory. They were jointed and moved downhill when placed on a slope. She always wanted one of those dolls but couldn’t afford one at the time. This sparked her interest in dolls which she later collected.
- Rosie Name if Rb or Rv
- Is/Was Rosie a member of ARRA?
- Contact Name (Deceased Rosie Contact)
- Robert Nelson
- Contact Email Address
- Contact Phone Number
- Contact Relationship
