Many poorer citizens made their war-time contribution in new factories. Here, female workers are seen routing powder grooves for shells in a munitions factory. These women, perhaps recruited from domestic service or other equally low paying jobs, were a common sight by 1916. Their presence in factories like these was of real importance, as a great many men were away from home fighting at the front. Yet, at no time did they receive equal pay for equal work, however dangerous. Women also appeared in banks and stores, often for the first time in any significant numbers. It was the white collar jobs, with their appeal for the middle-class applicant, rather than the industrial sector, which attracted previously non-empIoyed women. Poorer women had worked in factories for many years.
