My impression is that this business only had tween boys as pages, but now they are shifting over to both boys and girls (though each will do different jobs) and this is the first hire.
eta – this still seems an extremely niche thing based on my understanding of class and gender dynamics in the 1920s.
eta 2 – or even late 1910s, even with the war.Report
To be clear, the age is what’s contrary to my understanding. I didn’t think girls/young women got into ‘pink collar’ jobs until at least their teens, and then after finishing some kind of trade (e.g. secretarial) school.
(heck, this was my own mother’s path just shy of two generations later – finished a vo-tech high school at 16, and then went right into Manhattan to work in the secretarial pool at the investment banks) (while still living at home in the outerboroughs)Report
Somebody’s daughter, I guess. Summer job, based on the outfit.Report
Yeah, I got a feeling that the chap on the far left is her Father dropping her off. Probably a friend of the Chief or of the Chief’s boss.Report
Okay, “Office Girl System” doesn’t have a whole lot of hits and we’re sitting at #1.
“Office Girl” has a lot more hits thanks to books and television shows.
According to the dictionary, it’s “old-fashioned” and it refers to “a young woman who works in an office doing simple tasks”.
Seems like it wouldn’t need a “system” but…Report
My impression is that this business only had tween boys as pages, but now they are shifting over to both boys and girls (though each will do different jobs) and this is the first hire.
eta – this still seems an extremely niche thing based on my understanding of class and gender dynamics in the 1920s.
eta 2 – or even late 1910s, even with the war.Report
To be clear, the age is what’s contrary to my understanding. I didn’t think girls/young women got into ‘pink collar’ jobs until at least their teens, and then after finishing some kind of trade (e.g. secretarial) school.
(heck, this was my own mother’s path just shy of two generations later – finished a vo-tech high school at 16, and then went right into Manhattan to work in the secretarial pool at the investment banks) (while still living at home in the outerboroughs)Report
Somebody’s daughter, I guess. Summer job, based on the outfit.Report
Yeah, I got a feeling that the chap on the far left is her Father dropping her off. Probably a friend of the Chief or of the Chief’s boss.Report