Mark your calendars for Aug. 13 — a nonprofit in Richmond, California, is attempting to break the world record for the largest gathering of people dressed as Rosie the Riveter.
Organizers at the Rosie the Riveter Trust are hoping for a crowd of 5,000 to join them at Craneway Pavillion to take back the coveted Guinness World Record prize they won in 2015.
Elizabeth Tucker, lead park ranger for the Rosie the Riveter/WWII Home Front National Historical Park, said the group is attempting to take back its winning title from a rival Rosie group in Michigan, who beat them in October 2015, with 2,096 dressed-up, WWII-era guests.
When they won first place, the Richmond Rosies drew a crowd of 1,084 Rosies, dressed in red bandanas, blue coveralls and embodying the spirit of the women who worked in the factories and shipyards during WWII.
Only people properly dressed like Rosie from head to toe will be counted as participants. The required uniform consists of a red bandana with polka dots, tied on the top of the head, “Rosie style,” a dark-blue collared shirt and dark blue pants or dark blue overalls, closed-toed black or brown shoes or boots and red socks. The event is open to anyone in costume, even men.
The surge of women in the WWII war-time workforce inspired songs and eventually paintings of the fictional “Rosie,” a line worker who works tirelessly to help the American war effort.
Artists J. Howard Miller and Norman Rockwell popularized that image as a muscular woman clad in denim and a red bandana with the headline “We Can Do It!” The image was originally used as on posters to boost worker morale, but has now become an icon for the modern empowered woman.
U.S. & World
The Rosies will gather at Craneway Pavillion, Ford Assembly Plant, at 1414 Harbour Way South. Participants should arrive before 10:30 a.m. to be counted by the Guinness judges.
For more information about the event, visit www.rosietheriveter.org, "like" the Rosie Rally 2016 Facebook page or call the National Park’s Visitor Center at 510-232-5050 ext. 0.
