This was tragic and I am sure the companies using these techniques were at first not willing to admit their over-sites.Įventually these companies were able to find substitute ingredients that were not harmful and more worker friendly like Promethium and Tritium. Without knowing it these women were slowly killing themselves. In the early years these girls used paint brushes that they would lick the bristles to get a fine point to get an accurate stroke to fill the numbers on the dial. Radium was radioactive and caused serious deformities and sickness. It was a substance of great value and at the time no indication of its harmful properties. The unfortunate thing was the luminous material being used was called radium. These were the years that women of that age didn’t go to college and a well-paying job was very attractive to them. These factories were hiring mostly young women in the 18 to 24 age group. These were great selling points and were extremely popular.Ī number of factories mostly around the east coast of the United States sprung up in the teens thru the 1920’s. This enabled a consumer to have a timepiece that was easy to read in complete darkness.
Starting in the early 1900’s the watch industry first came out with a luminous dial that glowed in the dark. Well, in the watch industry we dealt with our own concerns. Its hard to imagine today that cars at one time didn’t even have seat belts. The auto industry had various safety concerns like seat belts. Radium painted numbers on a 1920's clock.Įvery industry has its dark side, some have been because of the lack of knowledge and some have been because profits were more important than safety.
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