While browsing thru this cool dance book I own (and blogged about before, called “Let’s Dance: A Celebration of Ontario’s Dance Halls” my friend stumbled up a picture of a girl dancing jitterbug and the caption said she was the “Bren Gun Girl“. My friend turned to me and said “Who is a Bren Gun Girl?” I replied with a “I don’t know” and quickly ran to the internet for answers and what I found was pretty cool!
The Canadian “Rosie the Riveter”– Veronica Foster
Who was the Bren Gun Girl?
The Bren Gun Girl according to Wikipedia was a young woman named “Veronica Foster” who became a Canadian icon representing nearly one million Canadian women who worked in the manufacturing plants that produced munitions and material during World War II. She was popularly known as “Ronnie, the Bren Gun Girl” and worked for the company John Inglis Co.Ltd producing Bren light machine guns on a production line on Strachan Avenue in Toronto, Ontario (Where I live! And now called “Liberty Village”). She became popular after a series of propaganda posters were produced; most images featured her working for the war effort, but others depicted more casual settings like Foster dancing the jitterbug (just like the image we found in my book) or attending a dinner party.
She can be seen as the Canadian precursor to the American fictional propaganda tool Rosie the Riveter (Source-Wikipedia).
Image comment: I find it interesting that she is smoking in this picture. I know in the TV Show Bomb Girls that would not be allowed but maybe it is because she is posing with a gun and not a bomb 🙂
Note from Laura-Veronica’s Daughter:
Just to clarify a small fact… my mother never smoked. The photographer wanted her to smoke because I guess it was considered sexy in those days and smoking was supposed to be the socially acceptable cool in those days. Up until a few years ago you could smoke anywhere you wanted at any time. But… my mother never smoked… just for the “Ronnie” photos.
Now for some more pictures of our Canadian Rosie the Riveter
Inspecting a lathe at the John Inglis Co. Bren gun plant.
Demonstrating the use of a kerchief to protect the hair of female employees from being caught in machinery.
Playing Baseball. The site of the photo is in what is now Liberty Village in Toronto.
Our Bren Gun Girl getting her photo taken for work. She was a petite woman.
Preparing to go to a party at the Glen Eagle Country Club. What a fantastic 1940s hat!
Jitterbugging with plant foreman Bill Ward during a party at the Glen.
Love the shot of her dress in this image and the dance pose as well!
Veronica Foster the Big Band Singer:
Veronica was also a singer of repute in Canada. She sang & toured with Mart Kenney and his Western Gentlemen from 1943-1944 and then met her furture husband, trombonist George M. Guerrette (they would go on to have 5 children). She also sang with Ellis McLintock’s Orchestra as well as the Bobby Gimby Orchestra.
Here are some fantastic photos courtesy of Veronica’s daughter Laura of her mother performing in the 1940s (Oh my goodness her 1940s dress is just stunning!).
And now my personal favourite news clipping that features Veronica Foster & Swing Dancers who were jumping and jiving at Maple Leaf Gardens, thanks in part to Miss Foster who sang with one of the orchestras (Bobby Gimby I believe).
I actually featured an image in a past blog post called “Vintage Photo Tuesday: The Social Dance” that you can see below.
It’s the Simpson’s Teen-Town Time dance at Maple Leaf Gardens (1940’s) featuring Bobby Gimby (Toronto Orchestra Leader), Art Hallman (popular Canadian Tenor) and Ken Watts.
Want to learn more about Veronica Foster?
Here is a video on Ronnie the Bren Gun Girl done by CBC a few years ago. This video was pointed out to me by one of her daughters Laura. HERE IS THE LINK TO THE VIDEO (playback on my blog was removed by the owner of the video so you have to click on the link to see it)
AND…I was just told from Ronnie’s daughter about a Postage Stamp from Canada Post in honour of VE Day 2020 (75th Anniversary). THIS IS AWESOME!!!
And check out this 2016 Blog Post with another story about Ronnie..HERE.
To end this post I want to leave you with this great video to watch on our “Rosies of the North” Click Here
FURTHER READING:
Liz 🙂
How cool is that? I love this post!!!
I know right! I was so excited when I started to dig a bit deeper into this. I love that she came BEFORE Rosie the Riveter. I also love that this all happened in my current home 🙂
Yeah, all that is pretty awesome. I shared the link on the Swing Dynamite page 🙂
Thanks so much!
She was such a bombshell (WW2 pun entirely intended). I discovered her via Pinterest a while back and then proceed to “stalk” her on the web, too. I had to see and learn more about this hard working, total babe of a factory employee. I really adore that you shone the spotlight on Veronica here (I’m so going to include a mention of this post in my next end of the month link roundup – more folks, inside and out of Canada, need to learn about or Rosie of the Great White North).
♥ Jessica
Isn’t she just amazing? I would of totally loved to have met her. Such a great story and now I to am just a bit obsessed 🙂
Ahh thanks for thinking to share! Would be great to spread the love of some good Cdn history with everyone.
Liz 🙂
These are too good not to share. Maybe you can tag them “photography” so all the photographers can see, too?
Great ideas thanks so much 🙂
I am Veronica “Ronnie” Foster’s daughter. My mother only had 5 children. I am thrilled that there is so much interest in my mother and what she represented to Canadian women then and now. Thank you for keeping it alive.
Oh my! Thank you for stopping by ad commenting! Your mother is truly and inspiration and I’m just fascinated by her part in the war effort. But not just me I know lots of women everywhere share the same sentiment. You were very lucky to have had such an inspiration as your mother.
@tovintagelizze thank you. She was an amazing woman. She became a widow at 41 years old with 5 children. She missed my father everyday of her life until she passed 37 years later. Thank you for your interest. Best, Laura x
Sigh how sad but she had to be strong I’m sure. I would love to know more about her life and maybe do a follow up piece on her. Would that be something you would be interested in doing? Not sure if you have stories or pictures from her life with your father, her life as a worker during the war? Would be so fascinating to know more. Let me know. Liz 🙂
The CBC contacted my family a few years ago to get information on my mother as they were doing a 6 part documentary called Love, Hate and Propaganda. Here is a youtube link on the excerpt of the part of the documentary which included my mother. My brother augmented it with more information on her life after Ronnie The Bren Gun Girl. http://youtu.be/-E0KvWve-9g . Perhaps this will give you some more information.
Regards,
Laura x
Wonderful! Thanks so much! Will check it out now
I am doing research Veronica Foster for a Canadian Encyclopedia article and I had a few small questions. Would you be willing to help me out?
– Katrine
Hi there,
I don’t think I will be much help. What you see in my blog post is all I could find, unfortunately. More then welcome to email some questions if you like and maybe I might know (but I don’t think so).
Let me know!
Liz
Just to clarify a small fact… my mother never smoked. The photographer wanted her to smoke because I guess it was considered sexy in those days and smoking was supposed to be the socially acceptable cool in those days. Up until a few years ago you could smoke anywhere you wanted at any time. But… my mother never smoked… just for the “Ronnie” photos. Laura x
That is a good fact (I will actually make a note of that in my blog). I figured that it was just a “look I’m cool” photo. I also added the video you sent me to the end of the blog. Great piece. Thanks again! Liz
Great post, Liz! I bought a very similar dress online while trying to find the right thing to wear to the Swing Fever event. It is so badly damaged as to be unwearable, alas, but it is so very pretty with the pleated waist detail.
thanks! Well at least you have something pretty to just look at 🙂
I love shopping at this online store. There is a huge variety of items that are no longer available anywhere else, that I know of. New vintage style clothes for the while family, potato chips in tins, cleaning products, home decor, etc. all at very high quality… have a look. Thought you would enjoy this:
http://www.vermontcountrystore.com/store/
How fantastic Laura! Going to check it out right now. Thanks so much!
Pretty! This has been an incredibly wonderful article.
Many thanks for supplying these details.
Not a problem! thanks so much for stopping by. I love this story so much 🙂
propaganda is the use of “misinformation” or “fake news” to promote and idea, she actually did make the guns so posters of her doing so isnt propaganda