UPDATE JANUARY 2023 –at the time when I wrote this article there was a question about the timeline of the strike. My original blog post said 1949. That was not correct.

Some time around 1947 (not 1949 ) according to the LIFE archives, Arthur Murray dance teachers went on strike. Thanks to a friend of mine with access to the NY Times archives I now know that the strike was INDEED in 1947 and here is the news story….

1947 news article about the Dance Teacher Strike from Arthur Murray Dance Studio in New York City as seen in the New York Times.

Today’s Vintage Photo Tuesday is going to take you through that day.

But before we begin I would like to start off by saying that it was a slightly odd picket line. Yes there was your standard strike signs, but there was also women in swimsuits, a shirtless barefooted man, people dressed in different time period fashions, face masks, conga lines and of course lots of dancing.

Gosh, sounds like a fun strike to me!

1940s Vintage Image of the Dancing Teachers Strike 1947 — Source: Google/LIFE

“Working at Arthur Murrays isn’t just a song and dance. We want job security!”

1940s Vintage Image of the Dancing Teachers Strike 1947. Image showcases strikers holding signs in the background while a woman in a swimsuit partner dances with a man. — Source: Google/LIFE

“My master leads a dog’s life at Arthur Murrays studio”

1940s Vintage Image of the Dancing Teachers Strike 1947. The image shows a man with a dog and the dog has a picket sign on him. — Source: Google/LIFE

“An Arthur Murray Teacher on Arthur Murray wages”. This seems to mean she can only afford a sweater, shorts and dance shoes. MAYBE that is why the women are wandering around in their swimsuits, to show that they can’t even afford a shirt on their back?

1940s Vintage Image of the Dancing Teachers Strike Sept 9th, 1947- Image showcases women on the picket line. — Source: Google/LIFE

Early 1900’s Fashion made an appearance at the strike.

Charleston and 1920’s women’s fashion.

There are no descriptions to any of the images but this does look like the negotiation table. Or at least the place where all the demands were being collected.

That is the end of our dancing/striking teachers photos. I do hope their demands were met and dance was once again enjoyed by all that stepped into their studios.

UPDATE (Nov 30th): Thank you to Jeff Kellem (@composerjk) for shedding some light on the strike for us. It seems that there might of been multiple strikes in 1947 (as of January 2023 I can 100% confirm the strike was 1947). The image below is from New York city and the caption states 1947 as the year (Source).

Dancers Picket Arthur Murray Studio — Source: Huffington Post

As for the demands that the dance teachers were looking for, thanks to the civil suit Jeff found entitled ‘Gomez v United Office and Professional Workers’ we now have some insight.

Here is what they wanted:

Defendants and the dance studios of Arthur Murray in New York are engaged in a controversy concerning the terms and conditions of employment of Arthur Murray’s dancing instructors in New York. This controversy concerns minimum wages, union recognition, job security, grievance procedure and an alleged lockout of dancing instructors employed in the New York studio (Source).

Lastly Jeff also believes that the images in my post are from a Chicago because the Cable Building (57 East Jackson Building), on 57 E. Jackson Blvd, Chicago, IL is in the image (GREAT EYE Jeff!)

Now dear readers, if any of you know anything more about the strike please share in the comments below. Thanks!

FURTHER READING:

Swing Dance & The Big Band Era – Archived blog posts from the Vintage Inn Blog
Ontario Vintage Dance Hall History – Archived blog posts on various dance halls
Vintage Photo Tuesday-The 1947 Dance Teachers Strike
Prom in the 1940s & 1950s
Vintage Photo Tuesday: The Social Dance
Vintage Dance Cards
Time to Dance! Vintage Instructions to get you dancing in no time
1940s Women’s Fashion Ideas For Your Next Vintage Dance
The Dancing Side of the Viva Las Vegas Rockabilly Weekend

Liz

Saturday is Remembrance Day, so this week I would like to dedicate ‘Vintage Photo Tuesday‘ to the Canadian Women on the WW2 Home Front. This post is also part of a previous one I did last year, that you can view HERE.

Out of a Canadian wartime population of more than 11 million, 261,000 women worked in Canadian war industries, 400,000 in the civilian workforce, 760,000 on farms and countless others in the home and in the volunteer sector.

Women’s enthusiasm for helping out on the home front was anticipated by Alice Sorby of Winnipeg who recalled in 1940, “In September 1939 when the thunder of war first crashed about our ears, the immediate reaction was an almost hysterical desire to do something….” (Source).

1940’s Vintage Photos of WW2 Canadian Women on the Home Front

Here are those brave women in action….

Female loggers (‘lumberjills’) in the Queen Charlotte Islands, BC. April 1943.

Actress Mary Pickford posing with a group of employees during her visit to the General Engineering Company (Canada) munitions factory, June 5, 1943.

FURTHER READING: The Bomb Girls Of Scarborough, Ontario Canada-As Seen Thru Vintage Photographs from the 1940s

1940s Vintage Photo of Actress Mary Pickford posing with a group of employees during her visit to the General Engineering Company (Canada) munitions factory, June 5, 1943. — Source: Archives of Canada

Young woman working in the cabin of bomber being manufactured at the Fairchild plant in Montreal on May 19, 1941.

Three women in coveralls off to work in Edmonton in 1943.

1940s Vintage Photo Canadian Women arriving for work in Edmonton 1943 doing their part for WW2 Homefront effort in Canada. — Source: Legion Magazine

A welder works on a Bren gun at John Inglis Company Ltd., 1942.

FURTHER READING: The Canadian “Rosie the Riveter”-Veronica Foster -The Bren Gun Girl

Women volunteers from Canadian Red Cross assemble packages for prisoners of war in 1942.

Starting in 1942, Vancouver’s Burrard Drydock hired more than 1,000 women. Here we see the union’s shop stewards eating in the shipyard canteen, ca. 1942 (Source).

1940s Vintage Photo of Canadian Women taking a break from their shift from working at the Shipyard for the WW2 Canadian Home Front effort. 1942 Photo. — Source: Open Text BC

1940s photo of workers producing primers.

1940s canadian women on the homefront producing primers in a factory for the WW2 Canadian Home Front Effort. — Source: War Museum

“Start your Victory Garden today!” 1940s vintage propaganda sign from the ‘Health League of Canada’.

1942 photo of knitters working on the BC Telephone Co. War Effort Programme in Victoria. It was a group of ladies coming together to sit, talk, and knit scarves and socks for the men fighting overseas (Source).

1940s Vintage Photo in 1942 of knitters working on the BC Telephone Co. War Effort Programme in Victoria. It was a group of ladies coming together to sit, talk, and knit scarves and socks for the Canadian men fighting overseas — Source: Gulf of Georgia Cannery

“Come on Housewives SOCK HIM again!”. 1940s Canadian Fraser Valley Propaganda Poster for saving scrap from your home for the war effort.

While looking for photos to share, I came across a fantastic 10 min Canadian Documentary entitled ‘The Home Front‘ by Stanley Hawes (seen below).

This short documentary is part of the Canada Carries On series of morale-boosting wartime propaganda films. In Home Front, the various WWII-era social contributions of women are highlighted. From medicine to industrial labour to hospitality, education and domesticity, the service these women provided to their country is lauded. (Video Link)

Friends…If you are interested to read other posts I have created around the Canadian WW2 Home Front, the link is below.

FURTHER READNG: World War 2 Women’s Contributions & Homefront Posts

Liz

Tag: vintage photo tuesday

Vintage Photo Tuesday-The 1947 Dance Teachers Strike

Vintage Photo Tuesday: WW2 Canadian Women on the Home Front (Part 2)

1940’s Vintage Photos of WW2 Canadian Women on the Home Front