On the Job

Marjorie worked as a sign painter at Roberts Brother Department Store and Lipman Wolf Department Store in Portland, Oregon during World War II. During her time at Lipman Wolf & Co, Their Reporter Newspaper Vol ll, No. 14 dated April 4, 1942 printed the following: The Revolving Reporter...


"Borrowed a piece of cardboard and made another discovery---Expecting surely to find a "Life Size" man in charge of our Sign Shop when I leaned over the shop gate to make my request---I noticed only a little girl---Just thinking it was the Sign Writer's daughter, I inquired "Is the man of the House in?" This petite bit of femininity brightly answered "I'm doing the sign work now"---I gulped twice,almost. By putting my eye and ear to the key hole I found she was really holding down the man size job--- and doing a swell job too---so if you see this little dimpled miss--- wooden shoe--curls, etc. going around the store with a sign card in her hand, well it's Marjorie Wooldridge---Our latest to the Hall of Fame. "

Her first job in the city (Portland, after moving away from the country in Battleground, WA) was as a nanny for a wealthy family.  At about the time of the war, she worked for architects for a time, which she loved but as it also left her hungry, she worked the swing shift typing for Commercial Iron Works in the Navy Building.  When the swing shift gave out, she got a drafstman position in piping, working in a small department with mostly women in their forties. She always described this as her job in the shipyards. Sometime after this, she did office work part-time while going to school in the evenings. This led to an interest, and a job, in photo finishing, where she met her future husband, Carol. Sometime in the preceeding years she immersed herself in Russian studies and Chinese language studies, as well, becoming involved in both communities in Portland. After marriage, while her children were young, she operated her own daycare out of her home, which at the time was a very tightly regulated occupation. Afterwards, she worked many years for Hudson House and later for Norpac. Post-retirement, she worked part-time for the City of Portland as well as at PSU.