Maker

Chicago Pneumatic Tool Company (Manufacturer)

Dimensions / Weight

Dimensions: 23" H x 3.25" W x 7" D

Physical Description

Rivet hammer.

General History

A rivet hammer is the device used to fasten together pieces of metal. It is most often seen in the hands of a fictional female riveter named Rosie. Rosie the Riveter was a famous icon of World War II. One of the most famous images of Rosie was painted by Norman Rockwell. Painted as a cover the Saturday Evening Post, it was donated to the Treasury Department’s Second War Loan Drive to promote the sale of Victory Bonds. For many years it hung in the Chicago Pneumatic Tool Company’s New York Shop. Rockwell’s model for Rosie was Mary Doyle Keefe. The 19 year old, part-time telephone operator in Arlington, VT was a 110-pound beauty. Rockwell, however, wanted Rosie to have powerful arms, shoulders and hands to salute women’s substantial wartime contributions. He modeled Rosie’s body on Michelangelo’s Isaiah from the ceiling of the Sistine Chapel. Years later, Rockwell wrote to Keefe. He told her she was the most beautiful woman he’d ever seen. He apologized for putting her face atop such a hefty body saying, “I did have to make you into a sort of a giant.”