May 29, 1943: Rosie the Riveter

May 29, 1943: Norman Rockwell's painting Rosie the Riveter appears on the cover of The Saturday Evening Post. Notice that she's stepping on a copy of Adolf Hitler's book, Mein Kampf. Rockwell was Antifa, and he was Woke.

But this "Rosie" is not the bicep-flexing woman most of us think of when we hear the name. That one was painted by J. Howard Miller, and appeared only in Westinghouse factories, for only 2 weeks.

So when feminists were looking for pro-woman propaganda in the 1980s, why did they adopt Miller's painting, not Rockwell's? Because Rockwell's was protected by copyright, and Miller's wasn't. It was about money. Even the movement had to deal with the realities of capitalism.

Of course, as much as Miller's "Rosie" was flexing, she still looked more feminine that the meatier "Rosie" of Rockwell's painting. So that may have had something to do with it as well: The feminists, already dealing with accusations of lesbianism, didn't want a "butch Rosie." Today, they wouldn't care: They would embrace anyone who wanted to be "Rosie." Miller's version of the character has even inspired Halloween costumes.

Rockwell's "Rosie" was Mary Louise Doyle (1923-2015), and she never worked in the military-industrial complex. She was a telephone operator in Arlington, Vermont, where Rockwell was living at the time, and simply posed for the painting.

Miller's "Rosie" was Naomi Parker (1921-2018), who worked at the Alameda Naval Air Station in the San Francisco Bay Area.

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May 29, 1943 was a Saturday. These baseball games were played that day:

* The New York Yankees beat the Cleveland Indians, 9-5 at Yankee Stadium. Ernest "Tiny" Bonham went the distance.

* The New York Giants lost to the St. Louis Cardinals, 5-4 at Sportsman's Park in St. Louis. Mel Ott, by this point also the Giants' manager, went 1-for-4. Stan Musial went 1-for-3 with 2 walks.

* The Brooklyn Dodgers lost to the Cincinnati Reds, 5-4 at Crosley Field in Cincinnati. The Dodgers scored 3 runs in the top of the 9th to tie the game, but Lonny Frey singled Eric Tipton home in the bottom of the 11th to win it.

* The Detroit Tigers beat the Boston Red Sox, 6-4 at Fenway Park in Boston.

* The St. Louis Browns beat the Philadelphia Athletics, 10-2 at Shibe Park in Philadelphia.

* The Washington Senators beat the Chicago White Sox, 7-4 at Griffith Stadium in Washington.

* The Pittsburgh Pirates beat the Philadelphia Phillies, 12-4 at Forbes Field in Pittsburgh.

* And the Chicago Cubs beat the Boston Braves, 4-3 at Wrigley Field in Chicago. Claude Passeau pitched 13 innings, and became the winning pitcher when he singled home Dom Dallessandro.