Women of Disney

Jennifer Lerew, an animation artist who blogs at The Blackwing Diaries, has posted some photos of women who worked during the Depression at Disney's old Hyperion studio. in what I guess was called Edendale at the time [Nope, I stand corrected.] The images show women working and lounging on break, and come from a book, "Working for Disney: 1936-1937, the Ingeborg Willy Scrapbook from The Cowan Collection." Willy was a Disney animator. The blogger observes:

If these were pictures of women working at an unknown studio-or at any other company-in 1936, I'd still be fascinated by them. That they're Disney employees - and the all-too-rarely-seen ink and paint contingent at that - makes it a thousand times better. I collect vintage materials of all kinds and often while browsing through boxes at an antique mall will find snapshots like these; I think they're great....

Was it as hot that summer as it is today? There wasn't smog in 1936, and I've read that a person driving from Pasadena to Silverlake could smell orange blossoms....pretty much nobody has time to do their hair like this before work. On the other hand, those expressions look awfully familiar. I wonder what their stories were and how long they each worked at Disney's? Southern California's probably full of the grandkids of these women, somewhere.

The book has been temporarily pulled from sale due to legal issues — it had Snow White on the cover — says another blogger.