Ladies Resting Room, E.R. Day and G.R. Peabody Co. Department Store

   



Caption: A Glimpse of our "Ladies Resting Room" which you are invited to make your resting place
at any time. Strathglass Building, Corner Hartford, Congress and Lowell Streets, Rumford,
Falls, ME. Occupied by E.R. Day Co., and G.R. Peabody Co. Department Store

Ladies Waiting Room, E.R. Day Co. and G.R. Peabody Co. Department Store

 

Location: Strathglass Building, 33 Hartford Street, Rumford, Maine, USA

 

Opened/Closed: c. 1900

 

Happened to stumble on this photo here. As much as I love the room itself, I also love the narrative that accompanies it. 

 

I very much wish I could accept their gracious invitation and make this  my "resting place" at any time! I suspect a lot of tired women would feel the same way.

 

The Strathglass Building still exists, and was added to the National Register of Historic Places in 1980. But I'm sure the Ladies Resting Room is long gone, and no doubt converted to some economically productive purpose that has little to do with women. Sadly, this kind of women's public space is no longer in existence anywhere, at least in western cultures.

 

Strathglass Building

Garage for Women Only (London 1929)

Chevrolet ad (1928)

Garage for Women Only

Location: London, England

Opened/Closed: c. 1929

I have found four articles referring to this garage. These were in the Hartford Courant (pay per view), Milwaukee Sentinel, Baltimore Sun (pay per view), and the Spartanburg Herald (North Carolina). This is the version from the Herald.

GARAGE FOR WOMEN ONLY

A garage for the sole use of women autoists has just been opened by women in London. A club devoted to feminine needs is a feature. Here fair motorists have writing rooms and dressing and change rooms with bathrooms adjoining. Women auto enthusiasts recently dedicated the place with solemn ceremony.

A couple of things stand out for me as really remarkable about this garage. Note how this garage was opened not just FOR women but BY women, and how it predates the second wave of the women's movement by a good two generations or so. Also notice the fabulous devotion to customer service. Not only is the woman auto enthusiast likely to get high quality mechanical work on her vehicle along with respectful personal treatment (something women STILL say is lacking at many garages), but you still get all the traditional Victorian amenities like a ladies' writing room! Just in case you're moved to scribble down a sonnet or two while waiting for that crankshaft to get fixed. Can't beat it! Wish I could take in my Nissan for a much overdue oil change...

"White Ladies Only" Restroom

"White Ladies Only" restroom (1940)

"White Ladies Only" Restroom

Location: This particular "white ladies only" restroom was located at the bus station in Durham, North Carolina, USA. But racially segregated ladies rooms existed throughout the southern United States, and in some northern locations as well.

Opened: Trend towards "officially" race segregated public facilities such as restrooms began in 1876 with the Jim Crow laws. These laws mandated racial segregation in all public facilities within the former confederate states.

Closed: Jim Crow laws were finally overruled by the Civil Rights Act of 1964.


Lexington County, South Carolina

Make no mistake: the "white ladies only" restroom is NOT being honored as a lost womyn's space. But it is important to remember the shameful ways that women's space has been exploited and defiled by both institutionalized and "informal" racism. (See here for photos of other race segregated public facilities from the Jim Crow era.) Even though they did not serve on the state legislatures that passed these laws, generations of white women do bear responsibility for giving, at minimum, their tacit approval to these arrangements and for supporting the white men who did pass and enforce these laws, often with considerable bloodshed. Lest we forget....

Ladies Restroom and Lounge, Pan Am Boeing 377 Stratocruiser

Ladies Restroom and Lounge, Pan Am
Boeing 377 Stratocruiser

Ladies Restroom and Lounge, Pan Am Boeing 377 Stratocruiser

Opened: First flight on July 8, 1947

Closed: Retired 1963



From the Virtual Pan Am Museum. Yes, in the days before deregulation, cost-cutting, CEO packages in the mega-millions, and security theater, air travel was different.

The Stratocruiser's basic mechanical design was derived from a World War II troop transport plane, but the end product was far more upscale. This plane had a double-decker physical layout, with the passenger seating on the top level, and a bar and lounge (or lounges in this case) on the bottom level. Only 56 of these planes were built for the commercial airline industry.

The spaciousness of the ladies restroom and lounge is perhaps the most shocking first impression for the contemporary air traveler. The second is that there was any space on board just for women at all. This is almost unheard of these days, though in the last year or so, several Asian carriers, including Korean Air and All Nippon, have introduced women-only toilets on some services.

Ladies' Rest Room, William O. McKay Company

LADIES' REST ROOM - Conveniently arranged for the
comfort of our patrons (1929)

Ladies' Rest Room, William O. McKay Company

Location: 609 Westlake Avenue, Seattle, Washington, USA

Opened: Established 1923

Closed: Occupied this location till 1980s

According to the University of Washington Libraries Special Collections Division, the William O. McKay Company operated a "Ford and Lincoln dealership and repair facility" at this address. It appears the ladies' rest room was literally for that, and not a place to take care of basic bodily functions. Seems like a lovely spot for the lady motorist to rest and refresh herself while awaiting the repairs on her old Tin Lizzie--and all while in the company of other ladies!

Certainly is much nicer than the waiting room where I bought my last car. Plastic molded chairs, harsh fluorescent lighting, ancient magazines with coffee stains, dirty linoleum--all of which is standard faire these days unless you go to a luxury dealership.