Labor Day

[“Masses Of Women Workers.” Photograph by Edward Clark. Washington, D.C. 1956. From the Life Photo Archive. Click for a much larger view.]

I have seen desks in such a massive array only in Billy Wilder’s The Apartment. Notice the fans and the Shelter signage (the Atomic Age). This photograph was taken in preparation for the Life feature “Women Hold Third of Jobs” (December 24, 1956). The setting is the FBI “identification building,” where the typists (450 working in two shifts) were at work on fingerprint information.