I would submit it had much more to do with how fast they were required to work instead of skill.
There were Federal price controls during part of the boom, the only way to compensate was to really increase production.
Howard Darr
Clymer PA USA
<classicrendezvous-bounces@bikelist.org>; "Tam Pham" <terminaut@gmail.com>; <classicrendezvous@bikelist.org> Sent: Wednesday, August 15, 2007 9:26 AM Subject: Re: [CR]Early Paramount Cranks
> As anyone who has repainted or even inspected a bike boom paramount will
> tell you, Wanda and lucile did not do even average work. I love the bikes,
> but the brazing could have been done by someone who has built just a few
> frames. One recent example I have seen had one of the curlies on the
> nervex crown brazed off one side. I really like Paramounts but the romance
> for me has long been over.
> Jonathan Greene
> Oviedo fl
> Sent via BlackBerry by AT&T
>
> -----Original Message-----
> From: Jerome & Elizabeth Moos <jerrymoos@sbcglobal.net>
>
> Date: Tue, 14 Aug 2007 21:20:44
> To:Tam Pham <terminaut@gmail.com>, classicrendezvous@bikelist.org
> Subject: Re: [CR]Early Paramount Cranks
>
>
> It is interesting that the brazing operation is almost entirely women,
> while the other departments shown are almost entirely men. Schwinn
> apparently found that women were quite adept at brazing, as they continued
> to employ them brazing Paramounts after the war. It's fairly well
> established women have finer control for manual tasks due to differences
> in the wrist structure. This evidently has some application to brazing,
> although a number of male framebuilders seem to have done OK at brazing,
> despite this disadvantage.
>
> Wars, despite their many tragedies, do tend to be catalysts for social
> change, and some of these changes are for the better. Not sufficient
> reason to start wars, but at least some consolation.
>
> Regards,.
>
> Jerry Moos
> Big Spring, TX
>
>
>
>
> Tam Pham <terminaut@gmail.com> wrote:
> I've uploaded some photos on to my site of the Schwinn factory operations
> from 1945. The album can be viewed here:
>
> http://chainedrevolution.com/
>
> Here's a direct link to a large version of the frame building area, which
> looks to be mostly women:
>
> http://chainedrevolution.com/
>
> Tam Pham
> Huntington Beach, CA - USA
>
>
> On 8/14/07, Tam Pham wrote:
>>
>> On 8/9/07, Tom Sanders wrote:
>> >
>> > Did they build them in house, or were they built by another
>> > manufacturer?
>>
>>
>> I had forgotten that I have a book put out by Schwinn to commemorate
>> their
>> 50th anniversary, "50 Years of Schwinn Built Bicycles", which was
>> originally published in 1945. In one of the pages with photos of
>> Paramount
>> cranks and various other parts, the text says "Arnold, Schwinn, & Company
>> is
>> today the only manufacturer of fine, precision-built cycle parts in
>> America". With that claim I am inclined to believe that they manufactured
>> the cranks themselves.
>>
>> What's even more interesting is that there are a bunch of photos from
>> inside the factory and I was surprised to see that the had their own tube
>> milling machinery. I'll get scans of the photos posted later this eve,
>> including a noteworthy one showing the framebuilding area full of women
>> building (non-Paramount) frames!
>>
>> Tam Pham
>> Huntington Beach, CA - USA