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Breast-protector safety garb to prevent future occupational accidents among wartime women factory workers, Los Angeles, 1943Protecting the girls: the World War II Saf-T-Bra.As women took on more factory jobs during World War II, safety officials decided the female workers needed more than just eye goggles and gloves to protect them from potential injury. So, a Reading, Pennsylvania, company that manufactured safety equipment such as goggles and gas masks, Willson Products, came up with a product designed to support the war effort. The Saf-T-Bra was a plastic device that looked a bit like two hardhats taped together. The breast shields came in small, medium, or large.The woman on the right is modeling the Saf-T-Bra. The photo is from the U.S. Women’s Bureau of the National Archives. The Women’s bureau was established as part of the U.S. Department of Labor in 1920.The Bureau’s mission was to establish “standards and policies which shall promote the welfare of wage-earning women, improve their working conditions, increase their efficiency, and advance their opportunities for profitable employment.”Denise HightHistorical Photos of Women’s Stories