The Radium Girls by Kate Moore is the last book that I read in 2020, and it was wonderful. I had heard a lot about this book for a while and I’m glad that I finally had the chance to read it.
The Radium Girls covers the stories of the young women who worked as dial painters in the early 1900’s, using radium to paint glowing watch faces without any protective equipment.
“Radium was a wonder element. Everyone knew that. Kathrine had read all about it in magazines and newspapers, which were always full of advertisements for new radium products. At the turn of the century, scientists had discovered that radium could destroy human tissue. After that, it had quickly been used to treat cancerous tumors, with remarkable results. It saved lives. People therefore assumed it must be healthful.”
“Her very first task that morning was to learn the technique that all new dial-painters were taught. Katherine carefully picked up the finely bristled, camel-hair paintbrush she was given. She saw that the smallest pocket watch the girls had to paint measured only three and a half centimeters across. The tiniest element to be painted on the watch was jut a single millimeter in width. Yet the girls would be fired if they painted outside the lines. So even though their paintbrushes were thin, the girls had to make the brushes even finer.
“There was only one way they knew of to do that. They put the brushes in their mouths.
“It was a technique called lip-pointing. Katherine had to suck on the brush to make it taper to a point. Following the company’s instructions, Katherine put the brush to her lips, dipped it in the radium, and painted the dials. It was a “lip, dip, paint routine.” All the girls did it that way – they lipped and dipped and painted all day long.”
Even after there was considerable evidence showing that radium was dangerous, even in small amounts, the factories where the Radium Girls worked withheld information and all of the dial painters went along, pointing their paintbrushes in their mouths.
“The girls themselves had no clue any precautions might be needed. To them – to most people – the effects of radium were all positive. That was what it said in the newspapers and magazines and on the product packaging. The dial-painters thought themselves lucky to be so close to it.”
This one instance was the only time that anyone told any of the dial painters not to point their brushes in their mouths.
“She was at her desk as usual that day, lipping and dipping her brush, as were all the other girls. As von Sochoky passed by, he suddenly stopped and looked straight at her – and at what she was doing, as though seeing her actions for the very first time.
“Grace glanced up at him. He was a memorable-looking man, with a big nose and ears that stuck out. Conscious of the pace of work around her, she bent again to her task and slipped the brush between her lips.
“Do not do that,” von Sochocky said.
“Grace looked up, perplexed. This was how you did the job. It was how all the girls did it.
“Do not do that,” he said again. “You will get sick.” And then he was on his way.”
The book follows the dial-painters from two different factories, the deadly health problems they experienced after radium exposure, and the legal battles they had when they tried to sue their former employers. It’s a worthwhile read – really engaging and fast paced.