Two men standing in front of Sunshine Waterloo factory, probably security guards (1943). Click the photo for more details.

In 1939 World War II began, and within the year the Sunshine Waterloo Company began producing materials for the war. In an account written for the Waterloo Historical Society, Howard Schnarr, a long-time employee, remembers the company manufacturing “Lewis gun swivel seats, army truck doors, large gun mount frames, airplane parts, Mosquito bomber noses, casings for smoke and piat bombs, the adapters and talk assemblies for these casings, and land mine casings.” ²² In 1938, Schnarr made 25 cents an hour working as the lead hand of the seat track assembly section. Despite the cheerful reports in the Waterloo Chronicle and the high hopes for the company, Schnarr remembers seasons of layoffs which brought the workforce down from around 100 to 50 in the spring and summer months of 1937-1938. That changed when production for the war began and the company went into overdrive, having approximately 1200 people on staff at its peak and running 24 hours a day. ²³

Employees leaving Sunshine Waterloo at end of shift (1943). Click the photo for more details.

As men left the factory and went off to war, women began taking jobs at the Sunshine Waterloo Company. They made up half of the 1200 employees at the company. Alex Pratt, another long-time employee of Sunshine Waterloo, remembers that “Sunshine could never get enough help during the war and was always under pressure by the defense department to produce more.” He often worked 13-hour shifts to keep up with demand!²⁴ As an employee perk and recruitment device, in 1942 Sunshine Waterloo offered “The Sunshine Service,” which was a shuttle bus that ran from the King and Erb Street intersection down to the plant. In the first month of operation, it had 10,000 riders!²⁵

The Sunshine Service bus, photo from monthly newsletter (1942). Click the photo for more details.

When employees arrived at the factory they found it lit with floodlights and surrounded by armed guards. They were screened, fingerprinted and required to show an identification card before beginning their shift.²⁶ The sight of women going into the plant amongst the extra security measures must have brought home the far-reaching realities of a war that was being fought thousands of miles away from the small town of Waterloo.

The Waterloo Public Library has a large collection of photos from the war years, that you can see here. These are a few highlights from the collection:

Inspection Board: Helen McDermott, Maude Vogel, Ella Holmes and Mary Gough (1943). Click the photo for more details.

Four women working on munitions (1943). Click the photo for more details.

Carl Krueger, former employee, shaking hands with A.M. Snider (1944). Click the photo for more details.

Women inspecting military vehicle doors (1943). Click the photo for more details.

Women soldering adapters for smoke bombs (1943). Click the photo for more details.

Glen Hickman and A.M. Snider by receiving stores (1943). Click the photo for more details.

The women's lunch hour (1943). Click the photo for more details.