Summary

Chapter 6, titled “Ottawa, Illinois, United States of America, September 1922,” began by describing an advertisement calling young women to work at Radium Dial Company. Catherine Wolfe was one of these women, who recalled how she was taught to lip-point during her training. Charlotte Nevins and Mary Vicini were two young women who lied about their young age to earn a position dial-painting. Their instructor, Mercy Reed, took extreme measures, like eating a spoonful of paint, to prove its harmlessness. The women were even encouraged to use their extra paint for recreation. The dial-painters were well-respected around town and considered to be beautiful and fortunate “ghosts” (44). The prosperity and happiness that this job could bring was promising to the young, poor women. The start of Chapter 7, titled “Newark, New Jersey, November 1922,” was not so promising, rather it detailed the “mysterious condition” that left Irene Rudolph, Katherine...