Mild mannered Millicent Ferguson fancied herself a Rosie the Riveter.

Every day hundreds of housewives like herself were answering Uncle Sam’s call, marching off to factories, offices and defense plants to take over the jobs left by the boys who were off to do battle overseas.

But Millicent’s husband wouldn’t hear of it.

Frank Ferguson put his foot down. No wife of his was getting a job, no siree! Millie begged, she pleaded, she cajoled, but to no avail. Frank stood firm.

Yes, there was another battle brewing right in America’s living room. For every Rosie, there were thousands like poor Millicent whose husbands strenuously objected to their getting a wartime job. A woman’s place was clearly in the home.

Lucky for them, Kleenex came to their rescue.

One day while flipping through an issue of Woman’s Home Companion Millie stumbled across an advertisement for Kleenex tissues that offered a solution to her vexing problem.

The ad was directed squarely to those WWII patriotic housewives who yearned to work outside the home and do their bit for their country, but encountered resistance at home.

Entitled “What to tell your husband if he objects to  your getting a war time job” it supplied the beleaguered homemaker with snappy answers to their husbands protests

Vintage Ad Kleenex 1944 WWII Women and war work

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