27/04/2026
Labour space wickedness
In the 1920s, working at the United States Radium Corporation was considered one of the best jobs a working-class woman could find. The pay was three times higher than the average factory wage, and the women were even listed as “artists” in local town directories. Sisters brought in sisters, and friends recruited friends.
Their task was to paint the tiny numbers and hands on watch dials using a glowing radium-based paint called Undark. To keep the brush tip razor-sharp for such precise work, the company taught them a technique known as “lip, dip, paint.” They would dip the brush in the paint, point it between their lips to form a fine tip, then carefully paint the dial — repeating the process all day, every day.
The women were repeatedly assured that the paint was completely harmless. They trusted the company. Some even painted their fingernails with it after their shifts or brushed it on their teeth so their smiles would glow in the dark at parties. At night, their clothes and skin would shine as they walked home. They thought it was magical and fun.
Meanwhile, in the same building, the male supervisors and scientists handling the radium took no chances — they wore heavy lead aprons, lead gloves, and used tongs. They never warned the women.
By the early 1920s, the workers began falling ill. Persistent toothaches led to teeth falling out, leaving behind sores that refused to heal. Soon, their jawbones started to deteriorate. In the worst cases, dentists could simply lift the entire jawbone out with their fingers. By 1927, more than 50 of these women had died.
The company knew exactly what was happening. When workers passed away, company officials pressured doctors and threatened lawsuits if they revealed the true cause of death. Some doctors were even paid to list the cause as syphilis — a deliberate attempt to ruin the women’s reputations and prevent their families from seeking justice.
Eventually, the women’s case reached the courts. It became a landmark moment that transformed American labor laws and played a key role in the eventual creation of the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA).
Right up until the end, the company continued to insist that the paint was perfectly safe.
