Mary, an assembly worker at the Atwater Kent Radio factory in Philadelphia, was nineteen at the time this photo was taken. You might be suprised to learn the photo was taken in 1925, using a glass plate negative. It would appear that she could afford to own a watch and seems to have been engaged. The photo was posted on a message board devoted to the restoration of vintage radio equipment. Someone found it on a website called "Shorpy" that hosts old photographs of life in the USA during the last 100 years and more.
Yes, it surprised me too. Here's more photos from the radio factory. Atwater Kent was the biggest manufacturer of radios in the USA in the twenties. It was a huge place. But the depression reduced sales of his well made sets and cheaper makes started flooding the market. He started making smaller sets but wouldn't compromise on quality. Sales continued to fall and he closed his factory in 1936. http://historyinphotos.blogspot.com/2013/05/atwater-kent-radio-factory.html
Interesting I've got a pic developed from a negative that was found under the lino when my family moved out of the house where my Dad and Brother were born.... On the left is my Grandad Herbert, he was born in 1901. Not sure who the lad is, probably an uncle. Great Grandma was called Alice and Great Grandad was called Thomas. The little lad was my Dad, also called Tom He was born in 1926. Here he is again a bit later in Palestine in 1946 guarding an Opuntia
I'm impressed by the high rise buildings built in the early 1900s. This it the Civic Hall in Philadephia built in 1905. https://www.shorpy.com/node/25623?size=_original#caption To give you an idea of the height. This is the statue of William Penn on the top of it, before it went up. It weighs 26 tons. (It was in 47 pieces).
