For International Women’s Day: the story of the conductorettes

March 8, 2011

For International Women’s Day: the story of the conductorettes

March 8, 2011

A group of conductorettes after finishing a training course in the 1940s. They were at first issued skirts as part of their uniform, but this image shows the transition to pants. Skirts were difficult to manage when climbing the trolley to reset the poles! Photo courtesy of the Coast Mountain Bus Company Archives. — A group of 33 conductorettes posing in front of the 16th Avenue streetcar at Prior Street barns in 1944. They were at first issued skirts as part of their uniform, but this image shows the transition to pants. Skirts were difficult to manage when climbing the trolley to reset the poles! Photo courtesy of the Coast Mountain Bus Company Archives. Click for a larger version.

As today is International Women’s Day, celebrating the many achievements of women, I thought I’d point you over to this 2009 Buzzer post about the conductorettes: the first women to drive transit in the Lower Mainland!

Make sure you listen to the audio interviews with three conductorettes in that post—it’s fantastic to hear about their experience in their own words :)