THE LIPSTICK EFFECT In times of war, the sale of lipstick increases, because women traditionally turn to lipstick when they cut back on life’s other luxuries. Ironically, after the Second World War, machines for making ammunition shells were converted to produce metal lipstick cases.

I have photographed  with a scanner a series of these lipstick cases from the collection of the Living Museum of the West, together with their uniforms of the women who worked in the ammunition factories. The story appeals to the feminist in me,these woman fought hard for parity wages-and it does have an anti-war message .

My engagement with the collection contemporizes our history and connects it with a curiosity about the Living Museum collection.

http://maribyrnong-leader.whereilive.com.au/lifestyle/story/gloss-on-maribyrnongs-war-history/