Contrariwise Rambling blog has a scan of an excerpt of the July 1943 issue of Transportation Magazine on how to hire women, as written for male supervisors of women in the work force during WWII.
For example:
1. Pick young married women. They usually have more of a sense of responsibility than their unmarried sisters, they're less likely to be flirtatious, they need the work or they wouldn't be doing it, they still have the pep and interest to work hard and to deal with the public efficiently.
2. When you have to use older women, try to get ones who have worked outside the home at some time in their lives. Older women who have never contacted the public have a hard time adapting themselves and are inclined to be cantankerous and fussy. It's always well to impress upon older women the importance of friendliness and courtesy.
3. General experience indicates that "husky" girls - those who are just a little on the heavy side - are more even tempered and efficient than their underweight sisters.
Read the rest at Contrariwise: Link - Thanks Anne M. Gill!
Especially older ones who have worked outside the home at some time in their lives...;)
These chicks?
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=B0KN4TfS5c8
***warning - classic art nudeitivity, so if you work for drunken weasels, might be considered NSFW***
Hells yeah! Queen hit it right on the mark.
I'm sure they had the same type of rules for men - married ones being more reliable, huskier ones stronger than skinny ones, younger ones more adaptable than older, etc...
We still go by some of these ideas today. Some of the other ones in the link are a little wild, but you're talking 60 years ago. They're still progressive in comparison with many other cultures' attitudes towards women. At least women were allowed to show their faces.