Last Updated on September 9, 2025 by Matt Staff
In the early 1900s, factories were seen as symbols of growth and innovation, but for the workers inside them, the reality was anything but hopeful. Long shifts, poor air quality, and constant exposure to unsafe machinery were part of everyday life. Many of the laborers were women and children, forced to work to help support their families.
Each image reflects the toll that factory labor took on the human body and spirit, highlighting the conditions that eventually led to labor reform. Let’s dive into 20 photos that show the harsh reality of factory life in the 1900s.
1. A 10-year-old spinner gazes out of the cotton mill she’s been working at for over a year, 1908
2. Children working as oyster shuckers at the Maggioni Canning Factory in South Carolina, 1912
3. Clock makers being exposed to dangerous levels of Radium, 1922
4. Sardine cutters from the Seacost Canning Co., ages ranging from 7 to 12
5. Assembling the motor for a B-25 bomber in the North American Aircraft Factory, 1942
6. Workers assembling cameras at the Kodak Factory, 1955
7. Factory workers of General Electric’s massive appliance factory assembling refrigerators, early 1950s
8. Working in an Asbestos factory, 1940s
9. Cupping and dipping Reese’s peanut butter cups by hand at the H.B. Reese Candy Company Factory, 1935
10. A wartime factory worker assembling a gun during WWII
11. Textile factory workers in Fall River, MA, 1920s
12. A look inside the Detroit Automobile Factory, 1950s
13. A worker and a supervisor having a heated dispute at a factory in Moscow, 1950s
14. The best job in the factory, a “Reader” would read books as workers worked to boost morale, 1933
15. Inside the original Harley-Davidson Motorcycle Factory, 1924
16. A look inside a Soviet electronics factory in the ’60s
17. Women working in a cotton mill in Lancashire, 1908
18. Munitions workers guide 6-inch howitzer shells as they’re lowered to the floor, 1917
19. Children employed by the Alabama Canning Company as oyster shuckers, 1911
20. Not a smile in sight as workers bottle Coke at the Coca-Cola factory in Texas, early 1940s
Want to see more content from the 1900s?
Check out 20 Vintage Photos Of Paperboys In The 1900s, or take a look at 20 Colorized Photos Of Steelworkers and Miners in the Early 1900s. Finally, if you want to see colorized photos of aviators from the 1900s, check out 19 Colorized Photos Of Aviators (1900s).
