R.I.P. Rosalie Kunert, the inspiration behind Rosie the Riveter.

ROSALIE KUNERT "ROSIE THE RIVETER" Age 86 of Burbank, Rosie passed on June 28th. - she was the woman initially approached by the ad men from J. Walter Thompson

She was initially singled out for her tall, statuesque appearance and bright auburn hair tied back in her polka-dot head scarf. They asked her to consider appearing in a promotional film about the war effort at home but she modestly declined not wanting to be singled out from the others. Regardless, the name was still officially coined.

The War Advertising Council's Women in War Jobs campaign is the most successful advertising recruitment campaign in American history. You've seen the world famous image based on the idea of Rosie (though modelled by Geraldine Doyle), the woman rolling up her sleeve proclaiming "we can do it" has graced everything from postage stamps to the cover of Smithsonian magazine. In wartime it helped recruit more than two million women into the workforce. The force of Rosie the riveter became a cultural icon, the subject of documentaries, a feminist symbol, the action figure doll. All women in the workforce we're "Rosie" during the war, Life magazine shows the many faces of Rosies, even a young Marilyn Monroe was a Rosie the Riveter.

And to think, it all began when someone saw Rosalie Kunert in her polka dotted scarf at the Lockheed Airplane Factory in Burbank.