Marilyn McCray, author of Canning, Pickling and Freezing with Irma Harding, gave this presentation at the 2017 Red Power Round Up in Des Moines, Iowa in June 2017. In this presentation, Marilyn discusses the history of IH's marketing campaign directed toward women, with the mascot "Irma Harding," and the real women behind Irma Harding: women like Ruth Whiting, IH's Director of Home Economics, and Priscilla Cobb, who held a Master of Science degree from Iowa State University in the late 1940s! 

 

In an era when college educated women could only find work as teachers, nurses, or home economists, IH was rather progressive employing female directors to oversee the Irma Harding products. IH coined the term "femineering" to describe their policy of engineering household products such as refrigerators and freezers from the point of view of the homemaker.

 

This presentation is very informative, showcasing the International Harvester Corporation from a different perspective other than just the maker of tractors and trucks. Marilyn McCray is an authority on all things Irma Harding and has done a tremendous amount of research on the brand. For more information on Irma Harding, check out Marilyn's websites, roycreekranch.com and www.teardroptrail.com, and search for Irma Harding.