Yesterday, Workers’ Comp Insider posted some vintage safety videos from the 1940s and 50s that were designed to teach women how to work more safely. Viewed through the eyes of today, these films are obviously condescending at best and borderline offensive at worst. But it does go to show how far we’ve come, both as a society and an industry preaching safety/loss control.

Or, as the Workers’ Comp Insider folks aptly put it:

We’re happy to note that in the ensuing years, there have been significant advances for both women and for safety!

Below, you can watch two of the videos. The first is a “United States Office of Education Training Film” that’s titled “Supervising Women Workers” and features a boss who probably isn’t but definitely reminds me of a young Jerry Stiller. The second one discusses proper hairstyles for female plant workers during WWII.

Head over to WCI to catch two other old-school, black-and-white safety lessons, one of which was produced by McGraw Hill and comes with the cringe-worthy title “The Trouble with Women.”