ABSTRACT
The Gilbreths' experience on several fronts stood them well to participate in the war effort and to profit from it. Believing that the war would escalate, they had predicted that women would have to mobilize in significant numbers to work in offices and factories as men were called to battle. Frank Gilbreth had been too busy building his construction business in his youth to become a roughrider or football player, but he wanted to believe that his strenuous life had made him the most competent of modern men. Lillian appreciated that Frank had a sense of manhood to reclaim, but his midlife crisis could not have come at a worse time. It was a mixed blessing to hear late in 1917 that Frank's persistence finally led to the military appointment he so eagerly sought. Although Frank seemed to put his illness easily out of mind, Lillian felt the weight of the world on her shoulders.
