ELLSWORTH, Maine — Faux-hawk and dad bod are terms from the 21st century that have made it into the dictionary, and that got Alissa Wetherbee thinking about one term that seems to be missing its place in history.
"We looked it up and realized 'lumberjill' wasn't in there," Wetherbee said. So she set out to change that.
The term describes a lady lumberjack and is used in titles of competitions for women all over the world. Wetherbee and her team of Axe Women Loggers of Maine take part in many of those competitions and boast championship records.
Of course anyone who has taken a ride to Trenton to see the Great Maine Lumberjack Show knows lumberjill Timber Tina.
"I think in general people know what it is," Wetherbee said of the term.
It's widely used and can be traced back to the 1940s, when the Women's Timber Corps were formed as part of the Women's Land Army.
"It started in World War I and was throughout World War II, and when all the men went away to war the woman took over," Wetherbee said. "They were farming and they were ranching, and a lot of them had to go into the woods and take over for the lumberjacks. All of the lumber they were producing went into making crates and ammo boxes and telegraph poles and stuff for the railways and airplane propellers. I mean it's crazy history."
"When you read back through the history of these ladies, a lot of them, when their job was done and the men came back to work, these women didn't get any recognition," Wetherbee said. So it seems fitting "lumberjill" should sit in the dictionary right next to "lumberjack."
"I just think it's such an important part of history that shouldn't be forgotten," Wetherbee said.
It's history that lives on today in the woods, at Maine fairs and worldwide competitions.
Weatherbee said the more people who share their history or write about lumberjills, share blogs, or tweets including the word, the more Merriam Webster is likely to acknowledge the term and put it in the dictionary.