The Atlas Obscura Podcast A Blue-Green Glow in Orange, New Jersey
Dec 1, 2025
In the 1920s, young women in Orange, New Jersey, became known as 'ghost girls' due to their skin glowing from radium-based paint. They painted watch dials, believing radium was safe—or even healthy—only to suffer severe health consequences later. Investigation revealed alarming symptoms like bone damage and anemia. Despite lawsuits and settlements, the company denied negligence. The podcast discusses the legacy of these women, the lack of memorialization, and the lasting impact on public health regulations.
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The Glowing Factory Workers
- Young women in Orange, New Jersey painted watch dials with radium-based paint and lip-pointed brushes between numbers.
- They sometimes painted their nails and faces with the luminous paint, treating it like a perk.
Why The Glow Was Blue-Green
- Radium itself doesn't glow; it excites zinc sulfide to produce the familiar blue-green luminescence.
- That color still influences modern digital clock displays, minus the radioactivity.
Radium’s Bone-Deceptive Toxicity
- Radium mimics calcium and accumulates in bones, where its radioactivity kills marrow and weakens bone structure.
- This explains symptoms like fatigue, anemia, and spontaneous bone fractures among the workers.
