Life after Hormel: the adventures of Eleanor & Grace
Eleanor Jones left the Hormel Girls in 1952, noting that she felt a lack of opportunities. For Eleanor, her passion was in music rather than advertising. After leaving the group, Eleanor remained busy with higher education, work, and expanding her travels abroad.
Photo from Eleanor Jones's private collection of her travels with Grace. UWEC McIntyre Library Special Collections and Archives.
“After four years of suitcases, travel, and concerts, I left sort of midstream. I began to realize there wasn’t much chance of making it in music as a woman, especially in brass.”
-Eleanor Jones, on leaving the Hormel Girls
In 1953, Eleanor attended the University of Wisconsin-Madison, where she earned a Bachelor's degree in creative writing with a minor in French. Afterwards, Eleanor accepted a job with NBC in Eau Claire, working as a copywriter for the radio and television station.
She later went on to work for the English department at the University of Wisconsin-Eau Claire, where her best friend Grace worked as a professor. Eleanor also worked for the UW-Extension office in Eau Claire, often travelling to different counties to discuss what the community could do better on while using her photography and writing in her slideshows.
Photo Eleanor snapped during her time at UWEC, showing the nursing building with graduates’ scrubs hanging in the trees, a tradition for nursing students at the time. UWEC McIntyre Library Special Collections and Archives.
The two life-long friends invested in a home in Eau Claire, and often travelled together, heading to France, Greece, Belgium, and England numerous times.
Recounting their decision to move in together, Eleanor remembers having to convince Grace, who was scared "about what people would say." But outside perceptions could not dim the strength of their strong bond, and the friends moved in together, sharing a home until Grace's passing in 2017 at the age of 97. At a 101 years old, Eleanor remains in Eau Claire and still looks back fondly at her and Grace's life-changing experiences as Hormel Girls.
Photo from Eleanor’s travels to Europe with Grace, taken in France. UWEC McIntyre Library Special Collections and Archives.