Some old Photos for your enjoyment
- Thread starter JWFilips
- Start date
Child labor in the past was no joke. Cheap help and people needed the money, and bad.
Different dynamic too. Whatever it took to keep the family going. Boys were expected to behave like men when the family needed them.
Poverty then was far more real than poverty today.
Different dynamic too. Whatever it took to keep the family going. Boys were expected to behave like men when the family needed them.
Poverty then was far more real than poverty today.
JWFilips
Well-Known Member
Yes this is true. My Dad had to drop out of school in the 3rd grade to work in the mine!
Bret4207
At the casting bench in the sky. RIP Bret.
It's very,very common here to see Amish kids of 10-11 years old driving a team and working. More common yet to see them in the garden weeding or in the shop helping Dad. It's not that kids can't do the work, it's that we don't ask them to, much less expect them to for the most part. There are still a few boys in this area that work on farms, my son being one. It's hard, sweaty part time work and they seem to love it. I'm not going to fight that! A 14-16 year old boy around us is a prime target for summer help. But, there are parents that refuse to have their kid work at all. That's just crazy IMO.
Pistolero
Well-Known Member
I look back on the summers I spent doing farm work as time well spent. I learned about tractors, farming
and heavy equipment, got in shape (or die!) and earned a little money towards college. I'd sure rather had
a higher paying and easier job, if you had offered it at the time, but looking back, I am really glad of
those summer jobs. Learned some maturity, and some about people. Made some mistakes, and had
some good learning, too.
Where else does a kid get to drive a truck or a tractor, and actually do stuff that, if done seriously wrong,
can cost you fingers, an arm or a leg, or even your life? And if you have half a brain, you figure it out pretty
quickly and start keeping your head out of your butt a whole lot more. The ones that didn't are called "Lefty".
There was a farm near us where a kid turned over a tractor and was killed. You can bet that when that story
was told and retold, we paid the hell attention, and asked about what he did wrong, and I know I made
a mental note that driving a tractor across a steep slope was NOT something I was ever going to do.
Bill
and heavy equipment, got in shape (or die!) and earned a little money towards college. I'd sure rather had
a higher paying and easier job, if you had offered it at the time, but looking back, I am really glad of
those summer jobs. Learned some maturity, and some about people. Made some mistakes, and had
some good learning, too.
Where else does a kid get to drive a truck or a tractor, and actually do stuff that, if done seriously wrong,
can cost you fingers, an arm or a leg, or even your life? And if you have half a brain, you figure it out pretty
quickly and start keeping your head out of your butt a whole lot more. The ones that didn't are called "Lefty".
There was a farm near us where a kid turned over a tractor and was killed. You can bet that when that story
was told and retold, we paid the hell attention, and asked about what he did wrong, and I know I made
a mental note that driving a tractor across a steep slope was NOT something I was ever going to do.
Bill
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Bret4207
At the casting bench in the sky. RIP Bret.
Challenges promote character building and thinking IMO. I don't think sports or computer games provide any real challenges when there are either rules that create an artificial environment or it's artificial to start with. Farm, shop or demolition type work, all "boys" jobs, provide some real life, no rules challenges. Most of the failures are little ones- "You missed half a row there!", "I said the post has to go over here, not there! Dig another hole!", "Look out when you pull that brace!............told you so!" Mistakes make for judgement based on real life decisions. I don't see anything bad in that.
I'll tell you the one thing I wish I had not been exposed to in my early working life- whiners and complainers! Soon as the bosses back was turned it started and it was vicious. I was dumb enough to pay attention to grown men who should have known better that whined like little kids about the job, whatever it was! It took me many years and several jobs before I realized what a bad effect it had on everyone working around people like that. Sometimes there is legitimate cause for not being real happy with a boss, most of the time it's just people whining about something for the sake of hearing themselves talk. Funny thing was that most of the real whiners would have lost their whole head up the bosses backside if he'd stopped quick! Whining butt kissers! Hate 'em!
I'll tell you the one thing I wish I had not been exposed to in my early working life- whiners and complainers! Soon as the bosses back was turned it started and it was vicious. I was dumb enough to pay attention to grown men who should have known better that whined like little kids about the job, whatever it was! It took me many years and several jobs before I realized what a bad effect it had on everyone working around people like that. Sometimes there is legitimate cause for not being real happy with a boss, most of the time it's just people whining about something for the sake of hearing themselves talk. Funny thing was that most of the real whiners would have lost their whole head up the bosses backside if he'd stopped quick! Whining butt kissers! Hate 'em!
462
California's Central Coast Amid The Insanity
Bret,
Not to eliminate a multitude of other factors, but as many of us so well know, when it comes to young males, the military has a long history of turning them into mature men who are much more apt to become productive members of society than their counterparts.
I truly believe that the elimination of the draft has had a detrimental effect on post-'70s American males, and, therefore, society as a whole. Too, the seemingly increase in the number of absent fathers is not to be overlooked.
Not to eliminate a multitude of other factors, but as many of us so well know, when it comes to young males, the military has a long history of turning them into mature men who are much more apt to become productive members of society than their counterparts.
I truly believe that the elimination of the draft has had a detrimental effect on post-'70s American males, and, therefore, society as a whole. Too, the seemingly increase in the number of absent fathers is not to be overlooked.
Bret4207
At the casting bench in the sky. RIP Bret.
Why do the father's not stick around? Because they weren't much in the way of being men to start with. It all goes back to character and integrity. You make a promise to her, it's a vow, it's supposed to mean something. I'm under no illusions that it's always going to work or that things will go smoothly, but come on! Look around to day, it's sad!
RBHarter
West Central AR
I live about 100 miles due east of there now . No signs of any mining anything across most of this country but gravel now . The slate and shale is all oily but not enough to get anything .
Lotta folks wouldn't last to long doing the work that even whippersnapper like me did as a teen . I had a regular 7 day a week 1-2 hour 2x/day job to do from the time I was 10 and a little bit . I'm all of 54 .........
Technology has made a lot of jobs virtually obsolete , I worked briefly for a nut packing plant that had sorting machines that used light/dark readers , very effective for pistachios , that will sort 500#/hr with one tender for 2 lines . The results are 3 shoots after a ride through a shaker to eject the empty hulls , shells , shelled ,and shell on . I would imagine the modern coal mine has something similar . 1 or 2 maybe 5 tenders vs a dozen maybe 20 pickers .
I'm amazed at how many people just don't seem to be able to work with me and I gotta be real honest I don't work but about 2/3 as hard as my Dad did 30 yr ago and probably only half of what his Dad did 50 or so years ago .
If it weren’t for working smarter this forum wouldn’t exist. The free time wouldn’t the there for such frivolous activities.
Bret4207
At the casting bench in the sky. RIP Bret.
Those big parades occurred at a time when a parade or any public spectical was pretty rare. There was no tv, radio or "something to do" every minute of the day. You worked, you read if you could read and talked to your family and neighbors. Outside of that you could drink or play cards. Sports didn't even have much presence and the town bandstand might actually get used once a month. Read the old papers, it's all there. Plays and musicals were the movies of the day. It's no wonder a parade was big deal.
JWFilips
Well-Known Member
Again for Labor Day! Shorpy himself! Shorpy.com
December 1910. "Shorpy Higginbotham, a 'greaser' on the tipple at Bessie Mine, of the Sloss-Sheffield Steel and Iron Co. in Alabama. Said he was 14 years old, but it is doubtful. Carries two heavy pails of grease, and is often in danger of being run over by the coal cars." Photograph and caption by Lewis Wickes Hine.
December 1910. "Shorpy Higginbotham, a 'greaser' on the tipple at Bessie Mine, of the Sloss-Sheffield Steel and Iron Co. in Alabama. Said he was 14 years old, but it is doubtful. Carries two heavy pails of grease, and is often in danger of being run over by the coal cars." Photograph and caption by Lewis Wickes Hine.
Pistolero
Well-Known Member
He could be 14, lots of folks didn't get much food in those days, grew up real scrawny.
One of the common threads, read again and again, about young men signing up for the Army, Navy or
Marines in WW2 was that they were below the minimum weight, had to go jam down milkshakes for
two days straight to make the weight minimum. Getting enough food was difficult.
And today our "poor" are obese. IMO, not really any poor in America any more, at least that these
folks in these photos would imagine as anything but rich.
One of the common threads, read again and again, about young men signing up for the Army, Navy or
Marines in WW2 was that they were below the minimum weight, had to go jam down milkshakes for
two days straight to make the weight minimum. Getting enough food was difficult.
And today our "poor" are obese. IMO, not really any poor in America any more, at least that these
folks in these photos would imagine as anything but rich.
Bret4207
At the casting bench in the sky. RIP Bret.
It wasn't that long ago that people could get jobs sort of like the one in the last picture. I knew a guy who'd been a Trooper for a couple months back in the late 50's/early 60's. Got drunk (off duty), crashed a car, got all bunged up. He ended up being a "greaser" for a construction firm. That's all he did- greased equipment. He could barely walk half the time, but he had a job. Those days are gone.
RBHarter
West Central AR
Last place I was long term I couldn't get a bid in job position changing oil in lawnmowers with a DOT mechanics license .........
Jack o trades now . Went in to set up temp power yesterday for the new buffet thing and spent 2 hr on a sewer router . Biggest thing here seems to be getting people to show up every day and keep some idea of what they are supposed to be doing .
Jack o trades now . Went in to set up temp power yesterday for the new buffet thing and spent 2 hr on a sewer router . Biggest thing here seems to be getting people to show up every day and keep some idea of what they are supposed to be doing .