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My great grandmother (white) was brought to this country when she was 4 years old. She was an orphan and was "employed" by a wealthy family. Her job was to rock the cradle of the family's baby. Her daughter, born in 1908 left school at the age of seven to work and help support the family. My mother left school and started working when she was 15 because of the Depression.
You hear those stories and know you have it dead easy by comparison.
Awhile back I stumbled over something I had never heard about, orphan trains. They would take orphans from the streets of urban cities and ship them out to rural families. Some 200,000 children were sent out to the farms. In a way this was very tragic:
Life was tough then. I'm glad it's better and thankful. My grandfather left school at the age of 13, lied about his age to get a job driving a truck - he was hungry and so were his mother and infant brother. He went to school on and off through the years. He was a truck driver until his retirement at the age of 62. After he was released from the military (drafted during WWII at the age of 15) he had his age "corrected".
But I don't think anyone should be comparing those children's lives with today's union members, making $30/hr and striking because getting only 9 weeks of paid leave a year is just 'unfair and exploitive'.
Sometimes the pendulum swings way too far in the opposite direction.
The orphan trains were also used during WWII to help save some of the Jewish children. I saw the most disgusting documentary on it a couple of years ago - those now grown children complaining that they'd been used as servants, rather than being treated as beloved family members - meanwhile, millions of Jewish children that weren't 'abused' in this manner were sent to concentration camps to starve to death, be the subject of cruel and inhumane medical experiments or be gassed to death.
The orphan trains were also used during WWII to help save some of the Jewish children. I saw the most disgusting documentary on it a couple of years ago - those now grown children complaining that they'd been used as servants, rather than being treated as beloved family members - meanwhile, millions of Jewish children that weren't 'abused' in this manner were sent to concentration camps to starve to death, be the subject of cruel and inhumane medical experiments or be gassed to death.
Yeah, that's kind'a like a robbery victim complaining about being robbed when they should be thankful they weren't raped and murdered eh?
Things were different back then. It is really hard to relate to them. My grandfather and grandmother got married when she was 14 and he was 15. They raised 16 children on a farm. This family worked from sun up to sun down. My dad only went to sixth grade and worked everyday since then and he still works. He appreciated every job he ever had because it was one more dollar to something better. He hates unions and still has nothing good to say about them. Lets just say nothing i can repeat on here. My dad had me working at 10 and i think it made me a better person and instilled good work ethics in me. Kids now a days think hard work is getting to level 10 on a game.
Thanks for sharing those photos. My grandpa worked in a coal mine in PA as a little boy. He worked in factories as a teen and young adult. His dad was a coal miner and he died when my grandpa was young. To help support his family, grandpa went to work in the coal mines. It was a hard life back then. My grandpa was a hard worker his entire life.
He is an amazing man..thanks for sharing that with us
Life was tough then. I'm glad it's better and thankful. My grandfather left school at the age of 13, lied about his age to get a job driving a truck - he was hungry and so were his mother and infant brother. He went to school on and off through the years. He was a truck driver until his retirement at the age of 62. After he was released from the military (drafted during WWII at the age of 15) he had his age "corrected".
But I don't think anyone should be comparing those children's lives with today's union members, making $30/hr and striking because getting only 9 weeks of paid leave a year is just 'unfair and exploitive'.
Sometimes the pendulum swings way too far in the opposite direction.
The orphan trains were also used during WWII to help save some of the Jewish children. I saw the most disgusting documentary on it a couple of years ago - those now grown children complaining that they'd been used as servants, rather than being treated as beloved family members - meanwhile, millions of Jewish children that weren't 'abused' in this manner were sent to concentration camps to starve to death, be the subject of cruel and inhumane medical experiments or be gassed to death.
My uncle left home at 13 he had to hide. He is spanish. The story is he had gotten into a fight with a white guy and a knife pulled on him my uncle took the knife away and stabbed the guy , so the hunt was on for him..He was the oldest of my grandmas's kids, he knew if he was caught he would go to prison so thats when he fled at 13, he went into the army at 15 he served in wwii..along with his brother who was drafted..my mom was a baby when her brother left she finally met him 30 years later..
We had so many kids fighting for our country back then...thats when they had to grow up fast and become men..
I recently went to Garden City, Ks..and my Uncles were in the history museum..I was so proud
Thanks to all the brave kids who became men back then.
If kids today were paid to sit at home, play video games and watch t.v. all day, and fatten themselves on junk food, imagine how irate the "child welfare advocates" would be.
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