JPK Huson 1863
Brev. Brig. Gen'l
- Joined
- Feb 14, 2012
- Location
- Central Pennsylvania
A wonderful photo ( ebay ), a small boy whose patriotic mother made him a tiny, military inspired outfit, a gifted drum and dear little be-ribboned hat make us 'sigh', how cute. There are several horrifying aspects to this photo- war is blood and death and suffering and mindless horror, not make-believe dress up- we 'sigh' anyway. And we only have images of our ancestors whose childhood was safe from want to 'sigh' over.
Not a long thread- but a reminder and an important one. Our image of " Victorian Christmas ", added to, eras mixed, co-mingled, inexact and wildly inaccurate in spots can indeed be delightful. ' It ' was probably not exactly how we imagine- there's a kinda lace-edged, rose-petaled, pine scented, faded Santa suit nostalgia permeating ' then '. Less commercial, more religious, much more family oriented- and we gloss over the crazy disparity which existed between rich and poor 100% of the time. Well, it was ugly, why ruin Christmas?
One of our papers complaining about the awful child labor practices in the UK.
Would like us to remember the photos we have were comparatively expensive for a household. Not out of sight; you sure did not own photographs at the expense of eating. Or wearing clothing. More well-heeled members of population tend to represented, not the majority- so it's a little mistaken on our part to assume all these charming, ringletted toddlers had the same experiences.
First ' overhaul' had to do with education- and created a huge uproar. 1868, I think.
Child labor laws were not passed in the US until NINETEEN THIRTY SIX. Then you had to make them stick.
America looked down its nose, in the press at England's barbaric laws but we'd throw a kid into juvenile detention ( in those days ' jail ' ) and work him, as in work, to pay his ' fines '. Labor. As in 9 years old or 8- who knows what ages may be on he books?
Child labor inside the court system was indeed ( thankfully ) fought- it was thought shocking. Took decades to eradicate. We just have no photos of what occurred. It was far, far to ugly.
'Our ' era, during the war, immigrants populations were especially vulnerable. Heck, LoC contains photos from oyster canning warehouses where this ' tradition ', laid down in the mid to late 1800's continued into the 1930's and 40's- a mother shucking oysters, her small daughter working next to her. Been at it awhile.
The day after Christmas, we really, really should remember. Please. Like I said, short thread, no intention of arguing the point. It's a reminder amidst out slightly erroneous view of the 1860's, our ancestors and their Christmas. And these poor kids vanished into Time.