Sadie Pfeifer, 48 inches high, has worked half a year. One of the many small children at work in Lancaster Cotton Mills. Nov. 30, 1908. Location: Lancaster, South Carolina. / L.W. [Hine] (1024×732)
i am not sure that It was by their own will, or it was forced by someone.
MissGingerMinge
to those like me who have never know anyone’s height referred to just in inches, she’s four feet tall.
mrHakuro
I bet the rich argued that ending child labour would somehow collapse the economy.
KimmyCeeAhh
Most of the time, it was considered a necessity. Poor folks usually worked in textile mills. The older children went to work as soon as they could to help keep the family afloat. My grandmother went to school long enough to learn the basics of reading & writing, then quit to work in the cotton fields until she was old enough to work in the mill. I remember finding one of her old pay stubs when I was a kid. The mill took most of the money for housing, groceries, & misc incidentals. There wasn’t much left over, but this was common within the textile villages. By the way, the child in the photo is standing next to a spinning frame. It was a pretty scary machine for me to work on when I was sixteen. I can’t imagine trying to work on one at such a young age.
uncleleo_
Wow I could you imagine being that age having to go to work so you can buy food for your family. Now we have the luxury to make fad diets and complain when our phones did. The world is very different now we just don’t realize how lucky we can be
Orpheus-is-a-Lyre
They gave the most dangerous jobs to the littlest children. They had to run between moving parts inside the mechanism to collect cotton debris. The littlest ones could fit, but even then they had to run back and forth bent over double for hours on end. Missing fingers and limbs were common.
Good_Human_1
i am not sure that It was by their own will, or it was forced by someone.
MissGingerMinge
to those like me who have never know anyone’s height referred to just in inches, she’s four feet tall.
mrHakuro
I bet the rich argued that ending child labour would somehow collapse the economy.
KimmyCeeAhh
Most of the time, it was considered a necessity. Poor folks usually worked in textile mills. The older children went to work as soon as they could to help keep the family afloat. My grandmother went to school long enough to learn the basics of reading & writing, then quit to work in the cotton fields until she was old enough to work in the mill. I remember finding one of her old pay stubs when I was a kid. The mill took most of the money for housing, groceries, & misc incidentals. There wasn’t much left over, but this was common within the textile villages. By the way, the child in the photo is standing next to a spinning frame. It was a pretty scary machine for me to work on when I was sixteen. I can’t imagine trying to work on one at such a young age.
uncleleo_
Wow I could you imagine being that age having to go to work so you can buy food for your family. Now we have the luxury to make fad diets and complain when our phones did. The world is very different now we just don’t realize how lucky we can be
Orpheus-is-a-Lyre
They gave the most dangerous jobs to the littlest children. They had to run between moving parts inside the mechanism to collect cotton debris. The littlest ones could fit, but even then they had to run back and forth bent over double for hours on end. Missing fingers and limbs were common.
Source: watched a documentary about it.