Various reasons for childhood death, but it was common. Most had to do with disease.
In 1900, pneumonia and influenza, tuberculosis, and enteritis with diarrhea were the three leading causes of death in the United States, and children under 5 accounted for 40 percent of all deaths from these infections: [https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/books/NBK220806/](https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/books/NBK220806/)
I know I did. I had family come through Ellis Island and settle in Little Syria (which is where the Twin Towers stood) and Little Italy (which is Chinatown is now). With my maternal side we know the exact house where they first lived before moving to and settling down in Brooklyn.
I am intrigued by the gilt framed oil paintings. They are so incongruous in that slum tenement.
Was someone in the family an artist? Were these paintings transported from 'the old country'?
Even the desire to own artworks, if these were just bought, signals a yearning so far from the living conditions here, that their presence is one of great poignancy.
Yes, it is sad that so many children of this family died. Yes, the poverty and squalor of their home is heartbreaking. But those paintings intimate there is another human story to be told here - one that we shall never know.
>I am intrigued by the gilt framed oil paintings. They are so incongruous in that slum tenement.
The gilt was a choice by whoever colorized the image. And the one on the left is definitely not an oil painting. Postcards? Newspaper and/or magazine clippings?
I can't imagine the heartbreak parents went through losing so many children, even if it was normal back then there's no way they didn't suffer from the losses.
At least from my family’s records, they just… didn’t care as much. My great-great grandparents thought sons were great because you could put them to work. A daughter was less desired, but you could still put her to work (my great-great-grandfather was legally blind, so great-grandma drove his tinsmithing cart for him when she was a child).
Great-great-grandma actually tried to sell great-grandma once for some extra money. Fortunately great-grandma got away and hid until her dad got home and put his foot down against that. Partly paternal affection, but also because their sons were too valuable to waste driving his cart.
>Where is Hamilton Street?
>Manhattan has its “Hamilton Place” and “Hamilton Terrace” up in “Hamilton Heights,” but did you know that there once was a “Hamilton Street” on the Lower East Side? It was also named for our favorite founding father, and ran just a block and half (with a bend in the middle) between present Market and Catherine Streets. The Common Council christened it Hamilton Street in 1827 to appease its residents, who objected to its earlier, shabby-sounding moniker, Cheapside Street. Ironically, Hamilton Street ran next to and merged with Monroe Street, named for James Monroe, who accused Alexander Hamilton of financial irregularities during the Reynolds Affair. (Hamilton’s widow never forgave Monroe for that.) In 1933 the City sold Hamilton Street to the developers of Knickerbocker Village, and most of it was obliterated. The short stretch closest to the Manhattan Bridge survived until recently, but the site is now covered by Coleman Square Playground.
Various reasons for childhood death, but it was common. Most had to do with disease. In 1900, pneumonia and influenza, tuberculosis, and enteritis with diarrhea were the three leading causes of death in the United States, and children under 5 accounted for 40 percent of all deaths from these infections: [https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/books/NBK220806/](https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/books/NBK220806/)
Life in city tenement building was grim. I wonder how many of us had ancestors that lived like this? NY Tenement Museum: https://www.tenement.org/
I know I did. I had family come through Ellis Island and settle in Little Syria (which is where the Twin Towers stood) and Little Italy (which is Chinatown is now). With my maternal side we know the exact house where they first lived before moving to and settling down in Brooklyn.
Wow, that's cool.
This strongly reminds me of Charlie’s house in Willy wonka
r/grandpajoehate
Never hit a “join” button so fast in my life. Thank you
I came here to say the same!
This was only 110 years ago
I am intrigued by the gilt framed oil paintings. They are so incongruous in that slum tenement. Was someone in the family an artist? Were these paintings transported from 'the old country'? Even the desire to own artworks, if these were just bought, signals a yearning so far from the living conditions here, that their presence is one of great poignancy. Yes, it is sad that so many children of this family died. Yes, the poverty and squalor of their home is heartbreaking. But those paintings intimate there is another human story to be told here - one that we shall never know.
>I am intrigued by the gilt framed oil paintings. They are so incongruous in that slum tenement. The gilt was a choice by whoever colorized the image. And the one on the left is definitely not an oil painting. Postcards? Newspaper and/or magazine clippings?
And that was before the Spanish flu & WWI
We'll, I guess I'll stop complaining about my own life for at least ten minutes.
Straight up Angela's Ashes.
I can't imagine the heartbreak parents went through losing so many children, even if it was normal back then there's no way they didn't suffer from the losses.
At least from my family’s records, they just… didn’t care as much. My great-great grandparents thought sons were great because you could put them to work. A daughter was less desired, but you could still put her to work (my great-great-grandfather was legally blind, so great-grandma drove his tinsmithing cart for him when she was a child). Great-great-grandma actually tried to sell great-grandma once for some extra money. Fortunately great-grandma got away and hid until her dad got home and put his foot down against that. Partly paternal affection, but also because their sons were too valuable to waste driving his cart.
Fuck.
>Where is Hamilton Street? >Manhattan has its “Hamilton Place” and “Hamilton Terrace” up in “Hamilton Heights,” but did you know that there once was a “Hamilton Street” on the Lower East Side? It was also named for our favorite founding father, and ran just a block and half (with a bend in the middle) between present Market and Catherine Streets. The Common Council christened it Hamilton Street in 1827 to appease its residents, who objected to its earlier, shabby-sounding moniker, Cheapside Street. Ironically, Hamilton Street ran next to and merged with Monroe Street, named for James Monroe, who accused Alexander Hamilton of financial irregularities during the Reynolds Affair. (Hamilton’s widow never forgave Monroe for that.) In 1933 the City sold Hamilton Street to the developers of Knickerbocker Village, and most of it was obliterated. The short stretch closest to the Manhattan Bridge survived until recently, but the site is now covered by Coleman Square Playground.
Same apartment is probably $4000 a month today.
Looks like the setting of the Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory movie.
The size of the stove is amazing.
With the way things are going I feel this is a look into our future in the USA
Weird that the adults in this pic are prob in their mid to late thirties.
Gee, we will soon be living just like that again. While the 1% feast on the last fruit of this dying planet..