kidsatwork

A Finnish boy who is said to have worked at the Castle Gate Mine at the turn of the 20th century. He carried explosives, searched for "bad air," and cleaned animal dung and loose coal from entries.
Courtesy Carbon Co. Historical Society

In 1912, 11 percent of Utah boys age 10 to 15 worked for wages, earning an average of $3.70 a week. Fewer girls worked, but some hired out to do jobs like housework, washing, or factory work.

Many Utah children worked on farms, of course, but in the city they could get jobs as newsboys, messenger boys, office boys, or boot blacks. Other children worked in stores, for printing presses, or for factories that made boxes, candy, or bottled food-earning far less than adults would.

Poverty was the largest single reason children went to work. In many families, parents saw their children as a source of income and sent them to work as soon as they could. A national study found that 30 percent of all children who had jobs went to work out of necessity. Another 28 percent went to work because their family wanted-though didn't absolutely need-the extra money. Some children worked simply because they didn't want to be in school.

In 1903 a 12-year-old boy working at ZCMI's millinery (hat) department fell off a ladder, hit his head, and died. His family was already very poor, because his small salary was all they had since the death of the father. The mother asked ZCMI for $2,000 to make up for the loss of his income. They gave her $1,000.

In 1906 Hazel Youngberg wrote a master's thesis at the University of Utah and interviewed children whose parents had forced them to work. One, a 13-year-old named Edward, worked in a printing office for four months before the truant officer found out about him. Edward, his mother, her husband, and the other children had been living on his weekly salary of four dollars. The mother complained that they would be "utterly destitute" if her son could not work.

One 10-year-old newsboy stole bottles and junk to support his father's alcohol habit. Another, age 13, earned three dollars a week working in a barn. His family did not have a home and was living in a nearby field.

A 12-year-old boy had to get a work permit to sell fruit, candy, and popcorn at theaters because his stepfather refused to support him.

No wonder that people who cared about children worked to end child labor! During the first decades of the 20th century, activists helped get laws passed that kept most children in school and out of the labor force.

Taken largely from "Protect the Children: Child Labor in Utah, 1880-1920," by Martha S. Bradley, in Utah Historical Quarterly 59 (1991).

JUMP INTO A PHOTO

This photograph was taken at the Labor Day parade in 1907. Look at it closely.

What do you notice? The small sign says, "Troubles, the Boot Blacks Mascot. He's beter than a scab."
Who are these boys?
What words do you need to know in order to understand what’s going on here?*
How old do you think the boys are?
How old would they be today—if they were alive?
Look at the boys’ clothes. How many clothing styles do you see? Why do you think they are so different?
These kids are working to earn money. What reasons could they have to earn money? Would they all have the same reason?
As you look at their faces, what do you imagine about their lives?
In what ways could their lives be like yours?
In what ways could they be different?
Pick a boy in the photograph and make up a story about him. Tell it or write it down.
How could you find out more facts about children who lived, played, and worked a century or more ago?

*See if you can match the word to its right definition. (If you get stumped, remember these are real words you can find in the dictionary!)

1. Labor union	a. A worker who refuses to cooperate with the labor union
2. Scab	b. A person who shines shoes
3. Mascot	c. An organization of workers who are trying to get better pay and working conditions
4. Boot black	d. An animal adopted by a group to be their symbol

Note: This photo came from the collections of the Utah State Historical Society. To see a lot of other cool photos, visit history.utah.gov. Or come visit us at the Rio Grande Depot in Salt Lake City.

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