Childhood Then and Now

Combing through the family archives my siblings entrusted me with, I've found some nuggets. I'm sharing snippets with my middle granddaughter. She has an interest in history, and thinks our family's past is pretty crazy. She's not wrong.

I sent her one last week from my great-grandfather's 1931 journal. 

"Kenneth drove down and Pirate drove back. They are both good drivers. Kenneth is 14 Pirate 12."

These kids drove a car from Willow Lake, South Dakota, to Huron - a distance of almost 50 miles. Apparently this was legal in 1931. Granted, their uncle was in the car. But 12? I still haven't figured out who "Pirate" is, or how he fits into the family tree. 

My granddaughter's response to this blast from the past? "Dude you just know if someone tried that today CPS would step in so quick."

Child Protective Services. I doubt they had that agency in rural areas over 90 years ago. I was amused by my granddaughter's response. As a college student, she's not in a rush to jump into adult roles, although she did get her driver's license as soon as legally possible. 

It was a different world in 1931. The automobile was coming into common use, right alongside the horse and buggy in remote rural areas of the Great Plains. Right on the cusp of huge changes. The Good Old Days: better in some ways. Far worse in others. 

Wait until I share with her some of the child labor violations occurring on 1930s farms...

---