In this 1912 photograph, a mother and three sons, ages 5, 7 and 12, are manufacturing clothing for Campbell Kid dolls in their small apartment. Campbell Kid dolls advertised Campbell’s Soup. While middle class children of the era were attending school and had free time for play, this family resembled the pre-industrial era when the work of everyone in the household was required for survival.
This and other documentary photographs of Lewis Hine changed views on child labor in the United States.
Photograph,
Lewis Wickes Hine, Photographer. “New York Tenement Family, March 1912.” (Courtesy Library of Congress)
If I were a teacher, I could use this image to model how family life was for urban working class families the 1900’s. It would be very beneficial!
This picture would be a great tool on teaching students about photography and how it has evolved. This photo was from 1912, so you can show the students other examples on how pictures have evolved into color and so on.
This photo is a great example of child labor and how hard immigrant families had to work to make it. Even their children had to help the family! I can discuss with my students how children in the early 20th century had to give up an education to help their parents with the money.
Child labor is still used in manufacturing, but with globalization it has moved to other nations. This photo would be great to raise awareness about this problem and get my students to think where their toys (like these Campbell Kid dolls) come from.