Children of the City at Work and at Play
by David Nasaw

by Faith L. Bicknell-Brown © 2003

Wild Child Publishing.com © 2003

I've always enjoyed history, and I find it a bit disconcerting that people groan when a historical movie is made or they bypass the historical section of the library or bookstore. History is utterly fascinating; one must only look at it with the right perspective such as time travel or an adventure of the past.

What I like about history is discovering things that I never considered historical to begin with. Children of the City is a non-fiction book that really brought this concept to life. The book observes children in the big cities of Eastern America at the turn of the century. Children worked, lived, ate, played, battled, and thrived in the cities' streets. Working from dusk to dawn was the only way for immigrant families to survive. Apartments were packed with ten, sometimes as many as twenty-five people, all sleeping and eating in shifts. Kids were in the way, so they turned to the streets.

The children of the early 1900's sold newspapers, chewing, gum, flowers, and anything else they could get their hands on to turn a profit. They kept half their profits, telling parents that they were turning all their wages over to help out with the family finances. However, the first chance that presented itself had them spending their earnings at nickelodeons and the corner candy store. Children scavenged in the streets, dumps, & railroad yards too. Often, they would cart their finds back into the streets re-selling brick, wood, and coal. They weren't averse to hopping train cars and lifting whatever wasn't nailed down either, but when survival was at stake, they felt that thievery was the lesser of evils in comparison to their baby brother starving.

One of the true joys of this book is discovering the celebrities that grew up in NYC. George Burns, Milton Burle, and the Marx Brothers are just a smidgeon of the famous people who grew up in the streets hocking their wares. They relate how they avoided gangs bent on revenge for daring to snatch bricks from "their" empty lots. They played various games such as stickball and craps, fighting the police who would steal their winnings. Dodging truant and child welfare officers was often a game too, and even if two kids were mortal gang enemies, both knew the "evils" of the various officers and would give the friendly heads-up.

Nasaw's book is a true joy to read. Hilarious anecdotes and eye-opening accounts of the harsh realities of city life are amazing; however, the children who grew up in big cities are also the ones who founded entertainment and government as we know it today. Read Children of the City and learn about a unique part of history.