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the bad old days

Astoness

TRUE BRUMMIE MODERATOR
Staff member
this picture has bought tears to my eyes...for although we all love our history of the past i cant help but think that thank god some progress was made....


astoness

pic curtasy of carl chinns birmingham lives...
 
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hi barry... it just made me pull up and think that many of our ancestors must have been in that very sorry state....food for thought...or in their case probably not much food....

lyn
 
Keep them coming Lyn. Is that another out of the skip?. Fantastic. Not always good old days eh. Depends which side of the bed you came from. Jean.
 
When you realise that vast numbers of people were all in the same situation, it would not seem too bad at the time. It is now when we can look back and balance what we have compared to what they had that makes it seem bad.
I watched a report from Nigeria the other day and a Nigerian said that the discovery of oil there has ruined the country socially and no one has morals any longer. His words were "we were better off when we were poor"
 
Lyn, what a wonderful, but sad photo. I wonder what became of those boys? I think you are right in that many of our ancestors were probably be in the same boat as those boys. When you look back at the census information and see how many were living in 3 rooms, with very little money coming in, it is unimaginable now.

Yes Stitcher, I would imagine that the vast majority were in this situation and they probably didn't think of it as we do now.

I am just reading a book called "Shadows of the Workhouse" which although it is a true story about the East End of London, really brings home the conditions which those children and adults, who had no choice but to enter the workhouse, had to put up with. They would try to avoid going in to the workhouse at all costs.
 
thanks for all your comments on this one....

jean this is not one out of the skip for a change...lol

ive just edited that its from carl chinns birmingham lives....:)
 
Anyone know any facts about this picture...date, place, subjects etc. Is it genuine.
I don't doubt for a minute that this kind of thing was common place in those times and that the Empire builders paid little attention but is this picture the genuine article.
 
hi rupert...sorry ive got no date or location on this one which is often the case....

astoness
 
What a fascinating, if sad, picture that is. Study the boys' faces, there is a similarity in them that makes me think that there are brothers there - possibly the four on the left are siblings, likewise the three on the right. They have particularly sad expressions - surprising when they are being photographed - an event as rare to them as one of us appearing on TV. None of them look undernourished, either, despite their tattered clothes, dirty faces and feet. Is the one bottom left wearing wooden Clogs, by the way?
I'm not suggesting they are an early cast for 'Oliver', but suspect that real abandoned street urchins would have run a mile before being persuaded to stand for a posed shot by a photographer. I'd love to know the story behind this photograph.
 
Lloyd i agree with all you have said...i will try and suss out any info on this pic and get back to you if i find anything out..

lyn:)
 
I do love studying old pictures, it's like 'reading between the lines' in a book when you spot stuff like I did.
 
I keep coming back to this photo. It's a beautiful scene for all it's subject matter and zooming in on the faces one is struck by the wan look of hopelessness on them that I think would be hard for youngsters to fake. One child seems to have the mumps and all seem to be streetwise and street worn but what is the date I wonder.
 
One thing stands out to me in the photo of the boys i am 79yrs and from when i started remembering approx 4yrs of age no poor children in Birmingham wore long trousers even made over long trousers were cut short, i remember some kids going barefooted but kids do that now i had my first pair of long uns when i started work at 14yrs, i don`t think they are from Brum if they are genuine. Len.
 
Hi Lyn
Recently I've been researching my Nan's family. They came here from the East End of London and her eldest brother died at 13 of consumption in 1890. This made me research more into the living conditions and they were horrific. I can see in your pic just how most of our (my) ancestors would have looked then.:(
 
hi all...have read your posts with interest...like i said i will try and find out more about this one but i think somewhere i have photos of a similar vein which are definately the real thing...my problem is finding them out:rolleyes:....will post asap..

lyn:)
 
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