Children in the nineteenth century faced tremendous physical hazards that are almost unimaginable in today's world. Long before they would ever reach the age where they could enter the workforce they had to survive the variety of epidemic diseases that ravaged America throughout the Victorian era. Our ancestors' children became so accustomed to seeing horse-drawn hearses on a regular basis that they developed a game called Funerals, just as children today play Doctor or House.
From the great epidemic diseases to more common illnesses that still afflicted children well into the twentieth century, sickness put young children and their families at great risk for much of the nineteenth century. Since poorly-trained physicians had no knowledge of vitamins, nor did they understand the benefits of bathing, general health remained questionable throughout the century... Read More