Jobs for the Poorest People 200 Years Ago

[@JaguarStar999]

INDEX OF JOBS Intro - 0:08 Stevedore (also called a Longshoreman) - 2:41 Slop shop sewer - 7:00 Shoe binder - 8:40 Pure finder - 9:42 Scavenger - 11:45 Rag picker ( later became a Peddler) - 13:04 Ash collector - 16:08 Leech collector - 18:38 Bone grabber - 19:58 Night soil man or woman - 21:50 Chamber lye collector - 23:42 Pet squirrel collector - 25:03 Closing comments - 26:29

[@___Mac___]

Nothing to see here, only the best comment on the video....

[@walterkersting1362]

What about mobile barber?

[@walterkersting1362]

I asked my mother for some money for candy as a child, she gave me a broom. I said what is this for? She said take this on your way to the store knock on peoples doors and offered to sweep their driveway off for whatever you can get. By this I was taught to make money, possibly the best thing she ever did for me.

[@walterkersting1362]

(Fat guy in the video by the fire) standing around waiting to be selected for a stevedore job: Not you fat so!

[@USAisAFK]

you forgot 19:26 "The really weird part to hear out of context"

[@mikakestudios5891]

This is absolutely nothing like the 90% of my highschool classes. "Domestic" history is so overlooked. I love the cleverness of people just making their way in the world.

[@gavinlun]

That's because your country is about 5 years old so there isn't that much domestic history haha

[@mma.y]

If you decide to go to college take a labor history class. My first semester I took an intro to US labor history and stuff like this was covered

[@onlythewise1]

@@mma.y some of it

[@lysan4878]

There is only so much time. And we study American history, our state history, world history, and world geography. They can’t cover everything in a classroom but libraries are free and everywhere. If you don’t know something or are ignorant it is an individual’s fault, because you can’t read and learn by yourself. All public libraries in US, even rural ones, have free internet and computers to use as well.

[@onlythewise1]

@@lysan4878 so you think history books are 100% correct all the time wow how ignorant are you , you need to read a book on how not to be so dumb

[@shaynecarter-murray3127]

What's wild about using the bone powder in bread is that compared to many of the other things added to extend flour, bone powder was the nicer option. Several things they used were straight up toxic.

[@rafelingd]

suspect bone powder might actually make the bread healthier.

[@pinchespiderman]

@@rafelingd Collagen and calcium

[@mattiemathis9549]

Right!!! I’ve never heard evidence of it in North America but it only makes sense that it happened during difficult times…. Also, I haven’t found any other channel that focuses on North America like this one, and I haven’t watched all of his videos yet. I’m sure it happened, I just don’t know of the ingredients used to infiltrate the wheat…

[@garethbaus5471]

Bone powder might even contribute essential nutrients.

[@flameraven42]

Chalk was a common one if I remember right...

[@doversailplanes]

I love how Townsends is like "The economy is collapsing, there has never been a better time to teach people about how to eat buried turnips and survive on millet" Love ti!

[@renaissancewomanfarm9175]

LOL. I noticed. It's like... quit your whining! You think you've got it bad, just look at this!

[@victorquesada7530]

@@renaissancewomanfarm9175 even more than that, the other videos that I have truly loved have been almost in the vein of Wendell Berry, about the value of community and togetherness, bringing skills, resilience, and mutual support together to deal with hard times. Yes, the perspective is important, and we need to broaden our palates (spelling that one always trips me up) as times, production, and supply chains change and fail due to fragility. But it's also a warning about what people had to do to survive, and where we might fall if we don't right the ship and make changes.

[@bassmanjr100]

Men were real men back then, and women were not. 😂

[@jimivey6462]

The teaching of history often focuses on the social, military, and political elite, but not enough on the common man.

[@alecmullaney7957]

Never forget - the suffering of the poor is always a tool for the rich to profit.

[@robzinawarriorprincess1318]

Carol is a treasure! And Ryan is, as always, delightful. 😊

[@sky.the.infinite]

Truly!

[@sky.the.infinite]

@@fraizie6815 Lame.

[@rulu1828]

It’s interesting that many of these jobs also kind of signal the coming of American mass-production and the decline of the artisans. It's cheaper to divide the jobs into simple procedures of unskilled/non-trained labour than to give whole process to a highly-skilled and expensive artisans.

[@VH-ew7oq]

Rich people taking advantage of poor people. The only difference today is you can actually live on some of the wages... for now. I'm not a socialist or anything just can't stand exploitation.

[@codymcdowell316]

That's how they killed the working man.

[@starshot5172]

We're going to an age of full automation

[@libbyhicks7549]

@@starshot5172 We shall see. when they remove the checkers from our grocery store, people start throwing food around. they bring em back quick.

[@starshot5172]

@@libbyhicks7549 I just hope that in the future, more people will want pesticide-free, nutrient-rich foods more than now. We vote with our food, and education is how we improve the world at its roots.

[@nonyadamnbusiness9887]

I grew up with the idea of pioneers walking west beyond the end of the road and carving a farm out of the wilderness. It's only recently occurred to me that those were the poor people.

[@lynnodonnell4764]

My aunt who recently passed at 97yrs old told me our family had ancestors arriving from Germany/ Prussia who traveled across the US to Iowa via COVERED wagon to become farmers. This was mid 1800s I do believe. They were no nonsense folks with fortitude and stamina. The farm was successful and still stands today. In the 1930's the outhouse WAS still being used. Even in -30° Iowa winters!

[@willbass2869]

The poorest people didn't go West. They stayed back & filled the cities on eastern seaboard. They couldn't afford the supplies. I've seen my family's 1807-1810(?) "passport" they filed to travel through Cherokee territory in Georgia. They caravaned from S.C. bound for Mississippi with 2 other families. That was the edge of the frontier for all intents. The number of firearms, axes, cattle/oxen (about 30) was not something the poor could accumulate.

[@MasterMichelleFL]

My ancestors are the Olivers of Cades Cove. 🥰 Their lives were treacherous and fascinating. Only the truly strong survived!. ❤

[@nonyadamnbusiness9887]

@bina nocht There's a story in Davy Crockett's autobiography about him giving bear meat to a guy employed to grub out a field on someone else's claim so he could get the cash to stake his own claim in the Jackson Purchase. Davy himself moved there because he was down on his luck, having failed at yet another business. People with money didn't go west to live in a shack with a dirt floor.

[@victorquesada7530]

That's the quote that starts off the homestead build on this channel: the man who exhausts his credit moves west. The successful ones had tools, supplies, know how, and support. Many didn't, and would have faced certain death. They must have filled up the cities.

[@Steve-1269]

I've worked hard labor construction jobs my entire life and have done some pretty nasty, dirty work. Jumping down in a ditch filled with raw sewage to fix a sewage line literally makes for one crappy day haha

[@sinisterthoughts2896]

Pretty much the worst. I hate septic work.

[@Steve-1269]

@@sinisterthoughts2896 it can definitely be nasty but it's usually not that hard of work..I don't mind it that much. People always say that roofing is the hardest job, I do a lot of roofing but honestly, I think those block retaining walls are worse. Shingles are 80 pounds and suck to take up a ladder but you usually only move them once or twice on the job..those block (versa-lok) are 85+ and you move and stack those all day. Especially on the first course because it needs to be completely 100% level. Can't even be out an 1/8th. So sometimes I'll have to pick them up and down a few times per block. It kills your back..Last wall I did was over 150ft long but only about 5ft high. Not even a huge wall but you're definitely hurting at the end of the day. I was actually happy that we picked up a roof after doing that wall job..both suck in the summer but oddly enough I enjoy doing roofing. Septic work just stinks but if you do it long enough, you don't even really care or notice anymore. I don't anyway..still not fun, I'll agree with you there.

[@johnathangiesler3869]

So is it hard or not? You contradicted yourself

[@Steve-1269]

@@johnathangiesler3869 I'm kinda confused..I said it's nasty but usually not too hard..do you mean when I said "hard labor" because that's just a term to we use to describe physical labor. Like digging with a shovel by hand, not in a machine. Doesn't necessarily always mean very difficult. It's more of a broad description of your job title and "rank" I guess you could say. Physical hard labor is usually done by the newest or least skilled and lowest paid guy. Not always though. I've done jobs where the owner/boss is down in the ditch with a shovel right next to everyone else if he's needed. It's rare but does happen. Hopefully that clears it up a bit. It's easy to forget that not everyone knows all the terminology or your job..and I forget that pretty often haha

[@Steve-1269]

I'll run machines and hand dig. I hate to make labors sound unskilled. Even something like digging requires certain skills and experience and technique. It's something you just pick up after years on the job.

[@justdoingitjim7095]

I remember reading about poor mountain folk and how they'd get goods from the general store on credit. To pay it off they'd bring in things they made. I read one store's list for a man who payed his bill over a year's time. These were the kind of things he made, "Two pair of shoes (no sizes), 8 cords firewood, 73 cross ties (for the RR tracks), two buckets rendered lard (one gallon buckets), 120 chicken eggs, 66 duck eggs and other such things as he could make, acquire or barter for. Folks back then didn't get much money, so most of what they got they bartered for.

[@jaydoggy9043]

There's a photo of me at a friend's wedding that I keep for myself as motivation as "Never again" in terms of the poverty and literal starvation I was facing at the time. I'd taken my jacket off and was in the midst of reaching over to pat him on the back while he was seated, and you can see my very distinct rib cage and hip bone - I was only 115 pounds. I'd often pretend to be "full" if invited to a friend's place for dinner, just so I could gleefully accept the leftovers in a tupperware container so I could have lunch the next day. This was while working 50 hours weeks. Poverty is very real in the modern day, and there's no excuse for a wealthy to enforce it on hard workers. In some regards, we are still where we were 200 years ago in how we treat the destitute.

[@conniewojahn6445]

I do so hope things are better for you now. And, yes the wealthy take advantage of workers, always have, always will. Labor unions help. Sometimes. Stay safe, Jaydoggy, and live long and prosper.

[@jaydoggy9043]

@@conniewojahn6445 That was a very kind message and yes I have gone passed that stage in my life, like I said, "never again." It was actually youtube cooking shows that REALLY saved me and taught me how to cook and preserve food. I am in a great position now, and will not go hungry again :) Thank you for your kindness, and I wish you the very best for you and your family, too. Keep being you!

[@Dmitrisnikioff]

Yep. Capitalism is inherently bad; there is no reforming it.

[@lisahinton9682]

@Jaydoggy So, 115 lbs on what frame? A 5'6" female with small bones would look perfectly fine at 115 lbs. A 4'11" woman with a small bone structure would look quite fat. A man, at 5'11" and 115 lbs would be near death. Just a suggestion - always read through your comment and pretend you're reading it for the first time. Do you understand what's going on? Have an accurate picture? No? Then add some more info, such as, in this case, the fact of whether you're male or female, and how you are built, and maybe even your approximate age. Be well.

[@phoneowner7936]

Been there. I started to look so bad my boss thought I had cancer.

[@sarasolomon4812]

Wow! Such an amazing topic! I'm so glad Carol and her husband are making the effort to remember the little people who kept society running at the ground level.

[@Mygoalwogel]

My gosh! Any kind of question you ask her, she gives not just a nice general answer, but a very specific person, incident, or statistic in minute detail. All just off the top of her head! I can't recall as many specifics of my *own* life!

[@cherylT321]

It shows how fascinated she is with the topic!

[@mcvayfamilyhomestead]

I love Carol! She is such a wonderful lady and a wealth of knowledge!

[@krockpotbroccoli65]

The job of the wrecker was a huge one for poor folk here on cape cod back in the old days. They were literally scavengers who would go and loot shipwrecks for everything down to the timbers. There's numerous old houses around here that were constructed from salvaged shipwreck timbers.

[@willbass2869]

"loot"? I think "salvage" is the correct term. Salvage of a wrecked ship had been a LONG time accepted activity even in colonial times. English common law addressed it, iirc. Nothing nefarious or untoward about the people engaged in or the activity itself.

[@Pygar2]

@@willbass2869 Imagine a port shaped like a C . On either end of the C, a lantern is lit on pitch-black nights. Aim your ship towards the middle between them, and you're safe in port, in calm water. Now imagine a wrecker putting up two lamps with rocks between them, not far away...

[@willbass2869]

@@Pygar2 my, my how dramatic! Hollywood's a'callin....

[@Pygar2]

@@willbass2869 Not drama. Real, grim history. Look it up.

[@GlassArtist07]

While watching this... something clicked in my memory banks.. From Kirk Douglas’ first autobiography (1988), The Ragman's Son - “My father, who had been a horse trader in Russia, got himself a horse and a small wagon, and became a ragman, buying old rags, pieces of metal, and junk for pennies, nickels, and dimes … Even on Eagle Street, in the poorest section of town, where all the families were struggling, the ragman was on the lowest rung on the ladder. And I was the ragman's only son.”

[@HLBear]

This is such an interesting topic, and very important to understand. Thank you for a great interview (in a great cabin, too)!

[@LaundryFaerie]

My great-uncle was a stevedore for the C&H Sugar Company. My mom said he used to come home each workday smelling strongly of raw sugar, and he'd go in and shower to try to get the smell off him.

[@msjkramey]

Sounds like a good problem to have. Or does raw sugar smell bad?

[@lynnodonnell4764]

@@msjkramey the odor of tons of most any product is often overpowering to becoming nauseating. When Quaker oats is making Instant Oats Apple Cinnimon the odor covers the city in whatever direction the wind is blowing. I often walked out of the plant smelling 'sickly sweet'..

[@mikeseier4449]

It sounds like he was a sweet man….

[@ajurado800]

I'm looking at the C&H Sugar Factory out my window right now. It's literally a couple hundred feet away. Small world!

[@ftffighter]

I used to live by the Wyandot Carmel Popcorn factory and it used to create a smell that would cover half of the decent sized town. It was a smell that one can't describe tbh. I guess if I were to try, it was a very "hot"(Not spicy) smell that had this strong, deep, sickeningly sweet note that rolled through the senses and at the end of the note, and it finished off with this cooked, chemical backdrop that almost reminds one of burnt popcorn but if it were burnt in this really weird, industrial oil. It honestly created a scent that made an entirely new type of smell of sorts that NOTHING on this earth to this day has been able to replicate. It was funky.

[@Solhai]

I keep watching this video every couple days and reviewing these jobs. I remember in the 90s as a ten-year-old in Southern California walking around gathering cans and glass at events or parades to recycle for extra money for my mom. We had help and this was a little extra to help make money less tight. That being the only funds would be very painful. Or even going around to houses in the area and to introduce yourself and ask if they had recyclable materials like that sounds very hard as well. Thank you for these videos to make me appreciate what I have and also to work to care for what I do have and make the most of it.

[@benjaminscribner7737]

Always great, learning more from this channel than anything I ever learned in school.

[@ShellyS2060]

This was amazing! Thank you so much for teaching us about the real parts of history.

[@maxibake9323]

This was Fascinating, & such a cosy setting in the Cabin. I remember the Rag & Bone Man as a Kid in the 70's in the UK. TFS, & take care everybody. ❤🙂🐶

[@Tungsten96]

One of the purest channels ever. I love you guys.

[@heresjohnny602]

Ryan's got fabulous energy. A Townsend special for the history channel me thinks.

[@Rozewolf]

Day labor hiring still exists. :( Just as with the Stevedores ... This was a good overview. Thank you.

[@HosCreates]

Basically the slop shop and shoe binders were the first fast fashion and still now they are paid poorly... . Fun fact right now the Mississippi River had been so dry no barges can go up and down so they have been dredging and putting levies in around Louisiana to keep the water from sea coming in.

[@cherylT321]

Wow, we are really going backwards in time!

[@Just_Sara]

That half hour went WAY too fast. It was great to see Carol again, I still get emotional when I watch her hour-long video on Maggie's story.

[@brandon152lee]

Can you please share the link?

[@nessamillikan6247]

m.kzbin.info/www/bejne/oKKymIqknLFol7s

[@victorquesada7530]

@@brandon152lee I think this video might be what she is referencing: kzbin.info/www/bejne/oKKymIqknLFol7s

[@raraavis7782]

@@brandon152lee Here you go: kzbin.info/www/bejne/oKKymIqknLFol7s

[@brandon152lee]

@@raraavis7782 🙏

[@snakejumper3277]

I discovered from an 1880 census that my g-granddaddy was a "turpentine laborer" in the Wiregrass region of Alabama. Turpentine was the biggest industry in that area due to the Longleaf pines. I like to reflect on the idea that I come from many generations of hard working People of the Land.

[@nothanks9503]

Wow he made coffee for the navy huh that’s neat

[@OptimusWombat]

These videos are amazing. Just a simple conversation, but you learn so much. I still love the 18th Century Cooking series, but I'm glad that Townsends has expanded beyond that.

[@paveloleynikov4715]

I can't help but remember Terry Pratchett's Ank-Morpork books. They sometimes looks like historical books disguised into fantasy, and very relevant to this video

[@anbuspecial]

Wow, What a wonderful surprise to be this early. Thank you for these videos! They are honestly Fantastic!

[@uriah-s97]

I couldn't even imagine going through life like these people had to!! We have it so easy today, just makes you feel so blessed and grateful. Chatted with the old badger, got to see the drop out coffin, super crazy!! By the way Ryan, my wife and I love the coffee we got this sunday, really cool talking to you, and tell your wife we love her videos on townsends plus! and watch out for the chickens! We had the opportunity to talk to MICHAEL DRAGOO and we had his book signed! 🤯 Awesome video, keep up the amazing work Townsends crew!!

[@KMF3]

You may not have to imagine it. Be prepared.

[@englishhomestead]

Simply brilliant as always. when peopel harp on about the good old days they forget that so many struggled just to keep warm and have a full belly. Something worth remembering as we eat three square meals a day.

[@RIBill]

Nearly all those jobs still exist in the world today. In India, there was one spot outside a City we went through where 2 guys were in a sewage pit, digging it out and putting it on the street and 2 other guys shoveling it onto a horse cart.

[@victorquesada7530]

I remember seeing Frontier House with my dad, only to have him exclaim "I had that stove!" when we saw the wood stove. There are many places where these jobs are still the ways that people get by. While I am glad to be removed from many of them these days in this place, there is still much to learn. Thank you for this content Carol and crew!

[@skilletpan5674]

It's similar in Vietnam. Lots of manual labor jobs that haven't been replaced by machines yet.

[@robertabray-enhus3198]

Because those are still third world counties. In the US we no longer employ people like that.

[@RIBill]

@@victorquesada7530 there was a guy I knew who took a job at a sewage treatment plant. On his first day, they gave him the job of ALL first-day people. He had to pressure wash the solids holding tank. After several hours of standing in human fecal matter, the tank was clean. He reported that to his supervisor and the whole crew went to inspect his job, knowing what was about to happen. As the supervisor recognized his job, he pointed up at the ceiling and says, "You missed a spot!" And the whole crew starts laughing, because he had to do the whole job again, starting with getting feces raining down on him.

[@conniewojahn6445]

@@RIBill How awful.

[@royalpitamamma]

The pure finder got me. Had an old man ask me to clean up the dog mess in his yard. I found a few grey ones and was going to toss them in the trash and for some reason he wanted to save those calling them "very important." I have no idea what he was gonna do, but it was so odd...now I wonder if he was gonna try and take the nitrates off.

[@ParsonJohnMaggie]

Thanks for sharing.

[@southernwanderer7912]

What a wonderful interview. I think this is one of my favorites on this channel.

[@CritterCamSoCal]

Times have changed: Stevedore = Longshoreman (in LA the Longshoremen are union and earn $100,000 USD Plus) the modern equivalent is day laborers waiting outside Home Depot.

[@lynnklug1731]

This channel is always full of wonderful information. Townsends channel is second to none. Best channel on KZbin!

[@Vexation4632]

Thank goodness things have changed. I started as a stevedore in Tacoma Wa. in 1979. Retired as a ILWU Marine Clerk 43 years later. The employer "shape-up" helped birth the ILA and later the ILWU Unions.

[@happy_bubble7]

New to the channel and Im loving the information. This is what colleges and highschools should be doing! I learned some of this from just hanging out with my elders. My Moms first job was at age 3. Her father was born in an abandoned train car and was one of 17 kids, only 4 of which survived. Im 37, so some of those tips survived into the 60s.

[@chrislemery8178]

The details. YES, that's why we watch this. He's so right. We want to know how most people lived. Not just the lords or landowners. Immensely informative.

[@lisapop5219]

I remember seeing on the waterfront for the first time a few years ago. It came out in the 50s and showed the longshoremen standing around trying to get hired

[@olddawgdreaming5715]

Thanks for sharing with us Ryan and Carol, that was interesting on the different jobs that people would do to survive. Stay safe and keep up the good work and videos. Fred

[@gregGould]

It wasn't 200 years ago but during the depression when they were building the Golden Gate Bridge there was a line of men waiting to replace any worker who fell (and probably died) or replace any worker who lost their nerve and couldn't continue working at those heights. Interestingly only 11 men died building the bridge but 28 men died building the San Francisco - Oakland Bay Bridge that was completed 6 months prior to the Golden Gate Bridge.

[@Pygar2]

The Hoover Dam required an endless stream of wheelbarrows of concrete dumped in, 24/7/365. For years... Mean supervisors just seemed to... vanish, somehow. By accident or on purpose, if you went in, you stayed there- to stop the pour was to weaken the dam!

[@stevep5408]

Ryan you hold your own! John is great, you aren't a step down in any way. Well done sir. Your cooking videos are awesome.

[@LadaFunDeshOfficial]

That's so interesting! I love learning about old days and how people lived before

[@hotlavatube]

The outhouse deaths reminds me of the USCSB and WorkSafeBC videos on confined space safety. They show how one person succumbing in a confined space can rapidly escalate to multiple casualties as their friends/coworkers attempt rescue but succumb themselves to the low O2 or toxic vapors in the confined spaces.

[@sebastienhardinger4149]

Absolutely fantastic video, love talking about the common people and how they made their livings

[@wfldfire]

Thank you for this wonderful topic. Carol is a delight.

[@egyptcat4301]

She's a fantastic storyteller, and you're a great intervierer! Enjoyed this so much!

[@AlexisLK]

This lady is wonderful, please invite her again. And the illustrations you are using are incredible and help so much to visualize everything.

[@wizardofkozz]

Carol is a great storyteller. Thanks!

[@sheilam4964]

👍👍👍👍👍 I always look forward to learning what Carol has researched.

[@blwrz4]

Really appreciate the videos! Thanks!

[@stevehartman1730]

During battle of Stallingrad people ate bread with sawdust or horse manuere. Author Ragnar Benson wrote n one of his books entitled Cheap Eating said his mom n uncle lived n celler 2 years eating barrels of leaves n castpr oil. They made it tho.

[@freefoodchef7939]

Wow, I haven't even watched this whole video yet --- in fact, I'm only a few minutes into it so far -- but I'm in love with this topic! I've always been very interested in women's history and the history of poverty, so this is right up my alley. Thank you so much for exploring this extremely worthwhile subject. 🙂

[@PranksandPodcasts]

Wow such an interesting part of history you’d never think about, love it and well explained!

[@miriambertram2448]

I continue to be amazed with the success of humanity due to their hard work and determination.

[@SkycladWanderer]

Hell yes love this guy and the lady was so informative

[@jimivey6462]

The gray squirrels that were brought over to England in the 18th century became problematic as they endangered the native red squirrels.

[@sdraper2011]

This was fascinating! You guys do a great job of providing a variety of content. I always learn a lot. Wish my history teachers had been more like this!

[@lynnodonnell4764]

When I was 38 I had a temp job like that. You showed up before 7a.m. They picked who they wanted and the rest were sent home.I often got sent home. I was 38. Considered old. The business owner was very well off. Had 3 homes. 2 were in other countries. The saying I had never understood before, "Becoming rich off the backs of the poor" , suddenly became very clear to me! Future forward: I'm now 45yrs old and start dating a guy who hauls cement. I am aghast when he tells me he is working on the home of the ex wife of that business owner. My boyfriend tells me the ex was having a' mansion" built in a woodland area near a State Park. She was having an affair with her gardener who lived in a tiny humble house. And the doorway to her kitchen was large and tall enough for him to drive an endloader through. Then he's in her kitchen one day where imported tiles from Italy had been inlaid. She offhandedly tells him she's decided she doesn't like them and will have the entire floor redone with a different selection. My jaw just dropped realizing the rich actually get to do what they please . This was 25 years ago. I was now making a Union Wage of $10.30. My boyfriend was making $10 hauling cement. We lived in separate towns.

[@Steve-1269]

I did some HVAC work in one of the biggest mansions in PA. It's called the Miller mansion.. you can look it up if you want. I think it was between 40-50 million dollars. It was insane!! They had a full time landscaping crew that lived on the property. I was talking to one of the maids and she said the kids have literally never even poured a glass of water for themselves before. It blew my mind that some people really live like that. I've worked construction my entire life so seeing a lifestyle like that was kind of shocking. Definitely very different than my lifestyle to say the least.

[@lynnodonnell4764]

@@Steve-1269 what a tale of the rich you just shared. The rich DO NOT CARE who suffers. A few years back I was talking to a guy who had a VERY NICE TRUCK w his DOGGY DOO advertisement on the doors. I asked him what he thought of his job, did he really just collect dog poo? He threw his head back and started laughing. "Nope. Bought this new truck picking up dog crap. I'm tellin' ya RICH people don't pick up their dogs poo. What's really mind blowing is they don't make their kids pick it up either. That's okay. I laugh all the way to the bank". If I wud have been educated from today's talk I would have asked him if it had a grey film on it. 💩 😂

[@architecture.w]

If you use your twenties wisely, you can be "rich" too.

[@Steve-1269]

@@lynnodonnell4764 lol!! And yeah, some don't care..some do. I know poor people that are just as bad. But, I was working in New construction and was talking to the homeowner (who was always rude and always asking for extra work to be done for free) I asked if she was happy that her house was almost done and all she replied was "I'll be happy when all you dirty F'ing people are out of my house" I couldn't believe it! We were dirty from building her house! It's not smart to say something like that to people who are building you a custom home..it just so happened that after that, it took a few extra weeks to finish the job. And someone may or may not have left an open bottle of chocolate milk in her ductwork a few days before she moved in, so that the heat would blow the smell of hot, rancid milk all around her new house lol🤣 but on the other hand, I've worked for very rich people who were extremely nice, would always buy us lunch and even had what they called a small "thank you" party at the end of the job with pizza and beer for everyone. I was building a block retaining wall in July (each block is around 85 pounds) it was in the mid 90s that week and the lady went and bought a mini fridge and filled it with drinks for us too. I'm so glad she did because I came really close to having a heat stroke on that job. Also some of the rudest people were the ones who could barely afford the work, so..it goes both ways I guess.. Some people are just bad people, regardless of their financial situation.

[@Steve-1269]

@@architecture.w it's never too late to start.

[@carlhenryjr]

Informative episode with terrific people- I cannot overstate how much I love this channel.

[@-Saiden-]

That was excellently informative love ya guys!

[@bleedingfinger]

This was really really really interesting. What you guys talked about at the end is so true. Also stuff like this gives life today some perspective!!

[@motagrad2836]

Up in NE Illinois and SE Wisconsin we had "Rag and Bone Men" in the early 20th century according to my Mom and grandma

[@floraldays5642]

My mother said the same thing about the "raggedy bone" man when she was a child. He would travel down the street that her grandmother lived on peddling his wares or accepting rags. This occurred in a town in Eastern Massachusetts.

[@Jo-hello]

Absolutely fascinating! It feels like these people were actually there! Telling what they saw Thank you! Great video. I’m going to go tell my children what they might have been doing 200 years ago! 😄

[@gingerjak7928]

What great content! I especially appreciate discussion of any female role during this time period. Carol is a fascinating guest. 👍

[@zoneseven3839]

Still happens in baltimore. They just have a Cleaning boat now. Harbor is getting cleaner

[@TheVioletMaze]

16:29 She says the land was new so they didn't need fertilizer. This assumption is very common place. But I would like to point out that Native Americans were here and farming far longer before settlers came in. The Native Americans did not do monoculture farms, meaning, they planted many different kinds of plants together in one plot. This kept the land rich with nutrients. They understood sustainable farming. But then the settlers planted farms without that knowledge and that is why eventually the land needed fertilizers. I just want to give credit where credit is due.

[@cherylT321]

Thank you. Native Americans respecting the land are often overlooked!

[@temmy9]

You do realise Europeans practiced advanced crop rotation for hundreds of years right? Monoculture is a *modern* thing.

[@chippychick6261]

Look ,at your own family history. My Irish great and great great grandparents were dock labourers , rag pickers, piecemeal seamstresses. Even my dad shared his childhood experiences of all 7 kids working in the 1930s when his father died young. His mother was loved by the family she cleaned and did laundry for, but she didnt have much energy for her own children.knowing this pushed me to become self reliant as possible. 💛 gotta love our history

[@OldUncleDan]

Our lives aren't easy but we're better off then our ancestors let's be thankful 👍🏼

[@troydodson9641]

No, how can I? If I don't complain, then no one can hear me. This is a joke, I swear

[@manicmandownup]

What is your basis of judgement for this statement? I’m better off because I can go to Walmart? I can be tracked and have my brain turned to mush with my cell phone? Some heavy drinker’s dug out and cleaned outhouses. Not everybody did that. Some people rummaged through trash, some people picked up dog poop. So what? Do you know how many people struggle and suffer today? Do you know the extent to which the environment has been brutalized to be “better off” than our ancestors? How much better off are we, really?

[@heatherrue2655]

Are we though? We’ve lost all ability to take care of ourselves without help.

[@manicmandownup]

@@mattstone8878 for sure…germ theory and sanitation are great examples of progress. Like Heather rue pointed out, in many ways we have lost our ability to take care of ourselves. Leaving a close knit agrarian family unit was quite a mistake in many ways.

[@Stettafire]

Just cus other people have/have had it worse doesn't mean your problems don't exist

[@glennfyfe1357]

One of my favorite videos yet. Very good and enjoyable. Thanks, more please.

[@ajurado800]

Always fascinating content with Townsends. Thank you!

[@JoelPlanetMedia]

I love your content! Keep up the great work!

[@lightmarker3146]

Living in the Port of New Bedford ,MA. Massachusetts, makes me want to research this subject . So interesting. I never knew the riddle of Jack and The Bean Stalk before !

[@libbyhicks7549]

That was new to me too. Goes to show...

[@elodieducloux8126]

I LOVE listening to Carol - thank you for sharing your passion & thanks to Townsends for showing this, I would not have discovered this otherwise.

[@madbeach590]

I was able to view this museum last weekend at the Rev War event near Camden, SC. As a living history interpreter from St. Augustine, FL, I throughly enjoyed the museum. As always Carol and Frank have done a wonderful job at bringing the life of everyday colonial people alive. Don't miss seeing this exhibit if you get the chance!

[@Barbarra63297]

I was born in 1954 and as a kid I remember hearing the Ragman coming down the street yelling RAGMAN, RAGMAN!!! The women would go out to his truck and give him their rags and also a pots and pans man.

[@pilgrimsway2644]

This is very convicting, humbling and sooo very interesting! Love all that you guys are doing with your channel.

[@verneepeterson8771]

Very informative video, I'm enjoying it. Thank you so much for posting it, I'm a big fan of living history and enjoy all of your wonderful videos.

[@vivirtuous]

Learning that bread prices were highly regulated is very interesting! I knew that bakers often used to stretch their flour by using additives, but always assumed it was in order to maximize their profits. Knowing that the price of bread was regulated gives a new perspective, that bakers sometimes didn’t have a choice in the matter in order to stay afloat during a bad harvest. Thank you for the intriguing video!

[@tylerkrug7719]

Very interesting! Thank you for sharing.

[@davestelling]

Always a treasure checking in here - thanks, very much...

[@EnglishCountryLife]

An excellent & interesting video - thank you

[@ec6933]

I'm sorry John but I'm gonna say you gotta share this channel with Ryan😂😂😂 maybe it's just nice to have a fresh face? I definitely feel like Ryan has a gift. It Kindof feels like you learn along with him where John is like listening to someone who's already been there lol

[@Token_Civilian]

Great episode. Fantastic conversation and extremely educational.

[@Broken_Yugo]

The discussions about turf issues remind me a lot of the modern "gig economy", where the getting is usually good with whatever new app or company, until word gets around and everyone starts doing it. Some stuff really never changes.

[@heronblue3577]

Carol is great. Bravo

[@michaelsexton8885]

Ragmen are still in business today. When I worked for a RSPCA shop (2010) all the clothes we couldn't sell to the public were sold to the Rag man for pennies a pound.

[@KMF3]

Really? What do they do with them?

[@cherylT321]

Interesting!

[@Marlaina]

I like that they recycle

[@KMF3]

@@Marlaina yes true recycling not like what we supposedly have nowadays that's usually a farce.

[@valley_robot]

They get sold to China and then we buy them back in Primark

[@christopherbaby3842]

Wow this was an amazing explanation. Very vivid and such good descriptions I felt like I could've been there.

[@agimagi2158]

I was excited for this since the tavern livestream!

[@stephpavone]

Loved this episode-Carol is an amazing source of information and she shares it with such passion. Could listen to her all day ❤

[@janettemasiello5560]

It's fascinating to learn new things about a time in our country that was difficult for so many. They had Fortitude that I think many of us lack today.

[@NieroshaiTheSable]

Surviving the worst because you have to doesn't mean you can't find unfairness reprehensible. And vice versa.

[@janettemasiello5560]

@@NieroshaiTheSable Umm...ok

[@libbyhicks7549]

Well, they weren't circumcized or injected with poison as infants. They weren't marketed over-processed highly-refined additive-laced foods. They didn't spend most of their days slumped awkwardly in chairs. We are on a highway to nowhere fast.

[@libbyhicks7549]

@@NieroshaiTheSable That is correct. Just because you survive does not make it okay.

[@0bikej526]

6 year old as a viable working member of the family. Makes me weep.

[@libbyhicks7549]

And no education for the next generation kept em poor. Another way the poor stayed poor and the rich stayed rich.

[@thecar4306]

we love u no matter what thankyou for everything

[@thecar4306]

@@asmaa_vlog_85 love itt! ur channel is cute asf

[@MiddleEastMilli]

Excellent interview, Ryan!

[@debraroberts1496]

Oh my goodness, what a wonderful and fascinating video! I loved it! Carol was so informative. By the way, not one job jumped out at me for employment 😂😂

[@gtbkts]

Thanks for the awesome content and great video!

[@dianeb9449]

I remember the "rag man" in the late 50's/early 60's. He drove a horse & wagon would & come up the street singing "rags" with an accent. Housewives would come out & give him their old rags. They were the people who grew up in the depression & knew the value of things. The children would also come out to watch him & his horse. Everyone was happy.