Lex Anteinternet: The Office Girls

Tuesday, January 24, 2017

The Office Girls

Seems shocking. A girl employed as a typist at age 15. The LOC title reports: Ethel Selansky, 15 years old. Typist for Standard Neckwear Co., 91 Essex Street. Location: Boston, Massachusetts / Lewis W. Hine. This photo dates from January 24, 1917.

As shocking, I suppose, as this is, my own mother was pulled out of school at age 16 to work in a similar role due to the Great Depression.

Malvina Amundsen, age 15. Office girl for Eastern Talking Machine Co.

Mary Creed, store clerk. Age 14.

All from January 24, 1917.

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Lex Anteinternet?

This blog has been around since 2009. In the very first post, we asked the question: "What the heck is this blog about?"

Our answer to the question was: "The intent of this blog is to try to explore and learn a few things about the practice of law prior to the current era. That is, prior to the internet, prior to easy roads, and the like. How did it work, how regional was it, how did lawyers perceive their roles, and how were they perceived?"

We also noted: "Part of the reason for this, quite frankly, has something to do with minor research for a very slow moving book."

All of this is still true, but the focus of the blog has changed somewhat. It now focuses on the era from 1890 to 1920 in general, rather than on the law and lawyers specifically, although that may be far from obvious. It's also become the location where we comment on anything we feel moved to comment on.

We hope you'll feel moved to comment as well. While we moderate every comment, so as to weed out Spam, we greatly appreciate the comments where they are offered, and hope to see more.

Thank you for stopping in!