Children by mail, for sale and in the "aquarium": Strange parenting stories from the past

2024 Author: Richard Flannagan | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-12-15 23:55

If it seems to you that children are sometimes wronged today, get acquainted with the historical facts that took place in America and Canada in the first half of the 20th century. Moreover, everything listed below happened quite legally. In some cases, both parents and authorities have shown “strange” attitudes towards children.

Sending children by mail

In 1913, the American Postal Service announced a new service - the delivery of goods weighing up to 5 kg. The service turned out to be incredibly popular: in the first week alone, the Americans sent more than two million parcels. There were no restrictions at that time, and the postage was inexpensive, so the contents of the parcels were sometimes surprising, and sometimes terrifying. Notable incidents included the shipment of a corpse for burial and a fresh lunch that a resourceful American mom sent her son to work every day. The mail, by the way, never let her down.

The most original were the parcels with children. At least three such cases were recorded, but in general this "service" was possible for seven whole years, the ban on the transfer of people was introduced only in 1920. If the baby's weight did not exceed the limit, stamps were glued to his clothes and the postman delivered the “valuable cargo” to the address.

In Ohio, a boy weighing 10 ¾ pounds was mailed in 1913. The baby was only eight months old, and in this way he drove several miles to his grandmother. The parents insured the shipment for $ 50 and paid 15 cents for the shipment. Probably, the transport ticket would have cost more.

In the same year, another live parcel was sent by mail with a two-year-old baby (it is not known how he "fit" into the weight limit). Probably, it was a capricious child, because he was transported from grandmother to aunt, and the latter was not even warned about the surprise. However, according to the postman's report, the "package" behaved well. The path was long, so the baby was fed on the way.

A year later, parcels became so popular that the postal service increased weight limits, and the parents of four-year-old Maya Pearstorf took advantage of this. They sent the girl to her grandmother in another state. It is known that the girl traveled all the way in a freight train next to bags of correspondence and parcels. It may not be very convenient, but for only 53 cents! Seven years later, this practice was discontinued due to the fact that "children can be potentially dangerous" (in contrast to animals, which were still allowed to be transported).

Selling four children

The photograph of 1948, which is now being replicated on the worldwide web, is not fake at all. A similar incident actually happened in Chicago. The Chalifuchs family was rich only in their heirs. The 40-year-old truck driver could not feed four children, and his wife also said that she was waiting for the fifth. Perhaps desperate parents published a scandalous picture just to draw attention to their plight, but over the next two years, they really sold out all their children, including even the fifth.

The fate of the kids did not turn out too well. Two (a boy and a girl) fell into real slavery: they lived in a barn, worked in the field and were subjected to constant violence. The baby, who was born last, was a little more fortunate, the adoptive parents raised him strictly, but they loved him. For many years David dreamed of gathering all the brothers and sisters, the meeting was scheduled for 2013, but it turned out that two other girls had already died by that time. It is known that all the children sold to the end of their lives hated their mother, who after this story remarried and gave birth to four more.

Children's "zoo"

Even today, the birth of twins can lead to financial difficulties, and in the case of the Dionne family, this "gift of nature" was more like a disaster, because the woman had five children at once. Fives - Annette, Emily, Yvonne, Cecile and Marie were born on May 28, 1934, near the village of Corbeil in northern Ontario. Despite the difficult times and the fact that the birth began two months ahead of schedule, all the babies survived thanks to the professionalism of the local doctor. Newborn girls lay in a huge basket, warmed with bottles of warm water and fed with a mixture of cow's milk, water, sweet syrup and a couple of drops of rum.

After a while, a rare case became known to the general public and unexpected difficulties fell on the Dionne family: everyone wanted to look at the fives, while the financially curious were in no hurry to help. Parents found it increasingly difficult to feed a large family, and then they received an unusual commercial offer. A representative of the Chicago International Fair came up with the idea of showing girls for money. The contract was drawn up through the Red Cross and provided for the protection of children from exploitation, but it was a completely commercial project, thanks to which both parents and several organizations were able to replenish their wallets well.

A special house was built for the girls, designed in such a way that tourists could watch wonderful children at any moment of their lives. The sisters lived in this cage like princesses, had a clear daily routine, excellent medical care and almost no contact with their parents - they were looked after by caring staff. A few months later, the state government completely stripped Oliva and Elzir Dionne of parental rights. The girls were placed under the full care of the state until they reached the age of eighteen.

Over the years, the profit from the popular travel brand has flowed like a river: in addition to the "human zoo", the girls starred in commercials and movies, and a huge souvenir shop was operating near their house. In total, more than $ 50 million in tourism revenue came from the twins to the treasury of Ontario. After 18 years, the girls were finally able to free themselves from this slavery and even partially sue for a part of the profit. Later, they demanded more compensation for exploitation and abuse, but after such a “strange” childhood, relations with their parents were ruined forever.

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