Abstract
Children were not always deemed as “special.” Up until 1800, many European and American parents loved their children in different ways than do modern parents. As families struggled for survival, parents expected children to work at much younger ages than today. European and American teenagers began using their earnings from their after-school job for their own consumption, instead of contributing to their families’ upkeep; entrepreneurs quickly catered to children’s desires. What duties producers and employers owed young consumers and workers became pressing questions?
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Notes
- 1.
- 2.
The new form of social security allows a childless bachelor, such as the author, to free ride upon other people’s expense in raising a child. Of course, society tries to get childless people to bear part of the expense of education.
- 3.
- 4.
On modern-day American farms, small children, as young as six years old, drive large equipment. As the subtitle of a New York Times article describes: “Thousands are Injured and Many Are Killed Each Years (Healy, January 29, 2018, A10).”
- 5.
The apparent link between schooling and discipline, or at least discipline amenable to factory work, may have spurred manufacturers to call for more education. Mary MacKinnon and Paul Johnson scathingly rebuked Nardinelli , accusing him of “combining historical ignorance, inappropriate theory, biased sampling, and misspecified econometrics”; academic vitriol rarely attains such levels (MacKinnon and Johnson 1984, 218).
- 6.
Edwin Markham, Benjamin Lindsey, and George Creel may have been Progressives, but their attitudes toward the blacks were condescending: “The young negro, not cunning enough to speed the spindle, is spared … the little darkey is out in the cotton fields under the open heavens (Markham et al. [1914] 1969, 49).” Then again, who knows which of today’s commentary will bring a wince to future readers’ sensibilities. For a more benign depiction of child labor , see Brown, Christiansen, and Philips’ description of rural canneries in early twentieth-century America (1992, 734–738).
- 7.
Victor Pelz parlayed his business aggressiveness into earning a Master’s degree at Northwestern University, for which he wrote a thesis dealing with traveling salesmen (Victor H. Pelz papers, 1902–1918, Archives West, http://archiveswest).orbiscascade.org/ark;/80444/xv26428, viewed February 12, 2017, 4:25 p.m.).
- 8.
Modern-day toy and clothing manufacturers openly talk about “branding” children, not with a hot iron of course, but by inculcating brand preferences—McDonald’s play areas, Baby Gap, Disney Kids, and so on. With the conglomeration of companies, someday young adults, instead of exchanging astrological signs, may exchange whether they are a “Mattel-Dreamworks” or a “Disney-Sony” person.
- 9.
Pitching children’s entertainment that included enjoyable elements for adults continues to modern times; Warner Bros. cartoons and animation shows such as The Simpsons, Bullwinkle and Rocky, and South Park are aimed at children and adults; the controversy over Bart Simpson’s effect as anti-role model seems quaint a quarter of a century on.
- 10.
Jay Nash, too, criticized commercialized toys (Nash 1932, 221–222).
- 11.
Kirk Demarais tracked down many of these products. There were toy soldiers that were basically silhouettes that you could order from the back of comic books, although they are now treasured collector’s items (Demarais 2011, 11, 38).
- 12.
Information on Russian comics can be found at https://comicsforum.org/2015/12/09/the-history-of-russian-comics-an-interview-with-misha-zaslavskiy-by-maria-evdokimova/, viewed November 1, 2019.
- 13.
One hopes that Milt Caniff punctuated his blunt remarks with, “Biff!” and “Pow!”
- 14.
During the 1950s, the motion picture industry played juvenile delinquency both ways. James Gilbert pointed out the movie industry, “claimed to be helping in the national fight against delinquency, while it exploited public interest in, and even fear of, juvenile culture (Gilbert 1986, 162–163).” Such films as Blackboard Jungle , featuring Bill Haley and the Comets’ rock’n’roll anthem, “Rock Around the Clock,” proved popular among teenagers, especially as it combined juvenile delinquency with the new musical form. In a pivotal scene of cultural barbarism, the hoodlums destroyed a teacher’s beloved collection of vinyl jazz records.
- 15.
William C. Gaines’ testimony is preserved at http://www.thecomicbooks.com/1954senatetranscripts.html, viewed November 1, 2019.
- 16.
- 17.
See also 64 for earlier controversy between the two groups (Coase 1979, 314–315).
- 18.
Although Chuck Berry’s lamentable, “My Ding-a-Ling,” was probably a detraction in his corpus of songs.
- 19.
The author wonders about the producers’ pitch for the last-named show before the network programming brass: “It’s a show about fun and games in a German POW camp.”
- 20.
Corporations such as oil companies Mobile, Exxon, Gulf Oil, and Atlantic Richfield found it beneficial to underwrite such prestigious programs as Masterpiece Theater . Some humorists nicknamed PBS the “Petroleum Broadcasting System (Bergreen 1980, 258).”
- 21.
This author believes the Barney song, “I love you, you love me; We’re a happy family,” should be reworded to, “I love you, you buy me; I’m a commercialized property,” but perhaps he is too cynical.
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Surdam, D.G. (2020). What About the Children?. In: Business Ethics from the 19th Century to Today. Palgrave Macmillan, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-37169-2_12
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