The Bismarck tribune. [volume] (Bismarck, N.D.) 1916-current, 1928-11-24
BY BRUCE CATION

An atmosphere OF colonial Amer
lea hangs over Thanksgiving. The
very word suggests old New England
farmhouses, rolling fields of stacked
corn enclosed in snakc-rail fences,
old fashioned Surveys overloaded
with hungry folks on the way to
record-breaking dinner at grandpa's
place in the country. The era of
skyscrapers, automobiles and radios
hardly seems to fit.
a life that used to be simple has
grown complex. Haste has replaced
leisure. Restless desire has pushed
contentment to the wall. The SIM
plicity that brought Thanksgiving
into being as a heartfelt rite has
given way to hustle and hustle
wherein the day is simply an &C.
casion for football games and hearty
dinners.
So some of us, as the Indian sum-
mcr haze drifts over the countryside
with its age-old harbinger of autumn
plenty and rest, look back rather
longingly to the days that used to
be. We feel that if life had fewer
conveniences then it also had fewer
annoyances; that people, somehow,
were better off. happier, richer in the
things that count. We talk about
1.-THE good old days" with a sort of
regret.
All right; why not look into the
matter? Just how good were those
good old days.? Have the passing
years really brought US new things
to be thankful for, or is Thanksgiv-
ing nowadays bit Of a joke? Let's
see how the average mans lot in the
old days compares with his lot in
the year 1928.
The average man--Which means
you and me and the rest Of us-has to
work for his living. And it is a re-
Erettable fact that mans happiness
depends very largely on the condi-
tions under which he does his work
his hours, his rate Of pay, his abil-
ity to better himself, and 50 on.
Now these good old days." when.
according to tradition. a five-dollar
bill would keep family in groceries
for 80 days, and good house could
be had for an annual rent no greater
than it would bring a month nova
days, were far from perfect in these
respects. Mark Twain said that
Fenimore Cooper's Indians belonged
to IAN extinct tribe that never ex-
isted." The good old days" when
the workingman was in clover were,
similarly. days that never dawned.
When Thomas jefferson was writ
ing Of sacred and inalienable rights,
the papers were carrying advertise
ments asking for the return of run
away apprentices. Slaves were held
in every colony. Indenturcd servants
a scant step above them. were COM
mon. The workingman never
dreamed of calling himself indie.
pendent-unless. by a lucky stroke,
he could lay hands on q bit of farm
land or = fishing smack of his own.
But you don't need to carry your
researches back to colonial times to
find that the good old days" had
their shady side.
In May, 1851, the carpenters of
TnuaOelpnl8 were OIL SLflkc. lney
were getting $3.50 q day and were
demanding $1.75. Conservative cit.
liens were Mortified at such swollen
greed. It was freely predicted that
such wages would demoralize the
whole working class. Horace
Greeley. of the New York Tribune
decided to investigate. He figured
out the weekly expenses of a car.
penter with q wife and three chill.
dren, and got the following figures
Flour, 62 cents: sugar, 80 cents;
butter, 62 cents; milk. IA cents;
meat, $1.40; potatoes, so cents; tea
and coffee, % cents; candles and oil
IA cents; fuel 40 cents; household
articles. Is cents; bedding, 20 cents
rent, S.; clothes, 81; newspapers, Il
cents: sundries, 40 cents.
This totaled $l0.37. II the car
penter worked six days q week, his
income. under the old paw scale
would be just $1.37 shy of this; under
the new scale. he would have a mar.
gin Of Is cents a week, out of which