by Joy Santlofer
Mountains of garbage were common sightings in the landscape of mid-19th century New York City, as were the children clambering over them, combing the refuse for anything of value. especially desirable were the animal bones that had been discarded by butchers or tossed out as household trash after being gnawed clean. While the day’s haul might make a quick detour into a soup pot, supplying some semblance of dinner for the child’s hungry family, that was just an added bonus, the bones had another, more valuable, purpose; they were the first link in a chain that ended in the elegant china sugar bowls that graced genteel American tables.
The young bone pickers were the children of the city’s poorest immigrants. Newspapers of the day often described the utter desperation of their lives and the importance of the extra pennies they earned…
The bones passed through various middlemen en route to their final destination—the sugar refineries. It was the ambition of every refiner to produce the whitest sugar possible…
This was where the bones came in…
2 Comments
This sounds like the beginning of a great murder mystery! And I know whodunnit. Joy– this is terrific.
Hi Claire,
Yes, there’s a full, informative story and stunning archival photos in the magazine. Vintage Magazine is currently on sale at Rizzoli’s Bookstore and Paul Smith, both in Manhattan, Fog CIty News in San Francisco, as well as for purchase via this website, http://www.vintagezine.com.
Thank you for your interest!