Otto BettmannBesprekingen

It's been years since I've read this book, but some of the more disturbing facts still haunt me.

As you might except in a book by the owner of the Bettmann Archive, about half this book is illustrations of which less than half are photographs. Apparently the author was annoyed that most requests for his images were for happy nostalgic ones. This book is an antidote to that. Of course, most readers will likely already be aware that the progressive state of things today didn't always exist.

The only reason I looked into this book was because Robert J. Gordon credits it as the inspiration for his article that led to his book "The Rise and Fall of American Growth: The U. S. Standard of Living Since the Civil War." Gordon misstates the title as "The Bad Old Days."

The chapters concern air quality, traffic, housing, rural life, work conditions, crime, food and drink, health, education, travel and leisure. Subheadings are mostly quotations but it is never evident where the quotation comes from.

I came across a few cases of careless attention to detail. A humorous one was referring to the Battle of Cold Harbor as the Battle of Bar Harbor.

"The Jungle" covers much of this subject in a more compelling manner.

Favorite new book title.

A collection of prints/drawing/advertisements from roughly 1890's all focusing on how terrible life was.

excerpt from the intro still ringing pretty true:

"I have always felt that our times have overrated and unduly overplayed the fun aspects of the past. What we have forgotten are the hunger of the unemployed, crime, corruption, the despair of the aged, the insane and the crippled. The world now gone was in no way spared the problems we consider horrendously our own, such as pollution, addiction, urban plight or educational turmoil. In most of our nostalgia books such crises are ignored, and the period's dirty business is swept under the carpet of oblivion. what emerges is a glowing picture of the past, of blue-skied meadows where children play and millionairs sip tea. If we compare this purported Arcadia with our own days we cannot but feel a jarring discontent, a sense of despair that fate has dropped us into the worst of all possible worlds. And the future, once the resort of hopeful dreams, is envisioned as an abyss filled with apocalyptic nightmares."

This is my favorite Bach biography. And I own around 30 Bach biographies.

This was written in the 1970s, so the "good old days" in question are the period between the Civil War and World War I. There are tons of photos and cartoons, all about how awful life was back then, particularly in terms of sanitation and human rights. It's funny in a horrifying kind of way, if that makes any sense. The only part that really shocked me was the bit about lynching. I had not expected to turn the page and see a photograph of a lynched man. Really brought it back home, how not only was it exhausting and kinda gross to live in America back in those days, it was also really really terrible for a large portion of the population. I wonder what sorts of books will be written in a hundred years. Will today be the "good old days" of the future?

From squatters to pollution, medical care, child labor, lynching and juvenile delinquents [a:Otto L. Bettmann|481418|Otto L. Bettmann|http://www.goodreads.com/images/nophoto/nophoto-U-50x66.jpg] takes us on a tour of the past that will keep you turning the pages while amusing you at the same time. Sort of like an illustrated [b:The Harper's Index Book|953832|The Harper's Index Book|Lewis H. Lapham|http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1179768575s/953832.jpg|938742] of the times gone by with a little 2 pg chapter on each topic .

The author takes the time period between the end of the civil war and the early 1900s and examines the reality of the times complete with illustrations and the occasional horrifying statistic or nasty anecdote in an effort to compete with contemporary nostalgic views of the past.

I forgot how much I liked this book! This is my second copy, I missed having it around so much I ordered another one for my Dad's library so I could read it while I am with him!

The repetitive humor in negativity gets very old very fast. Reminiscing of people that always have something bad to say, even about something good.

Good for the drawings/photos. The written bits are more like extended captions instead of providing in depth information, but it's a quick read.

I'm being somewhat generous. It should probably be 2 stars, but there was a wealth of pictures & drawings that I've never seen elsewhere. The book did have its good points, too. Unfortunately, it tried too hard to live up to the title.

For example, the section on guns was laughable. There was 1/3 page of text that basically said kids were given toy guns. This is terrible? The other 2/3 of the page was made up of drawings. Whee! This section has no facts in it. I really don't know why it was included. The only reason I knew guns were terrible was because of the title of the book & I happen to disagree.

Other sections, especially toward the end, weren't well done, either. Some sections were milked to show just how terrible life really was. I doubt there were any outright lies, but facts were misrepresented to show life in the very worst light. The reader is led to believe a few tragedies were the norm.

For all its faults, there are some very interesting facts held within the pages. His facts would be of great benefit to any fiction writer with a level of technology before 1900 or so. For instance, it's rare that any fiction writer ever considers what the lack of refrigeration means for city dwellers; animals in the street, fly blown meats & lots of manure with all their smells. Similarly, few writers have any idea of how much waste a city relying on horses generates. He tells you precisely how this plays out. We expect regular trash pickup. If you want to know what happens when there is none, just read this book. It really is terrible & true.

This could have been a much better done book, but it certainly isn't a waste of time. It does open your eyes to quite a few facts that I think everyone needs to know & is presented in a short, easy to read format - great for reading during commercials or when you have just a few minutes.

The good old days had plenty of problems. It's worth reading, possibly even keeping around to refer to, if you write for a living. Just don't take it as a true look at Victorian era America. Use it to count your blessings, though.

A pleasant compendium of book-related quotes. Illustrations are plentiful, and often as interesting as the text.

Feeling nostalgic? Here is the cure! Bettman covers much of unpleasant aspects of Victorian Life that often are overlooked in many histories and novels set in the 1800s. Using newspaper drawings and accounts (the Victorians were not at all sentimental about their own era; scandal and 'racy' accounts were quite common. Remember 'yellow journalism'?) to illustrate the chapters and subjects in the book. A light but enjoyable read.

Raging disease, streets ankle deep in manure and other unspeakably smelly filth, meat displayed for sale without the benefit of refrigeration, chamber pots emptied from every tenement window (bystanders beware): This is an eye-opening peek at how much better off we are now, even with the spectre of "global warming."

Phil P4-Checked Out 8/27