Figure 1.--This wire service photograph was dated August 31, 1932. The caption red, "Red Cross nurses of the County of London branch have opened a first aid station at Tudeley Hale, near Tonbridge for the benefit of the hop pickers and their families. They attend to the minor aliments of the children and assist the mothers in tending the babies. Nurse delivers the daily dose to some young hoppers the oldest of whom is wiling but the others seem dubious." It does not explain just what the dose was. We assume it was probably castor oil.

Britain was a major industrial nation, but many areas of the country remained unttouched by industry with largely agricultural ecnomies. The conditions of the urban working-class has been given considerable attention in English history and literature. Much less known is the conditions in rural areas and small towns. Here we do not have much information yet, but are interested in learning more about conditions for children in rural areas. The wire service photograph here was dated August 31, 1932 (figure 1). The caption read, "Red Cross nurses of the County of London branch have opened a first aid station at Tudeley Hale, near Tonbridge for the benefit of the hop pickers and their families. They attend to the minor aliments of the children and assist the mothers in tending the babies. Nurse delivers the daily dose to some young hoppers the oeldest of whom is wiling but the others seem dubious." It does not explain just what the dose was. We assume it was probably castor oil. A British reader tells us, "Tonbridge is in Kent (in the southeast corner of England) and it used to be a popular activity for poor London families to all go en masse to Kent as a working holiday (the only one they would get) to pick hops. Every family member would be involved in the work. I think this still continued well into the 1950s."

Created: 5:25 AM 6/11/2005
Last updated: 5:59 PM 6/11/2005