I watched a show called “1900 house” a few years ago and one tidbit I got out of it was that back around 1900, most people in London cleaned their clothes using a big pot of boiling water, and every year about 10,000 kids were killed from various forms of contact with it.
So yeah, life may have been more risky in a lot of ways, and medicine is a lot better today, but that is only a tiny piece of the picture. Huck Fin (and kids he was actually based on) seemed to do just fine. And some didn’t.
What I kept thinking about, though, as I read the article, was about my moving from Seattle to Kentucky six years ago. I tell people how much I love it here, but if there was no such thing as air conditioning, there is no way I’d have moved here.
Hawaii is nice without air conditioning.
“a big pot of boiling water, and every year about 10,000 kids were killed from various forms of contact with it.”
But what does that look like today ?
Injuries are more treatable today, and quality medical care is certainly closer. But still - the facts. Kitchen stoves are STILL the same dangerous design they have been since their invention. Hot plates, electrical burns, etc.
And speaking of electrical burns, RF Burns (Which are truly a horror) and shocks affect far more people than scalds. Should these be included in this statistic ?