Figure 1.--This picture shows two boy taking care of cows. From the way they sare dressed, we would guess that they are doing their chores after school. The photograph was taken near Niederhelfenschwil (St. Gallen Canton) during the 1920s. |
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Work was a major activity that modst children were involved in through the 19th century. This of course was the state of affairs throughout history. Only in the 19h-century did governments begin ensacting minimum age laws for employing children and compulsory school attendance laws which affected availability for employment. We have very few details at this time about Swiss legislation protecting children. Switzerlkand was striongly influenced by Germany trends. The Swiss economy was similar in many ways to the German economy, but was not as highly industrialized as the nearby Ruhr valley. Many Swiss boys as they ebtered their tennyears were involved in apprenticeship schemes. Much of Switzerland was rural and dominated by agriculture. Thus many boys were invoilved in agriculural work. Most of the contry's agricultural land was divided into small family holdings. This meant than many children were involved in farm work, often chores on the family farm.
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