Home » Kids Zone » Ask Jack

Jack Larkin is the Chief Historian and Museum Scholar at the Village, where he has worked since 1971. He is also Affiliate Professor of History at Clark University in Worcester, MA, and consults for many museums and historical organizations. His latest book, Where We Lived: Exploring the Places We Once Called Home. The American Home from 1790 to 1840, was published in 2006.

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*	Did kids from the 1830s learn to play instruments in school?
*	Did a lot of people smoke in the olden days?
*	Did kids ever have any fun back then?
*	Did kids get sick a lot back in Village times?
*	Did kids in the 1830s have to go to school?
*	Did kids in the 1830s make snowmen like we do?
*	Did more people wear beards in the 1830s or today?
*	How long would it have taken a letter to get from Sturbridge to Boston in the 1830s (and how long does it take now)?
*	How often did people take baths in the 1830s?
*	I know they used quill pens for writing in Village times, but did they also have pencils?
*	I like to listen to CDs and the radio.  Most of the music I like my parents and grandparents think is silly or bad.  What kind of music did they like back in Old Sturbridge Village times?
*	I was at the Village once when the church bells rang about a hundred times. Why?
*	I asked my father for a bigger allowance and he said I must think money grows on trees. He said I should find out what a dollar is worth, and while I'm at it I should find out what it was worth a long time ago too. He said if I could give
*	I visited the school at Old Sturbridge Village and saw how everyone sat together in one room. How could the teacher be heard with all those kids of all ages in there? Did anybody really learn anything?
*	In Village days, how did someone train to become a shoemaker or blacksmith?
*	In Old Sturbridge Village times, what were the laws, and what was the punishment for breaking them?
*	In the 1830s what would children do for chores? Would they have difficult jobs or easy ones? What would be a good occupation when the children grew up?
*	My grandmother says kids have it easy today and that some kids used to have to live with other people and work hard in order to help their family. Where can I send my brother Derek? (Ha Ha!)
*	Were people of the 1830s shorter than the people of today?
*	Were shoes comfortable in the 1830s, or were they wooden and stiff?
*	What did people do with their trash and garbage in the 1830s?
*	What sorts of candy and sweets did people eat in the 1830s?
*	What kind of books and stories did kids read in Village times? Were there any best sellers or favorite authors? were books expensive?
*	What kind of pets did kids have in Village times?
*	Where did people go for vacation in Village times?
*	Why are some bridges at the Village covered?