The Glass House Boys of Pittsburgh: Law, Technology, and Child Labor

At the end of the nineteenth century, Pittsburgh led the nation in glass production. Glass bottle plants relied heavily on adolescent boys for their manufacturing process. These “glass house boys” worked both day and night, as plants ran around the clock to meet production demands and remain competitive with their newly automated rivals. The boys performed menial tasks, received low wages, and had little to say on their own behalf.
By the turn of the century, most states had greatly reduced...