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Shadow_Lass38 t1_jdykf0f wrote

Bigotry toward minority groups was sadly common in those days. It's an Italian organ grinder who tries to kidnap Phronsie in The Five Little Peppers and How They Grew.

It was very common then for women that age to marry older men. Since women were supposed to be married and raise children, they needed to be young and healthy, but, if they wanted to live well and have a nice home and clothing and send their kids to good schools they had to marry an older man who was "established" in business and could make a good salary. Ten and fifteen year age gaps were not uncommon.

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KingMyrddinEmrys t1_jdysfdu wrote

Those age gaps are still not uncommon.

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PerpetuallyLurking t1_jdyz1zw wrote

Yeah, but more of them are both 30+ spouses on their first marriage now too.

It’s less the age gap itself I’m worried about and more the legality of child marriage in “developed” parts of the world still on the books.

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Felaguin t1_je0pu0c wrote

My grandfather used to “baby”sit my grandmother when he was in college (pre-Depression) but they didn’t date until years and years later after he became a practicing MD and she had her own job. About 13 years age difference between them so not really untoward, particularly in those days. She was about 21 by the time they got married so she was an adult and her own woman.

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AlonnaReese t1_je0lamp wrote

See Laura Ingalls Wilder as an example. She was 15 when she began dating her future husband at 25.

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Bookanista OP t1_je0wvqx wrote

One weird thing was that I can’t quite figure out how old the >!murderous!< Italian boy is supposed to be. He’s unambiguously called “boy” but he’s described almost physically like an adult.

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Shadow_Lass38 t1_je0y1z1 wrote

African American men were not the only minorities to be referred to by the demeaning "boy": there were Asian "houseboys," for example, who could be in their 50s or 60s and older than their employers.

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Bookanista OP t1_je0ymey wrote

Good point. I was having a hard time understanding how sexily (???) he’s described with other words she calls him.

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