Marengin Family Turns their Tenement into a Workshop
In this image, the Marengin family works together to crack nuts with their teeth in front of the windows that open not to the outside, but to another interior room in the tenement. The Marengins then give the nuts to the manufacturer, who pays them for their work. The unnamed manufacturer then produces them for public consumption.
The mother, who is referred to as “Mrs. Raphael Marengin” manages the operations, overseeing her children while her husband is away working on the railroad. Many of them work until 8 or 9 at night, shelling the nuts with their teeth. By the time the New York City Tenement House Department made these documents public, the law prohibited the manufacture of food products in tenement houses. There were too many health concerns, given the possibility of disease and unsanitary practices in these tenement homes.
