The Good Old Days:
They Were Terrible

By Otto L. Bettman, 224 pages, Random House, 1974
Reviewed by Ken Bilderback, May 25, 2020

Because I write about history, people ask me in which era would live if I could travel back in time. I tell them I wouldn’t go back in time at all. I have no nostalgia for the past, and neither did Otto Bettmann, who wrote "The Good Old Days – They Were Terrible!" A history professor who wrote extensively about the muckrakers suggested it to me back in the 1970s, and while it’s hardly academic, the book has stuck with me ever since. Bettmann explores topics including health care, race relations, law enforcement, the environment, politics, labor laws, and home ownership. I won’t spoil the book for you, but let’s just say that life in the past pretty much sucked in every regard, including in ways that might surprise you. So next time someone laments the loss of the good old days, remind them that children were given heroin to sedate them until they were old enough to work in factories (about the age of 7). OK, that’s a bit of a spoiler, but there’s much more. It’s an easy read and might make you feel better about our current trials and tribulations.