Child’s Work Stool

A wooden stool used by eight-year-old Stathis Nouveloglou while working in his father Georgios Nouveloglou’s family hosiery workshop. Child labour was then an integral part of everyday life for refugee families, who depended on every available pair of hands.
The people of Alaya, like most Asia Minor refugees in Nea Ionia, initially turned to textile work; soon, however, their entrepreneurial instinct led them into hosiery-making, which required less space, caused less noise, and offered a higher profit margin.
Stathis’s father promised one drachma per week if the boy met the production target. Stathis often succeeded—but the drachma was rarely to be found…

Kindly made available for photography by Stathis Nouveloglou.