The Urban Log Cabin
Synopsis of families living at 97 Orchard Street in 1870 and 1915

1915
Fourth Floor, Rear
Berg Family
Isidore Berg, uniform over his arm, is leaving for work. The baby, Rosie (age 2), has whooping cough and a visiting nurse from the insurance company has come to check her. Poor families, immigrant or otherwise, often carried insurance on each member of the family. It came from Metropolitan Life, and cost 5 cents a week for a hundred dollar policy which included periodic visits from a visiting nurse. The iceman enters the kitchen, lugging a chunk of ice to maneuver into one compartment of the "icebox."