Results: 4 Children for Sale (Part 6 of 6)
This photo was first was published in 1948, with the caption, “A big ‘For Sale’ sign in a Chicago yard mutely tells the tragic story of Mr. and Mrs. Ray Chalifoux, who face eviction from their apartment. With no place to turn, the jobless coal truck driver and his wife decide to sell their four children. Mrs. Lucille Chalifoux turns her head from camera above while her children stare wonderingly. On the top step are Lana, 6, and Rae, 5. Below are Milton, 4, and Sue Ellen, 2.” Actually, Lucille and the kids had been abandoned by her husband who didn't return because of his criminal record. Daughter RaeAnn claimed she was sold so her mother could get money to play Bingo, and because the man Lucille was dating at the time didn't want to have anything to do with children.
1.
1.
Lucille was pregnant with David (whom she called Bedford) when the photo was taken offering her other 4 children for sale. He was in poor condition, covered with bed bug bites, when legally adopted by the childless McDaniels at 9 months. They taught him good morals and values. Have you ever been bitten by bed bugs?
Yes
12%
•
178 votes
No
59%
•
882 votes
I have been bitten by something, but not sure what!
8%
•
121 votes
N/A
21%
•
319 votes
2.
2.
David (pictured between RaeAnn and Milton before they were sold) was raised a few miles from the Zoeteman farm, and as a child used to ride there on his bike or a horse to visit his siblings RaeAnn and Milton who had been forced into slave labor in the fields. Seeing his siblings often tied in the barn, David would untie them and get away unseen. Why do you think RaeAnn and Milton didn't flee?
They were afraid to leave.
26%
•
397 votes
They felt they had nowhere to go.
37%
•
561 votes
They were obedient.
6%
•
97 votes
They were traumatized.
23%
•
351 votes
It never occurred to them.
6%
•
89 votes
I have no idea why
16%
•
233 votes
N/A
25%
•
382 votes
3.
3.
David spent 20 years in the army including 2 tours in Vietnam. Later he drove a semitrailer in Washington state and worked for Goodwill Industries. He died at 72 in 2021. Have you ever served in the military?
Yes
8%
•
120 votes
No
68%
•
1024 votes
N/A
24%
•
356 votes
4.
4.
David was the most matter-of-fact of the siblings about the birth mother he met as an adult. "She got rid of us children, married someone else, had four more daughters. She kept them. She didn't keep us." Which of David's gracious statements (and others) below do you agree with? Please choose all that apply.
"She never apologized. Back then it was survival."
12%
•
178 votes
"Who are we to judge?"
12%
•
183 votes
"We're all human beings, we all make mistakes."
10%
•
151 votes
"She could have been thinking about the children. Didn't want them to die."
9%
•
139 votes
David offered too much grace to a selfish woman who sold and separated her children with too little concern for their future welfare.
24%
•
364 votes
David views his birth mother with greater compassion than his siblings because he had the best childhood of the Chalifoux children.
15%
•
221 votes
N/A
39%
•
580 votes
At the least, David's mother should have expressed regret for splitting up the family.
18%
•
269 votes
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