Right. You COULD get SS#s early, but you did not NEED to have one until you had a job or otherwise needed to have taxes withheld from income, so most people back then didn't get one until their first "paycheck" job.
Was the reason why they got you SS#s that they put taxable-income-generating assets in your name?
No, don’t I wish. They did procure life insurance policies on us.
My dad was a notch baby, and I just think that they were sensitive to Social Security issues.