Didn't even get a birth certificate though the Doctor who delivered me did file the certificate of live birth. Of course there were few foreigners in our country at that time. Population was a third of what it is now. Notations in family Bibles was acceptable proof because no one would write lies in their Bible. I joined the army with out any identification didn't get a real birth certificate until I was in my middle twenties.
I hear ya. My 97 year old mother has used a census report from a year and a half after her birth as her “birth certificate” for her entire life.