Carol's Chapter · The Forties
Clean Sheets, Warm Flannel, and a Family Doctor
told by Carol Mae Guild Sutton
Carol recalls doctors making house calls in the Forties. However sick the children were, Mom had them leave their beds so she could put on clean sheets before the doctor arrived. Mom also treated colds with Vicks and warm flannel cloths. Carol remembers Dr. Menton as their first doctor; he went to jail after being caught supplying illegal drugs to his wife. His successor, George Cook, provided medicine expecting more children to fall ill, visited frequently, and became a lasting family friend.
In the family's own words
In the Forties doctors made house calls. No matter how sick we were, we had to get out of bed long enough for Mom to put clean sheets on the bed before the doctor got there. Dr. Cook would give Mom a big bottle of pills or cough syrup, stating that surely a few more of us would come down with the same ailment. Mom doctored our colds by rubbing Vicks on our chests and wrapping us in warm flannel cloths. Dr. Menton was the first doctor I remember us having. He caused a big scandal when he was caught supplying illegal drugs to his wife and went to jail. Then George Cook became our doctor. He was at our house so many times he became a family friend, tracking our progress through the years.
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Carol's Chapter, told by Carol Mae Guild SuttonRelated stories
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