School Vaccines and Memories of Dr. Menton

By today’s standards, it amazes me that with ten of us living in the house we weren’t all sick more often. Barbara was just a baby when she got sick with scarlet fever. Scarlet fever is highly contagious and no one could come in or go out. The health inspectors put a big red sign on the front of the house that said “QUARANTINE” and I think Daddy had to stay someplace else because he had to go to work. I remember the awful medicine we had to take to prevent us from getting the fever, but Mom always had some of her homemade applesauce ready for us to eat after. The medicine was so, so bad. Cod Liver Oil was just as bad. Did anybody ever figure out why we had to take it? In junior high school we had to take an oral vaccine for polio. Back then, it was a more of a school function than a state responsibility. They set up tables in the gymnasium and we all lined up. Today it is the total responsibility of the parents to get their children immunized. The old smallpox vaccinations left a scar. We had to have it before we started school, and the big thing was comparing scars with my friends. I remember all of us kids, one by one, lining up to get our tonsils taken out by Dr. Menton. At that time, you did not need to be sick to get your tonsils out. One day, we all just went to the hospital on the same day and had it done. Remember Dr. Menton? He had dark brown hair, around forty years old and good looking. He even came to the house. I remember the scandal with his wife. She was a drug addict, and got caught stealing drugs from her husband’s office. The police finally arrested her, put her in prison and Dr. Menton quit his practice shortly after that. Mom was really upset because she felt he was a very good doctor. However, it was not quite the same story with the dentist. I remember every year a dentist would come to the school and check the students’ teeth. If he found a cavity, he would recommend we go to another dentist and have our teeth worked on. So Mom picked out this dentist, and OH, I HATED HIM SO! He was rough and rude, and it hurt, and it hurt, and it hurt. As a result, I had a horrible time getting myself to go to the dentist as an adult. Though, I must say, Mom and Dad did a wonderful job of keeping us all healthy. ME