Childhood Ailments of Old 1990

How John and I got off on this subject only God knows,  however,  recently we covered all the old ailments not seen anymore.

It was common to see children with sores on their legs.  In the summertime I used to have them from my knee to my ankle and just on the shin.  Caused by bacteria?  I suppose and maybe better soap is one  reason we don’t see that anymore.

Itch was an ailment relatively common in my growing up days. I remember a boy in my third-grade class had it and it was treated with sulphur and grease, which smelled awful.  One of the affected areas was between the fingers.  Another pesky thing was head lice.  Treatment?  I don’t  remember any product  used, but  Mother spread a sack towel on the floor, had me to get down on my hands and knees, lean over and she combed my hair over and over with a fine toothed comb.  Whatever came out we could see on the white towel.  You don’t know what fine toothed comb is? It’s just that — a small comb with tiny teeth set very close together.  I haven’t seen one in years. Nits were the eggs and were most often found around the ears. Ugh!!

One year when my daddy grew syrup cane, I was about 12 I guess, and it was my job to crawl on my knees and strip the lower blades off the cane before it was cut.  Well, I developed a carbuncle on one knee and the older folks said it was caused from bruising while crawling.  Carbuncle is a risen-type ailment and very painful.  When the thing finally came to a head, ruptured and drained we tried to get the core out by rolling a string over and over the open place.  That string was supposed to catch part of the fibrous core and pull it out.  After that the malady could start to heal.

Measles, chicken pox and mumps were ailments all children were expected to have back then.  Measles were bad in my case.  Mother had green window shades on the windows, which stayed pulled down the entire two weeks I was in bed.

All children went barefooted and occasionally stepped on a rusty nail.  Treatment was pouring kerosene over the hole.  Stubbed toes (called stumped toes) were another problem.  It was the big toe.  John’s mother kept a “stall” ready for this type accident. Using a piece of something white (flour sack was good as it was soft) she made a bandage that slipped on the toe and attached a string that tied around the ankle to hold the stall in place.

Unpleasant memories of olden days of country living.