FORGOTTEN CORNERS 2
It struck me last week that there are forgotten corners in our minds as well as the built environment. We tend to forget how things were many years ago and one of these is pain relief. I was reading Stephanie Carter's new book 'Getting Better. Health Care in Earby Down the Years' (you can get a copy by asking in the library or getting in touch with Earby Local History Society) and she mentioned Mr Atkinson the dentist as being regarded as 'a cruel man'.
I know nothing about modern dental practice because my knowledge stopped in 1959 when Mr Pinder on Park Avenue pulled all my teeth and made dentures for me. As an aside I should say he did a good job they are still serving me well after fifty three years! This would be unheard of these days but was quite common fifty years ago. Many brides had a visit to the dentist to get false teeth paid for as a wedding present, it guaranteed them freedom from the dentist for life. I know this will shock youngsters but what you have to remember is that standards of equipment and anaesthesia were nowhere near what they are today. The one thing you could be sure of getting from your dentist was pain. Our school dentist in the 1940s was still using a drill powered by him pedalling furiously while he worked on your teeth. If you were lucky you got an injection of cocaine in your gums to numb the pain but teeth were still drilled and pulled without any pain relief.
I have personal experience of this as in about 1952 I had a bad toothache, the sort that gives you flashing lights behind your eyes! I put up with it as long as I could hoping in vain that it would go away but in the end I had to give in and called at Mr Atkinson's surgery in Croft House on Station Road. He had been in business as a dentist for a long time, Betty Corner (nee Greenwood) told me that his first office was in the end house in Ribblesdale Terrace in 1902 so he was definitely one of the old school. He looked in my mouth, jabbed the offending tooth with something sharp which immediately got my attention and said it was rotten and would have to come out. I was hard up in those days so I asked him what it would cost. He said that for five shillings (25p) I could have an injection of cocaine and the tooth pulled. For half a crown he would pull it without the pain relief. I only had four and sixpence in my pocket so I went for the cheaper option.
I learned something about old dentist's chairs at this point. They were made so that if someone clasped their hands on your head and pulled you back and down in the chair you were immobile. The reason I found this out was that Mrs Atkinson came in and pinned me in the chair while her husband went straight in, grasped the tooth with his forceps, pushed it down and then screwed it from side to side before pulling it out and throwing it in the corner. (I suspect this was so that I wouldn't see if any roots had been broken. The main thing I remember is that it wasn't all that painful, just one blinding flash and then complete relief. I could well be the last person in Barlick to have a tooth pulled like this. Good historical research and evidence but I could have done without it! Give Mr Atkinson his due, he might have been getting on a bit but he did it quickly and efficiently and I never had any problems with it afterwards. Just before he pulled it he had gone into the back room and I heard the unmistakeable clink of a bottle neck on a glass so when he asked me was I all right I offered him the other two shillings I had in my pocket for a dose of the medicine he had taken. He gave me a large glass of whisky to rinse out with but cautioned me against swallowing it. I took no notice of course, rinsed, swallowed and went out four shillings and sixpence and one rotten molar lighter.
I realise that the younger end will have difficulty believing this story but every word is true. This is what I meant when I said there were forgotten corners in our minds. We forget that as little as fifty years ago our expectations of medical practice were far different than they are today. We didn't automatically assume that procedures would be pain-free or that a doctor could cure just about anything. You may find it hard to believe but there are people alive in Barlick today who can remember a child's tonsils being taken out on the kitchen table at home without anaesthetic. Even common diseases like measles and scarlet fever could be fatal. This was accepted as part of life, our bible teachers made sure we got the message, even growing food couldn't escape, get your Bible out and read Genesis 3: 17-19. 'Cursed is the ground for thy sake, in sorrow shalt thou eat of it all the days of thy life'. Childbirth and illness were also promised to be full of pain and sorrow. No wonder we accepted pain as a normal part of life!
Pain cropped up in other contexts as well. Corporal punishment of children is seen as abuse these days. In my childhood it was common. We got the cane regularly at school and at the grammar school I attended 'six of the best' was a common punishment and I can assure you that you never forgot it. No, I'm not going to say it never did us any harm because sixty years later I can still remember the fear and the pain. It's good that we have left those days behind us when apart from caning in schools, flogging and hanging were accepted punishments for criminals.
See what I mean about forgotten corners? If you know anyone who is over seventy years old ask them what they remember. They'll give you examples I haven't touched on. No matter how bad things seem to be today, we are far better off in many ways than we were then. Mind you, it wasn't all bad. I have only spent £10 on one dental repair (no pain!) since 1959 so there was something to be said for having all your teeth pulled. Perhaps the bride's wedding present was a good idea after all!
Station Road in about 1900. Croft House was already built.