Gatley - The End of the Line

By Peter Boden

5. EARLY DAYS.

Quite early in life I realised that I was not the centre of everyone’s attention, nor were my older brothers slaves to my desires. Later I did get my own back when they were “locked” away for two weeks as they had contracted scarlet fever. (Whatever that was?). I remained robustly healthy until that dreaded word “tonsils” was whispered around the house, but that is another story.

In those days grown-ups had a curious habit of using incomplete sentences, or using abbreviations, to hide sordid matters from innocent ears such as mine.
For example:

“She’s got TB!” This meant the killer disease tuberculosis. It had most probably been caught from drinking infected warm milk straight from a cow. This was quite common practise in the village, but it could be lethal.
“The poor lad has got SF!” In other words scarlet fever. I never knew what this disease meant, but my brothers suffered with it.
“The twins have croup!” This was a frightening deep hacking cough, and often dangerous.
“He’s got the DT’s!” This was delirium tremens or severe alcoholism. Green devils were imagined by a drunken driver who killed a child one afternoon on Styal Road.
“It’s DIP!” Diphtheria was the major panic illness of 1930s; it was a real frightener. Immunisation had just become widespread for children, and it saved many lives. “He’s got mumps!” This was dangerous to men. It could make them sterile.
“It’s rickets!” This was caused by vitamin deficiency, giving weak spindly legs. It was eliminated by improved diet."They'll have to come out!" Teeth! Dentists were greatly feared, owing to their efficiency as pain makers. There were no anaethetics!

We didn’t need horror stories, we lived them!

Chapter 6