Quarantines use to be common

[harllee]

My mother (almost age 90) recently told me about her quarantine experiences. I did not realize that quarantines due to health concerns were so common here in the U.S. Mother said that almost every year her house had a quarantine with a quarantine sign in the yard. When she was very young one of her playmates died of polio. Fortunately my mother did not get polio but she had to be quarantined at home--she said it lasted the whole summer (not sure that is correct). She could not leave her yard and there was a large sign in the yard that said "Quarantine" and she was told that if she left her yard her parents would be put in jail.

The other times she was put under quarantine had to do with diphtheria. She lived in a large house that housed multigenerations. Someone was constantly getting sick with diphtheria and then everyone in the house had to be put under quarantine. Finally a smart doctor decided to test everyone in the house and it was discovered that one of her cousins was a diphtheria carrier. Once that cousin got treatment then the diphtheria in her house went away and no more quarantines!

I was wondering if anyone else has had experience with quarantines.

 

[Teacher Terry]

My mom has talked about quarantines but it was long ago and she is long dead. She said most people respected them because your neighbors were your family or good friends.

 

[W2R]

In 1949 or 1950 my late brother Bob had spinal meningitis, and our whole elementary school was quarantined for a while, as was our home. The school eventually shut down for a while until they could operate normally. You're right; quarantines were probably a lot more common back then.

 

[EastWest Gal]

I had measles when I was two, along with my 4 year old sister. We were quarantined at home. Far longer than we were sick. My mom told us we drove her crazy until she brought our tricycles inside. I have no memory of this, but it was a family story, my sister and I riding our tricycles in the kitchen.

 

[harllee]

OP here--I wonder how the quarantines were enforced? My mother said when she was quarantined for polio exposure she was told if she left the yard her parents would be thrown in jail. Wonder if that was true?

 

[Sunset]

I had measles when I was two, along with my 4 year old sister. We were quarantined at home. Far longer than we were sick. My mom told us we drove her crazy until she brought our tricycles inside. I have no memory of this, but it was a family story, my sister and I riding our tricycles in the kitchen.

When a neighbor had German Measles and was confined to home, my mother sent me to go play with him so I would catch it. So I would be immune later in life. She told me it was so I could have children later in life.

 

[ncbill]

Didn't polio scares also shut down schools, pools, movie theaters, churches?

 

[skipro33]

We were quarantined in 1959 when I had Scarlet Fever.

 

[audreyh1]

Measles are highly infectious, so I can imagine there were quarantines for that.

 

[MRG]

I have memories of not being able to visit a nearby neighbor for fears of polio. Seems like something my DM would have been able to shed more light on.

My great grandparents died as a result of the 1889-1890 pandemic, apparently it killed over 1 million people worldwide. What tools did they have back then other than staying away from the sick?

I just read an article by a surgeon in Bergamo, Italy. He's urging people not to be impatient and head the warnings to avoid public gatherings. It was a big dose of reality for me. I don't know how to copy it here but if you are interested it's on Reddit r/Coronavirus

 

[JoeWras]

Yes, I mentioned on the other thread about polio. I'm of the post polio outbreak age, however, my parents, aunt, and uncles spoke of it all the time. The summer without the public pools, for instance (early 50s). It made an impression on them, especially since they were having infants of their own.

My mom's first cousin got polio in that bad year ('52?) and suffered a limp his whole life.

 

[CardsFan]

I had a grade school friend that had Polio (born around 1955). Probably at the end of the out break.

I don't remember ever being quarantined, but I do remember having measles, chicken pox or mumps (Forget which one at the time, I had all three) and having the neighbor kids over so we could all get it together.

Times were different.

 

[brewer12345]

We were quarantined in 1959 when I had Scarlet Fever.

Interesting. I had it a couple times as a kid (remember it once) and to my knowledge there was no quarantine involved. This was a generation later (late 70s/early 80s) so maybe there were more effective drugs when I had it and they were not as worried.

 

[harley]

OP here--I wonder how the quarantines were enforced? My mother said when she was quarantined for polio exposure she was told if she left the yard her parents would be thrown in jail. Wonder if that was true?

When I was a kid my mom told me that if I touched the automatic window switch in the back seat of our station wagon that I would get electrocuted. I suspect your mom's parents were using the same scare tactics.

 

[swakyaby]

In 1980, I lived in a student dormitory on campus at UCLA. A student we knew knocked on our door and asked if he could check his temperature with my roommate’s thermometer. He sat on my bed a few minutes, then left. Nearly 2 months later, we learned he had developed a full-blown case of chicken pox 2 weeks after his visit, and health officials had debated over quarantining our entire dormitory. In the end, they decided against it since we had been mingling with everyone for 2 weeks before it was discovered.

 

[Bongleur]

Didn't polio scares also shut down schools, pools, movie theaters, churches?

Polio IS a damn scary disease. People nowadays live so far from the edge of disaster that they don't recognize when they are on it.