Keeping with the medical theme of last Monday's Blog entry, I came across the following brief news item in the July 11, 1940 edition of the Tuckerton Beacon.
When I first read the news item I was not sure if it referred to Steve Eichinger having his tonsils removed or his younger brother, Lee, who was known as "Chubby." I called Steve who confirmed that, indeed, it was he who had his tonsils out in 1940.
Little Stevie Eichinger
Steve remembered the incident as if were yesterday and related an interesting bit of information to me. As he remembers the episode, he was six years old and about to start school in New Gretna. He remembers being placed on a table, a cloth mask placed over his nose and mouth, and ether being dripped on the mask. He woke up in a hospital bed where they plied him with ice cream and sent him home.
As Steve tells it, everyone starting school at that time had to have their tonsils out, much as we now have requirements that children have certain shots before entering school. That seems rather harsh to me and somewhat unbelievable, but Steve was insistent it was true. Does anyone out in the Blog-O-Sphere remember having their tonsils removed in order to be enrolled in school?
Pete S