getting childhood illnesses in the fifties

I had measles badly in the 50s, when I developed pneumonia with it. I was in bed for weeks and missed the first part of the 11 plus exam. I still made it to grammar school, but don't know how. I was on M&B emulsion to bring the temperature down, and pink penicillin from a bottle. I can't stand anything cherry flavoured to this day!
I had Rubella in adulthood, which made me quite ill. The GP asked whether I felt 'jointy'. I didn't understand what he meant until a few days in, when my hands and legs seized up.

Thanks all,really interesting stories.
My mother, now 99yrs of age, has always told me that there were no vaccinations when we were young kids in the forties and early fifties.
Some mentioned about being put to bed with hot water bottles, so does anyone remember the awful stone ones?
I may know of them as it was at my grandparent's home in Eire, where we had them. Eire was then far behind the UK in times.

I'm surprised how many of you were confined to bed with these illnesses.
Did I have a heartless mum, a bad memory or just mild cases

The seriel on Womans Hour is about a nurse training on a Childrens Ward in the 50s well worth listening to. I am going to try nd get the book. Its also about attitudes to a child dying. Sad but well written.

I had chickenpox immediately followed by measles around 1957. I remember thinking that at least the measles spots weren't as nasty as the chickenpox ones.
In the 1980s neither of my daughters were immunised against measles because our then GP advised against it because I have a cousin and my husband has an aunt with epilepsy. By the time my younger daughter was a year old our new GP did recommend immunisation but it was too late, as our older daughter caught measles and our younger did also, on the day scheduled for her immunisation. A very unpleasant experience for both, although no complications fortunately. Both daughters subsequently had the MMR!

I remember having all these illnesses and it just seemed to be the norm that you stayed in bed. No TV then of course to keep you occupied but meals on a tray in bed were a luxury. I was ill on my birthday once and our lovely family doctor arrived at the same time as the postman so brought my cards upstairs singing Happy Birthday! I think my sister and I had Scarlet Fever or something equally infectious because I have a memory of someone coming to the house after we were better and spraying something in our bedroom to disinfect it. I was at primary school with a couple of children who wore calipers presumably having had polio and there was also a boy always referred to as 'the blue boy' because he had a blue tinge to his skin. He never did PE and had to be carried upstairs. With hindsight of course I realise the poor child probably had heart problems.

I had scarlet fever too, I remember it was thought I caught it from a small private library I belonged to which was closed down for a while for cleaning. I stayed at home but my bedroom had to be disinfected and the wall paper stripped off. I don't really remember much about the actual illness.

No one remember polio caught in swimming baths? I Remember boys at my boarding school being transported to hospital in iron longs - some died some lived but with shortened legs and lifelong limps. I am still terrified to go swimming, ...just in case you understand

i had whooping cough and measles as a child and was confined to bed with lovely "invalid meals" - scrambled eggs or boiled fish (skinned and boned and flaked with butter).
i never had mumps even though my mother took me to every "mumps party" going. my daughter hasn't either although my son did - nursed him through it too.
i had rubella as an adult and it laid me very low - didn't realise i hadn't had it as a child.
i also had meningitus (the viral one) as an adult - not at all nice as i've lost a week of my life being unconscious.
my brother had chicken pox when he was 21 and it was also in his throat which closed up so he couldn't breathe - very worrying time that.

I got all the common childhood illnesses in the 40s and 50s.
Of course, polio was the one mothers feared but I escaped that be. It was interesting that my children were both immune to TB. I remember a girl in my class going to an open air school, so it's likely that I was exposed to it.
When I gave blood, my card was marked "reserve for neonates". My blood is probably bursting with antibodies

I had measles, chicken pox, german measles and whooping cough. Whooping cough nearly finished me off. I stopped eating and drinking and my parents were distraught. Then my dad had an idea. He brought a bar of chocolate into my room and the cheese grater. He didn't say a word, just grated the chocolate onto a plate and left the room. He peeped through the door and watched me go and taste the chocolate. This made me thirsty and I was on the road to recovery. My daughter had whooping cough in 1979 after had the vaccination!

I remember, in the 1960s, that one of our school teachers went down with TB and the whole school was tested for it. Only two of us had natural immunity and escaped the BCG!

I think we were kept in bed because we got the illnesses in winter and our house was unheated except for a paraffin stove in the sitting room in the evening. It was a darn sight warmer in bed.

There were house calls from the doctor, too. When I had whooping cough, he came twice a day for two weeks, then once a day then just twice a week until I went back to school. Imagine that happening nowadays!

My sister and I had measles badly in the 1930s and we were in our bedroom for six weeks but we had the luxury of a coal fire. Doctor made regular calls even on Christmas Day. My daughter had scarlet fever in the fifties and was in the isolation hospital. Was very upset because she couldn't bring her toys out of the hospital.

I loved being ill in bed. For one thing, our boxer came and curled up at my feet; and, for another, I was allowed to have schools broadcasts on the radio. I loved one called 'The BBC Service from the past', in which 'Uncle Jim' time travelled with two children and taught them all about life in the past. That was far more interesting than anything I learnt at school.

Polio, measles, mumps, chicken pox - all between five and ten years of age. But no rubella until adulthood. Luckily not when pregnant. The worst - isolation hospital for six weeks with polio. The best -mom made freshly squeezed orange juice when my sister and I were sick. A real treat.
I cannot bear to hear of modern day parents not vaccinating their kids. I know firsthand what these illnesses can do.

Oh yes and whooping cough too....

Yes I got measles when I was about 5 had to stay in a darkened room. Got chicken pox in my 30's caught it off my children, wish I had got it when I was young, was so ill my children were OK after a few days I was ill for 2weeks.

I too had mumps 1960, chicken pox a few years later & measles which was mercifully mild. Remember being covered in calamine lotion to stop itching with CP (still got a couple of small scars where knickers knocked tops off spots). Polio was the big fear, remember the vaccine on sugar lumps. 1963 swimming baths in nearby town were closed down due to Polio. I was at school with a boy who had Polio, he had a caliper on one leg.

Never managed to catch German Measles which meant I had to be careful when I was pregnant with DD only to find I am immune anyway .

My worst memory is of severe ear-ache & going deaf which led to 2 stays in Hospital & several weeks off school. Hospital was a nightmare as I was on an Adult Ward at 8/9 years old.

Yes I can remember my sister and I having most of them (not polio although I knew a young man who did). Whooping cough was horrid but it did mean a week by the seaside just me and Mummy. Sea air was thought to be the best cure. Abscesses on my ears were so painful. All I could do was lay my head on a hot water bottle and wait for the pain to go. I guess that must have been before antibiotics

I had scarlet fever when I was 5. I remember my mum crying when the doctor told her, then the ambulance came for me. I was in bed in hospital for 2 weeks with the nastiest tasting medecine I could imagine (when I was much older I tasted Campari, and it reminded me) then I was allowed up, and had to play outside every day (even in the rain)for a week. The night before I came home my younger sister was admitted. When I got home all my old toys and clothes had gone, I even had a new eiderdown on my bed, but I wasn't allowed to sleep in it because my room had to be fumigated by the council for the second time, because of my sister. It was a really scary time - 3 weeks away from home, and no-one allowed to visit.

I had all the usual 50's childhood illnesses, scarlet fever and chicken pox following on one from the other. Measles, mumps, german measles twice, weeks in bed and off school, if mum thought my eyes weren't going to be affected I was allowed to read which I loved. Favourite memory is of dad putting brown paper round the bedroom light.

I had whooping cough as a small baby, it scared my mother. I had measles and mumps and several bouts of tonsillitis, until I had my tonsils removed age 7. I had about half a dozen spots when chicken pox was about, I never caught it again so I suppose it was sufficient to give me immunity. I never had rubella, although both my sisters did.

I had a very serious bout of measles at 18months old and was always told I had to be learnt to walk again after it. As it turned out the reason for this was because I lost my hearing in my left ear and it had compromised my balance. Even now (I am 62) I have balance problems due to Labyrinthitis some years ago, most people get over it quite quickly but because I only have hearing on one side it has left a permanent problem for me. But enough moaning, I have had a normal good (?) life an brought up my family, so it could have been so much worse.

Had them all and was very sick with measles . I often wonder if that was the reason for my extreme shortsightedness. Also had polio during the outbreak in about 1954. I fully recovered but two little girls in my street ended up with damaged legs and had to wear callipers .I remember too being stuck in bed with meals on a tray and a fire in the bedroom hearth . My brother and I got most things together so at least we had company !