The other day Dave and I found ourselves wandering around the cute village of Lechlade. We came across an antique shop that was selling books for 50p a piece. I couldn't resist this find: Illustrated Medical and Health Encyclopedia first copyrighted in 1935, with its final copyright done on 1963. and renewed until 1963.
It was the first page which made this a must-have for me. It's hard to specify which part of it is the most comical (or scary), but probably the fact that a book like this was last published less than 50 years ago. We've come a long way baby! Here's the excerpt from the first (FIRST!) page with my comments in brackets [ ]:
"Some people think that the sex of the baby is indicated by the shape of thie mother. There is no basis for this belief. Some people think that a baby will always be lucky or will have second sight if he is born with a caul or veil. That is just a condition of birth and has not the slightest significance. Anybody who believes in second sight will believe anything. [i know that's right!]
Not long ago a man listed the superstitions in Adams County, Illinois, relative to pregnancy. Here are some samples:
1. A woman who lays her coat and hat on a strange baby's bed will get a baby. [is this because she stole the baby and what happens if she lays down only her coat or only her hat? will she get half a baby?]
2. If outgrown baby clothes are given away, the mother will soon need them again. [well, this is certainly true. but the same could be said about anything we get rid of - it's certainly been my experience anyway!]
3. If a couple get married and go to a picture show within the first three days, they will have twins. [obviously true - Dave and I didn't go to a picture show within the first three days of being married and we don't have twins.]
4. A poor man is certain to have many children. [a quick observation will support that statement.]
5. When a boy is born, it means that the husband has more strength than his wife. [mmmkay...cuz it's the man pushing out the baby, is it?]
6. Boys are born more frequently to youthful than to elderly parents. [in fact, they're born more frequently in general. I do wonder how old someone would have to have been in 1956 to be considered an elderly parent? whatever the age, I'm sure I'm well past it.]
7. A baby born on a stormy night will be cross and nervous. [they forgot to include they'll also be a sociopath who wets their pants during a storm.]
8. A child born at four o'clock in the afternoon will be moderately rich. [must be true - I was born in the early morning and I'm not even modestly rich.]
9. A baby born with an open hand will be openhanded and of generous disposition. [and a baby born with a closed fist will be a banker.]
10. There are still people in Adams County who think that the stork brings babies, that the doctor brings children in his satchel, and there are some who say that babies are found in hollow tree stumps [i found one just the other day!] This is not peculiar to Adams County. [phew!] There are still people all over the world who do not know even a fraction of the simplest facts about life and living. [amen!]
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