Growing up in an Amish home we weren't always aware that we were doing or using some thing that the rest of the American public wouldn't have considered doing for health reasons.
Example one:
The oil stove in the kitchen (Never mind the fact that it posed its own health risks and problems due to the noxious fumes) that we used during the summer months was always a concern that its oven might make the wall behind it too hot.
To prevent a possible fire we kept a sheet of asbestos between it and the wall. We didn't have any idea asbestos was bad for you, and lugged that grayish sheet from home to home until 2004 when my parents moved to a community that allowed gas stoves and they got rid of both the oil stove and the sheet of asbestos.
Example two:
Little girl babies would often have bobbies before their hair was long enough to braid. In order to help the bobbies lay neatly a piece of lead would be pounded flat and little piece would be broken off to be used to have the hair wrapped tightly around it, the ends would then be bent to keep the hair in place.
We had no idea lead was a bad thing.
When Rosebud came along my Mom gave me her remaining scraps of lead since it was very hard to find lead by that time. However, Rosebud's hair grew very slowly, and we had moved to a community that didn't use bobbies for their little girls so I never used it. Something I have been thankful for!
Interested in seeing bobbies? I found a picture here.
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Wow! I had never thought of these things and had not heard of bobbies. I hope some things have changed for safety's sake.
ReplyDeleteBlessings,
Betsy
With lead being harder to find, I'm guessing more and more Amish mothers are finding something else to use to make bobbies.
DeleteI'm actually appalled to learn this! Why wouldn't the Amish community keep up with things like lead poisoning and the carcinogenic effects of asbestos? It has nothing to do with pride or imitating the world, and everything to do with the health of the community. I'm glad that your children weren't affected by this!
ReplyDeleteHow would you suggest they go about learning about these things. It's not like they have TV and are bombarded with ads to sue for injuries sustained from asbestos and lead.
DeleteIt's not that they would willfully do anything to harm their children, they simply don't know better and no one has educated them.
I'm guessing in the future some of today's practices will be looked back on with some touch of dismay and horror. (I'm speaking of the general public here.)
I understand what you're saying. I was thinking perhaps their doctors might tell them, but then that might not be something their doctors would think to tell them about. I'm sorry for the strong reaction. I was just remembering that my mom used to use a mercury-laced antiseptic for scrapes 'cause she didn't know any better either. That's something that was discovered later. I think I survived the experience, though. ;)
DeleteNo worries. :) I wasn't offended. I thought you may have some idea of how the Amish could be educated. It would be great if doctors would talk about it to them, but they probably aren't aware that there is a need.
DeleteIt's not just the Amish. My Grandma used to put turpentine on small cuts and "hangnails" on our fingers to take the soreness away. It works and I have no idea how harmful it was. We also were allowed to roll mercury around that came out of fuses and thermostats; again no idea that it was harmful. And I just heard that 29% of all cancer deaths are attributed to smoking. Go figure....people do what they want. I was in that 2nd hand smoke. I'm 55 and have no medical problems and take no medications. Doesn't make sense, does it?
ReplyDeleteIt's interesting how we can look back and see the harmful things that were once thought to be safe. Makes you wonder what things we'll be looking back at in 50 years from now.
DeleteI think every society has been guilty of that. The important thing is that once you are aware you make the change. Smoking and drinking during pregnancy was something that was the norm when I was born. I was shocked to see medical books recommend to mother's that they only have 1-2 drinks a day and smoke 1/4 of a pack of cigarettes. That was in the late 70's. Not that long ago.
ReplyDeleteI agree. I think every generation does things that future generations will shake their heads at.
DeleteNothing too shocking. I find it more astounding that we still use mercury in dental fillings! Yikes! I'm betting on that being one that we are shocked by in the future. Oh, if it makes you feel any better, wasn't asbestos and cancer linked with smoking? I think studies done some years ago found that non-smokers exposed to asbestos didn't get cancer. ...On the other hand, you can probably find a study to show anything you want, haha!
ReplyDeleteMercury in dental fillings bugs me! Thankfully our dentist has been good at not even offering it as an option for our children.
DeleteAsbestos was being used to make siding for homes, floor tiles, and all kinds of things during the 1950's and 60's. The elementary school I attended had asbestos in the boiler room. That building was built in the late 1940's. The dangers of asbestos apparently were either not known or not disclosed to the public in the 1960's.
ReplyDeleteThe use of bits of lead for hair rollers sounds dangerous, but how would the Amish know, unless someone puts notice of it in their newspapers, or communicates it to them in some way. I am sure that as word spreads that it is dangerous ways will change.
I believe that fishing sinkers were made of lead. I used to handle them any time I fished when I was a kid. I guess not much of them must have been absorbed into my skin--I hope.
I think that possibly the old fashioned Christmas tree tinsel that was used in the early 1960's, that is no longer made, was made of lead. It was very pretty and had the weight to hang gracefully.
I chuckled about the comment from Denise with the mercury from thermometers. I had a small cardboard box for years as a child. That box contained my mercury collection(yikes!). Every time a mercury thermometer was dropped and broken at our house, I gathered the amazing little balls of mercury and saved them in the cardboard box. It was so fun to play with them, poking them and watching them break off into many other little balls. I don't know what ever happened to my mercury collection.
Something that I am sure people are still using is talc. I just saw on TV where another lawsuit was won against Johnson and Johnson. How many generations of babies were powdered with every diaper change? The thing with the talc is that it's carcinogenic qualities were suspected for decades, but it was not widely disclosed. Why not? Because there was money to be made or lost depending upon disclosure.
Who knows what may turn out to be the next carcinogen or toxin that we are merrily exposing ourselves to right now that we shouldn't be.
Hindsight is always 20/20.
All this talk about playing with mercury makes me want to try it. ... I won't though. :)
DeleteI've been watching the whole talc thing unfold too. Baby powder is something I used to use for our oldest. :(
Oh, I can remember being given tiny bits of mercury to rub on a nickel to make it shiny. It was fun to try to pick it up, too.
ReplyDeleteOur local granddaughter is gung-ho for all of the Latest Things on child-rearing. Her first child was perfectly happy to sleep on her back, but the second baby simply wasn't having any. The poor child would fuss and fret for an hour or more, which naturally didn't do our granddaughter any good, either. I finally told her to put him on his tummy. "No point in both of you being miserable." He sleeps like a log now - and so does she!
I emptied a six-cup coffee pot every morning during my pregnancies; now they tell us it is linked to birth defects. My girls all turned out perfectly healthy!
So many do's and don'ts. It's hard to keep track of them all, especially since they keep changing.
DeleteI can remember asbestos fake snow from my childhood. I recently read a warning that some vintage Christmas decorative items could have asbestos, too. Growing up in the 50's could be hazardous!
ReplyDeleteAh, no seat belts, and those dinky little car seats with the "gear shift"; practically designed to impale a kid.
DeleteMary Ann, do Amish mums use cars seats in buggies?
No car seats in buggies. Babies are held, toddlers often sit between Mom and Dad.
DeleteThat is interesting about the bobbies! The amish round here use a piece of yarn and try to braid the hair (french bread) with it. Some of these little babies have no hair and are only a month or two old - guess its good to get them used to it early though!
ReplyDeleteEven though I grew up Amish, I still find it interesting how many different ways communities have of doing things.
DeleteI doubt a sheet of asbestos would be much of a hazard, unless it was crumbling away. It's not like touching asbestos is dangerous - you have to breathe in the asbestos fibers.
ReplyDeleteGood to know.
DeleteWhen I was a kid, we used to pull the metal strips off coffee bags (can you still get coffee in bags?) and use those to put up our hair. I used to take the "twisties" off of bread bags to put my girls' hair in pony tails. They are smaller than "coffee strips" so might be better to make bobbies.
ReplyDeleteThose coffee strips should work for bobbies. They're a little sturdier than some other options.
DeleteMom would use smoke pipe cleaners to make bobbies and that was only when going to church.
ReplyDeleteInteresting.
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