Scarlet Fever Days by Lucille Kate Kinsella and Evelyn Laufer Taylor

In these days of Coronavirus quarantining, social distancing, and being in a world totally new from what we are used to, I thought a look back to Mom/Aunt CB’s TWO bouts with scarlet fever would be of interest! Then, I found out Evelyn Taylor also had scarlet fever. 

We are lucky here on the Cousins Blog to have TWO 90 plus year olds who like to write. Both Mom and Evelyn Taylor (wife of Bryant Taylor) had scarlet fever as young girls. Here are their stories.

Lucille Kate 'CB' Taylor Kinsella

First, Aunt CB aka Lucille Taylor Kinsella aka Mom:

In the summer of 1930, we moved to Geneva, NY. Daddy had lost his dream poultry farm in South Byron sometime in the last year. His uncle, Orrin Taylor, was a horticulturalist at the Experimental Station, a branch of Cornell University, and had obtained a job for him as a seed analyst. The Depression had begun!

Ruth had finished the 8^th grade, Arnon had finished the 6^th grade, and Esther had finished  4^th grade and all had been feted at parties; it was time to move on!

Daddy had started earlier and found a large 8 room house in Geneva, at 30 West Street, renting for $20 per month! Four bedrooms, a living and dining room, parlor and kitchen, plus front and back stairways! The last we children made good use of, chasing one another up and down. Also, a huge unfloored attic made for marvelous workspace for the boys and fun room for all!

Thus, we settled in Geneva, attended the First Presbyterian Church, and met our neighbors. Ruth started high school, Arnon attended Junior High School, and Esther went to the 5^th grade at High Street School, which was only around the corner from our home. In due time, Doris started there also, in 2^nd grade, and eventually, Lucille began Kindergarten in the same school, certainly being walked to school by the last two sisters. 

1932--Front Row: Harold, Doris, Lucille

Back Row: Esther, Ruth, Arnon

Then, catastrophe struck! Lucille contracted scarlet fever!

Thus for the next two years, in the spring of 1932 and 1933, I was kept home with scarlet fever. The Public Health Nurse arrived with a large bright red sign which tacked onto the house ( about 10 by 20 inches!).  People began to walk on the opposite side of the street from our house, and that was embarrassing to us all.

I was put to bed in Mom’s bed in the front of the house. Daddy, who had to work daily, lived in a large tent (his hunting tent!) in the side yard where he, Ruth, Arnon, and Esther each had a cot. I believe they got their food from the kitchen where Mom left food. Their clothes? I don’t know—they entered the house from the back porch which enclosed the kitchen door and where Mom’s washing machine was kept. She must have done their wash, and although none were supposed to enter the house-they had to at least use the back stairs to use the bathroom. I know NONE came near my room!

I remember very little except the visits of our doctor, Dr. James Allen, who would tell while sitting on the bedside and looking in my ears, that they were so full that he could see potatoes growing! I really thought they were! And, some kind soul had given me a celluloid (like plastic) baby doll which I loved. It had 2 outfits and diapers and I loved her dearly. Unfortunately, she had to be burned when I was declared well again! Where Harold slept, I don’t know, as his crib was kept in Mom’s room. Maybe in the bedroom where Doris and I usually slept. In any case, it must have been a very hard time for all!

The town nurse, Miss Mary Dormer, whom I knew from the church we attended, visited 2 to 3 times a week. She did not care for me, just came to check that no one but Mom took care of me--Mom must have bathed me and I suppose I had a potty chair in the room. The second year’s illness brought with it an extension of problems as infection entered the mastoid area of the head and affected my ears (the ultimate cause of my deafness)!

Dr. Allen attended often, no sulfa or penicillin then; he was a kind, gentle man. Later, I went to church and school with his nephew Bill, and we became lifelong friends. Another temporary bonus for the second time, was a weeklong period when it was thought that Doris also had the fever! We joyfully played together in bed with our paper dolls which were cut from the Sunday comic section. And then, she was banished—did not have the disease after all (nor did she get it from me later)!

The first year’s illness extended into four weeks. The second must have been a scorcher as it took six weeks!

Ruth, who had been thrilled to be a part of the yearly drama presentation in high school, was heartbroken to not be allowed to attend the first year—the tent was thought not to be ‘safe’ enough. And when NY State Regents exams took place at the end of the year, she had to take them outside in the tent with a teacher present. 

When I finally got well enough, after the first year, to again attend Kindergarten, I was so happy that looking back, I can see that all the teachers concerned, made a pet of me! Mrs. Palmer, an elderly teacher, surely ready for retirement, took good care of me and the younger teacher, Miss Elizabeth Rhodes, whom I’d known from church, read the class books with me by her side!

We must have had a full day session, for we each had our towel on which we napped after our can of milk. And the milk I drank tasted so good! I loved it (We only had skim milk at home)! Daddy brought home from work (the Experimental Station also had cows) two quarts of regular milk (8 cents a quart) in his milk container, and weekly, he brought one large metal can (15 cents) of skim milk. We never could have paid for daily milk for me. Sometimes, during nap time, I must have slept on after the others left, for I’d awaken to find Mrs. Palmer sitting and waiting for me to do so!

Both times after getting healthy, all of my bedclothes, toys, dolls and anything I had touched or played with, was burned.

Over the Second Bout of Scarlet Fever!

It must have been a horrendous time for all involved. Daddy must have had memories of his five year old sister Mildred dying from scarlet fever ( after just recovering from typhoid fever). Her body had to be held in a makeshift grave until public health felt it safe to bury in the local cemetery. So, my father and his brothers dug her first grave beneath a tree in the side yard of Woodlawn.

My Scarlet Fever Days DID give my children a reason to tease me when I’d make them do their homework. “Well, Mom, it took you TWO years to get out of Kindergarten!” That it did, as I was thought too frail to move on to First Grade right away.

Next, Evelyn Laufer Taylor:

Evelyn Laufer Taylor

The highlight of our stay in Detroit was my getting Scarlet Fever.  It came on an Easter weekend, and we had gone to Belle Isle with friends for a picnic.  There, I got sick, and the next day the doctor diagnosed my illness as Scarlet Fever, which then meant that I had to be quarantined for one month.

This quarantine applied to Dad also, so he had to live in a hotel and not see us at all.  We had no phone, so he came on weekends, regardless of the quarantine, to check on us and to visit.  One day he had come and was not feeling well at all, having a fever, so we thought , surely,he was coming down with it.  I looked out the window and saw the doctor coming.  We panicked and hurriedly hid Dad in the attic!  It turned out that he just had a bad cold, but we sure were scared over that one.

Evelyn, Age 6

The days were very long for Mom and me, and I am sure they were especially so for her.  I tried to entertain both of us by reading all the Campbell Soup ad jingles in the magazines.  I also read recipes out of the cookbook.  She was inspired to try "chicken croquettes"!  Mom made dresses for me and for her on my child's Singer sewing machine, which I still have.  She clamped it to the table edge and then turned the wheel by hand.  It makes a chain stitch, so every seam had to be tied off at the end, or it would unravel.  Believe me, this was time consuming.

After the first few days, I felt great except for itching from the skin peeling off me because of the high fever.  Every day Mom rubbed olive oil on my flaking skin.  To this day, whenever I eat a glazed doughnut, I am reminded of this, for the aroma is the same.  

Finally, the day came when the red quarantine sign was to be removed by the Health Department.  However, this was not to happen until all my toys that were washable had been put into the bath tub and washed with Lysol and water.  Any that could not be sterilized this way had to be burned.  This was a rough day for me, for a couple of my favorite dolls didn't make it.

Thank you Mom and Evelyn!! I so appreciate these remembrances of long ago. Stay safe and healthy, everyone!