January 6th, 2009
Honestly, where does the time go? It’s already January 6 and it feels like Christmas was only yesterday!
I have another photograph for you today; one that shows — yet again — that breastfeeding, especially for those who lived a rural lifestyle and had yet to be convinced of formula, was a part of everyday life.
Although this photo isn’t dated, I wager a bet it was taken during the mid to late 1930s. It may potentially be the early 1940s. What is particularly telling about this photograph are the notes on the back of the photo (below) and the fact that once again breastfeeding in public was no big deal before the formula industry changed the perception of infant feeding (almost irreparably) in this country. The men could care less that a woman’s exposed breast is in full view of everyone, although the little boy on the right does seem a little enthralled by the baby breastfeeding.
Written Notes on Item
a) Part of Social Hour audience at Shafter Camp (handwritten on reverse); b) Todd’s favorite picture of an “Okie Family” in Shafter F.S.A. Camp. Nursing babies was the usual thing at camp “Socials.” (typed and attached to reverse)
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December 27th, 2008
Did you receive your January/ February issue of Mothering? I did and I can’t help but feel immensely encouraged and happy about life. Although I’m a little partial, I have always loved the sense of community and mothering love Mothering magazine exudes. It’s such a treat for all of us.
It’s been awhile since I blogged last. I often do a disappearing act when life gets in the way. I’ve been thinking of ways to create some sort of community with all of you, my dear readers. Getting constant feedback from you helps me keep going as it takes immense time and dedication to hunt down historic breastfeeding photos. I also often think about how all of this work could easily translate into a Ph.D. Maybe one day. But I am always encouraged by communication with readers.
What do you think? How do you think we can all stay more connected? You with me and me with you? I’d love to create a blogroll of readers’ blogs so I can visit and read about what’s going on in your life. If you have a blog and read here regularly, please leave a comment with your URL.
Think about it. I’d love to create some type of community with those of you who read regularly. It will help me keep digging for photos and it will also help me meet more of you, not just in the comments.
I found this photo recently and think it’s one of the most beautiful photographs I’ve seen in the two years since I’ve been discovering these black and white photos online.
Here is a French women nursing her baby in Rouen in April 1946. The father of the baby was an American GI.
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December 4th, 2008
I am sure these nurses have only the best intentions for the care and health of these 
babies but you have to stop and wonder if anyone back then thought a mother’s natural milk would be best for her premature baby. Do you think that occurred to any of them at any point?
Well, the short answer has to be “no” because the medical establishment taught nurses and doctors that cow’s milk was the optimal nutrition for a child that is born prematurely. How that logic came to be held so prominently is beyond me. Here are three nurses giving formula to babies born too soon in 1939.
If I’m not mistaken some hospitals these days recommend that mothers of preemies express milk for them as opposed to giving them formula. Correct me if I’m wrong on that.
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September 8th, 2008
Despite what sometimes feels like hostile reactions toward breastfeeding in public these days, there is a long tradition of nursing in public even though there were decades when mothers were taught to bottle feed as opposed to breastfeed. Here is a photo from May 15, 1916. The title of the photo is “The cornstock madonna” and was taken by Orin Crooker, Hoopeston, Ill.
Tags: breastfeeding in public
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August 19th, 2008
Blogging for Mothering magazine is truly a dream come true for me! I never thought in a million years that I would be able to write on a daily basis for a magazine that I adore about a subject I hold dear: breastfeeding.
The angle I will take on breastfeeding here is going to be a bit unconventional. I won’t be blogging about current news and events surrounding breastfeeding. Instead I will blog about historic breastfeeding and show evidence that over the years the formula industry aided in making nursing in public taboo.
Some of you may know me from my personal breastfeeding blog, and others of you may be reading my writing for the very first time. A lot of what I have previously written I will also share here. I will publish a whole host of new photos and archived information about breastfeeding that has largely been lost to history.
On my about page it mentions a photograph I found on the Library of Congress website that prompted me on this never-ending search for more historic breastfeeding photos. Well, here it is. Here is the photo that started it all. I hope you join me as I find more and more photos and writings that show how much nursing in public was a part of everyday life for so many mothers for so long.
I’d like to introduce you to a mother who is traveling from Louisville, Kentucky to Memphis, Tennessee on a Greyhound bus. Here, she is waiting in the Chattanooga bus terminal and breastfeeding in public in September 1943.
Tags: 1940s, breastfeeding in public
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