Making Do

When James and I married, his hospital clothes were furnished and laundered by the hospital. I did my clothes by hand. I washed diapers by hand for a month or so after Carolyn was born.

Then I began keeping the baby who belonged to another medical friend. She furnished diaper service for both of us and paid me $25 a month to keep Martha Ellen. That enabled me to stay home with Carolyn. And paid the rent.

When they left Galveston, I went back to washing diapers by hand. The washing was not a lot of trouble to me, but the drying was a chore. The sea breezes blew and kept the clothes from drying. Some times, I’d have to hang the same clothes out two days in a row to finally get them to dry.

When Carolyn was born, it was customary for baby food companies to send samples to doctor’s families. In fact Carnation Milk Company furnished her milk for the whole time. She drank formula made from it.

I had tried to breast feed Carolyn, and got an infection and had to stop. Gerber’s sent cereal, scads of cereal, and new products for doctors’ families to try out. We were just showered with baby foods from different companies, hoping the doctors would recommend them to patients. It was a great help to us, of course, and if they sent something not appropriate for Carolyn, I tried it out. Cutting down on the grocery bill. Ha!