50's family pics

I can relate to so much mentioned... first, as I mention in my profile, I chose my "red devil" moniker because of the scary way the red open-top enema bag, hanging in bathroom seemed to be there waiting to get me! I can also relate to sitting too long on the potty (though toilet in my case) with nothing happening and parent calling out "any luck yet?" If I said yes, I was told not to flush so proof could be seen. I thought I was clever one-time by placing allot of toilet paper down to hide the empty bowl, but that trick didn't work and I soon heard the familiar clanking of the special enamel pot being placed on the stove to warm water in order to dissolve allot of Ivory Snowfor the enema I would soon be getting..

I recently discovered a picture in the Americana Archives of all places!

Not a picture from the 50's but from 1941.

It clearly shows a fountain syringe hanging on the wall of a house which has been purchased by the Government to make an Army post in WWII.

A chamber pot is on the floor in an adjoining bedroom which can be seen through the doorway.

My assumption is that the mother of the children was using the syringe as birth control since the nozzle is a black bakelite douche nozzle. I would also speculate the children of the house were no stranger to the bag!! It was 1941 after all!

I suspect you are very correct in your assessment. Douching was very prominent in those days, whether for contraceptive purposes or simple feminine hygiene. Such issues as HIV or other pathogens weren't of concern. Perhaps some UTI's were possible, but using the fountain syringe for enemas and douching wasn't a major concern. Some soap and water likely was considered adequate at home.

The photo is a wonderful find! I've previously posted a link to an old military video that dealt with feminine hygiene. There was video of a women preparing the bag and hanging it in the tub and also above the toilet after retrieving it from a drawer. Photos of vintage bulb syringes were also shown.

These old time reminders sure do bring back memories!

A couple of points... I have a friend who builds large scale doll houses representing earlier times, she always has a "douche bag" hung on at least one bathroom door.

In my early teens, working as a baby sitter I would always look for where the douche bag was hidden. At one house, discreetly hidden in the bathroom linen closet was a zippered bag. Curiosity got the best of me, not only did I find the lady's diaphragm, there was also a complete book of instructions, my first lesson in birth control.

A few years later one of my classmate was shocked when her mother asked if she wanted to be fitted for a diaphragm, we laughed with her about it, her mother was far more progressive than she was. When we told her she was lucky, she had just been "granted permission," she said, Yes. but I'm not ready!

I seem to remember a reference to Ali MacGraw's diaphragm being found by her mother in "Goodbye Columbus." Yes, growing up we had flocked wallpaper, if you have to ask you aren't Jewish.

Understand that until digital photography came along everything, except Polaroid, had to be left at a drug store, photo lab, or somewhere outside the home and often outside the town to a labor-intensive photo developing lab.

Other people developed the film in majority of cases. You COULD be in trouble if they saw something they shouldn't.

When my father was in middle school in the 1970s $500 bills were still in general circulation. His grandfather on his father's side gave him one as a birthday present a couple of times when he was in his 'teens. The first time he actually photographed it! Lucky for him when his father picked up the pictures, it was explained to him in no uncertain terms why he was lucky the whole roll hadn't been destroyed! Also that the Secret Service HAD been notified, and they were the ones who identified it as the work of a kid who probably didn't know any better, there for the decision was to only destroy those two negatives.

Polaroid was a very expensive way to take pictures. As a result it was often only used on the most special occasions.That actually turned out to be a mistake because the pictures faded so much faster than ordinary prints.

As tight-fisted and downright penurious as his parents were, Polaroid was out of the question.

Even with an Instamatic he had to buy most of his own film, and he says it was always an argument about the cost of getting it developed.

And to make matters worse he was big brother to a wise-ass who was always pranking him.

Given that, you don't think it ever crossed his mind to let a camera in the same room with any of his enema equipment, do you??

LisaK;

Have you attempted to print a bill lately? I find I have to scale it to a size that's noticeably different than real to get it to print. I don't know how they get the printer to know that.

Understand that until digital photography came along everything, except Polaroid, had to be left at a drug store, photo lab, or somewhere outside the home and often outside the town to a labor-intensive photo developing lab.

I had my own darkroom and enlarger since 1968. Nothing special, but it got the job done and wasn't even all that expensive either. I developed my own b/w film and printed whichever of the shots I took I thought were worth it. There was nothing difficult about developing and printing either. And doing it myself was a whole lot cheaper.

I took literally tens of thousands of negatives at a fraction of the cost. Got rid of my darkroom and developing equipment since though.

Unfortunately there was no numerical camera or smartphone in the 50s. The chances to see a photo of things suggesting enemas in families is low. Voyeur photos must be also rare.

Voyeur photos must be also rare.

Rare but not non-existent.

To give one example of an amateur voyeur photographer (1960's onward to 1980's) here is a link about Miroslav Tichy,

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Miroslav_Tichý

https://www.anothermanmag.com/life-culture/10558/miroslav-tichy-unsuspecting-women-nick-cave-document-another-man-magazine

He is btw now considered an (Outsider) Artist with a capital A, but had he ever been caught while busy with his photographing, he probably would have been classified as a Creep and a Degenerate and had some serious explaining to do about his Deviant Morality ... as they say, it's all about timing ... ha ha

Roscoe:

There is a lot of bad software out there.

That's why those things happen.

Good software is expensive. people who have it don't usually deal in cash.

There were ways to get photos printed back in the 50's, as mentioned in this thread... back then there were small stores in many towns that sold film and camera equipment, and if you asked around you could find photo printing services. Later on there was the now defunct Enema Erotic magazine that offered developing as well as transferring Polaroid to film.. (I use their services a few times.) But once you had your photos what did you with them, what could you do with them, apart from posting them in a magazine like Enema Erotica if you dared to so.

LisaK;

Have you attempted to print a bill lately? I find I have to scale it to a size that's noticeably different than real to get it to print. I don't know how they get the printer to know that.

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/EURion_constellation

Yes, in the 1980's and early 1990's Ron Tyler offered professional photo finishing for adult photos including professional pictures for adult talent, and photos that might get you into legal trouble if some teenager working in a Foto-Hut (remember them?) saw a penis or boobies. His lab also did non-adult content photos. He did my photos from med school, including 16x20 enlargements of some beautiful sunsets over the ocean I took back then.

When he relocated to Texas, he sold Fifth Avenue Color Lab to a friend of his, who kept the business going for a few more years.

Doc

A few months past, I was mentioning the fact that I had an entire roll of slide film vanish when sent in for processing in the early 1970 era. It was the only roll of slides that ever vanished without a trace. I contacted the postal service and the processing service with no positive results. It was suggested that the slides might have been damaged during processing but no proof was supplied. I suspected that someone in the lab doing the processing saw some very well done professional photography with a good camera and lens. It was easy enough to just make the entire roll of slides vanish into their collection.

After hearing my story of the missing roll of slides, my friend felt my suspicions were absolutely true. Seems he had a friend who worked in a photo lab where he saw all sorts of photo work. He often bragged about having accidents where the photos he liked were taken home for his own collection which was growing all the time. I am sure my roll of slides ended up in a personal collection of some film processor and will never be seen again.

Another friend sent in a color slide of a UFO to be enlarged. He figured it was just another week or so before the enlargement of the UFO was returned with the original slide. It was well over 6 weeks before the enlargement was sent and only after a query was sent to the lab as to what was going on. They figured the men in dark suits of the from the government inspectors had taken a good look at the enlargements and perhaps had a few extra printed for their files.

My Dad tells me that, in the days when you mailed film off to be developed, there was a much grater chance of the lab losing it than the post office.

He said that even now 90% of stuff that "got lost in the mail" never got out the sender's door. Actual permanent losses in the mail are quite rare, and most involve sending cash through the mail.

Safe bet the processing lab got their signals crossed somewhere. Weather by accident or not!

I was in GA in the army and we had spectacular thunder storms quite often. I tried to capture the lightning on my 8mm movie camera one time but I never got it back from the lab. I figure 2 possibilities: they didn't see it and trimmed it or the guy wanted it for himself. An 8mm roll of film was actually 25 feet of 16mm that you turned over so you shot both sides. In processing they sliced it down the middle, spliced the ends together and you got back a 50 foot reel of film. Sometimes you got back a roll with a long piece of light struck but mostly black film in the center but sometimes they cut that out before splicing. I shot the lightning at the end of the roll but it lasted long enough so I'm sure it wasn't during the time the shutter was closed so I figure they thought it was unexposed and trimmed it.

In the last 15 minutes or so of the movie: Spencer's Mountain there is a quick view of a red enema bag hanging on the bathroom door. Pure nostalgia of the 1950's..

In the last 15 minutes or so of the movie: Spencer's Mountain there is a quick view of a red enema bag hanging on the bathroom door. Pure nostalgia of the 1950's..

I tried google and youtube to find a free copy of the movie and/or that scene, but no luck... would be great to see... Despite my being in and out of friend's homes in the late 1940's and early 50's I never remember seeing an enema bag hanging in the bathroom. Seems my mom was one who did that, and as I grew older I found it embarrassing.

I was able to get Spencer's Mountain by typing in Internet Archive Spencer's Mountain. I watched the entire movie. Great Movie ... and there were several places where the hot water bottle (only) was hanging from the bathroom door... Again, great movie...

Have a family photo of my siblings and a few of my cousins together. single digits, my little sister next to me...we looked like Campbell Kids...she was about that age when i watched her getting an enema on the table one night. the memory is still a turn on even now.

Cleaning out my parents house and found one down in the cellar/cold room. My sis and I haven't mentioned it as of yet. Hmmmmmmmmmm.

I still can see in my mind of me over my mom lap with the enema bag on the door full and hose disappearing behind me and feeling the warm soapy water flowing in. Wish there was a way to get it on paper.

My dad was a hobby photographer with his own photo lab. He had endlessly shot films through his camera.

Many pictures have survived to this day, but none of our bathroom or things in it. These were probably uninteresting motifs, unfortunately. Since initially the bulb with which I was treated always stood open on the cupboard next to the toilet, or later an enamel irrigator hung above it, or then a red rubber bag hung behind the door... nothing has been preserved in picture form.

Not all, but a few of these images, especially some very poignant ones, are stored in my head and can play them like a film before my eyes.

Nevertheless, I would give a lot if such pictures really existed…

It's easy to forget the censorship and shame that once made sexual home pictures a rarity for most, back when all but those few with home darkrooms had to pass their snaps to someone else to develop.

Several decades ago, a friend of mine became accepted into the social circle of a local Police station. Larger ones even had social venues attached with bars to drink in back then. Eventually she was invited on one of their group holidays. Returning home afterwards, she took her film off to the local chemist to have the pictures developed & printed, as we all once did. Returning a few days later to collect them, she was horrified to find numerous pictures of breasts and genitals amongst her snaps. She realised that her Police friends had secretly snuck off to the toilets with her camera, and filled it with pics of their naughty bits.

Remonstrating with them later about the huge embarrassment & trouble they could have caused her, all they would say was 'You should always look after your property'.

@jekyll_doctor would you have a link to this picture?

No pic of an enema bag hanging from the door but I did have a very interesting experience about a year ago. I was browsing one of the real estate sites (Zillow I think) and decided to look at listings in the town where I grew up. To my surprise, my childhood home was on the market. I clicked on the listing and immediately scrolled through the photographs. There was one of the main bathroom showing the tub where my enemas were administered, the shower curtain rod where the bag was hung, and the toilet where I sat once the enema kicked in. There was no bag there, of course, but it did not take too much imagination to visualize it all bloated with warm water and hanging from the shower curtain rod while I lay on my left side in the tub.

Every time I went to someone's house when I was a kid i always looked around the bathroom for the enema equipment and it was usually in a closet there or on a shelf or hanging from the shower I usually get sexually aroused just looking at it

All of my friends had enema bags hanging from either the back of the bathroom door or in the shower. All of them had an enema nozzle attached so I know all my friends got enemas. One friend's mom hid his enema device out in the open

... she had an enamel can hanging next to her ironing bord she used yo fill her iron. When it wasn't filling my friend.

In many of my friends' and cousins' homes the enema bag was hanging on a hook on the back of the bathroom door or stored in a cupboard in the bathroom. My Mom stored our enema bag in the linen closet across the hall from the bathroom.

I already replied once but I have more to add because I can relate to this subject. When I was between the ages of like 9 to 13 I was always curious when I went over anybody's house to know if they did enemas in their family. Just the thought of it turn me on I used to picture my mind the mother giving the daughter an enema the mother giving a son one oh my God my mind used to run wild. So what I would do is if I could do it undetected I would Snoop around to see if they had any enemas syringes especially in the bathroom. Just about every bathroom had a closet back then so I would make believe I had to use the bathroom going there open the closet and see what was there. many many times I found fountain syringes water bottle syringes bulb syringes higginson syringes you name it I saw it. Me being anally erotic and in love with enemas (thanks to my mother) I used to touch and smell the equipment (I know that sounds fucked up) i apologize but it's true. And I was chomping at the bit to try it out but I couldn't. I grew up in the projects in East Boston and there was one kid I used to walk to school with I would go to his apartment every morning and in the bathroom they had a window with a shelf and they had a big bulb syringe sitting right on the shelf. I was drawn to that like a fly on shit. One girl named Jackie who lived in the first floor apartment her mother father had a p yellow folding fountain syringe hang on a hook behind the toilet. Playing dumb I asked her what do they use that for she says that's for when mothers and fathers can't go to the bathroom.OMG. we moved out of the projects and when I was a teen I used to go to other kids houses to play after school nobody would be home and I'd go snooping around the bedroom closet the bathroom closet in in search of the treasure.

In our house my mother kept the syringe and her bedroom closet neatly tucked underway some clothing and I know exactly where it was. And she knew exactly how she placed it there and in what position. That's how I got caught. My mother was no dope. She finally put two and two together. I was 11 years old the one day after school she says to me Joey do you like it when I give you enemas?. Dear God in heaven help me. I said why. Cuz you're the only one that never complained all your brothers complain but never you and you usually often go first before them. I said I don't mind them. She told me that she noticed that her syringe in the closet was not in the same place and when she checked it it was all wet inside. I told her I was curious to try it out. She said that's not the first time (now I'm so god dam embarrassed I want to run away). She just left it at that and never said another word but she was on to me and all the time I thought I was getting away with murder