Probing the “Golden Age”

"...So be it. We entered a short dark age. Now, I would argue that we are in a second Golden Age." (Edevotee)

Edevotee makes the point that I attempted to make in another post. The “golden age” is the age we choose to make it. I agree with Edevotee that we came through a dark age. I would also suggest that the age of the Fleet enema could well be the ruination of what enema devotees would suggest is a real enema. Whether you like to take a large high-volume enema, or just a simple two-quart enema, a real enema to me is one that requires you to choose your enema bag and nozzle of choice, and to lie in repose as you lubricate your anus, insert the nozzle, and pop open the clamp to let the flow of water enter into your belly. If you are fortunate enough to have a willing partner administer the enema all the better.

In that golden age, were douches equally common?

I was born well after the golden age. My mom was born in 1956 and her mother was born in 1937. My grandmother on my fathers side was born in 1941. We are very open about sex in our family. I have had numerous discussions with my sister, female cousins, aunts and grandmothers about enemas, douching and birth control etc.

My mom does a once a month fasting and enema routine. She learned the habit from her mom. My sister and I have do this as well since we reached puberty.

My husband likes to watch me or even give me the series of enemas.

The consensus among my female relatives is that the golden age of enemas was in the 1930, 1940 and perhaps 1950. After that most of the rubber goods found in bathrooms related to feminine hygiene and birth control. The douche bag or bulb syringe became ubiquitous essential paraphernalia for most housewives and sexually active single women. Essentially all women who used a diaphragm for birth control douched when they removed the diaphragm after “marital relations” because douching was proscribed as a critical part of the diaphragm method of BC.

My mom is a good example. Her douche bag normally hung on the back of the bathroom door beside her house coat. If it was not there, it was in the shower filled and ready to use, or nearly empty after she douched. She never rinsed it out and put it on her towel rack to dry until late afternoon so I took many showers with her recently used bag or even the full bag ready to use. Once in a while, she would be in a rush and she would leave her diaphragm on the side of the tub or near the sink before she washed it and put it away. I remember picking it up and examining it a couple of times. It smelled like vinegar and a musty scent that I later realized was the smell of semen from my dad.

Among other clues, the douche bag was a dead giveaway that my parents had been fucking the night before. More on that later.

Have to run and fix dinner.

In that golden age, were douches equally common?

Yes! The golden age was that of the fountain syringe - for both enemas and douching... As an aside, I wonder how many of us back then as lads had no idea about douching and might have given our mothers vaginal infections thanks our sneaking the douche tip up our butts. Perhaps my mom kept her real douche tip hidden, and the douche tip I would see in bathroom was really as she said when I once asked about it - the adult enema nozzle.

Before the development of the modern miconazole nitrate cream, the only way to treat yeast infection was a week's worth of daily iodine douches.

By the time the panty girdle started to really replace the Classic girdle in a widespread way, Povidone which was a synthetic form of iodine but was less toxic than regular iodine had become readily available. Good thing because while not a lot of people talk about it, I KNOW the number of yeast infections must have gone up when that happened. Especially given that it was right around that time that the transition from non-air-conditioned to air conditioned offices and stores was taking place. Air conditioned high schools started to become normal a little later.

Also, when miconazole nitrate first came onto the market it was prescription-only.

By the time it came off prescription, my Mom would have been through high school. She and her younger sister apparently had some conversations about the use of povidone douches. I KNOW her own mother pressured her to douche with Massengill far more often than she was comfortable with or would have left to her own free choice.

An interesting question Delia. From my point of view, being a Brit growing up in the 40s 50s, I tend to think of the "Golden Age" of enemas as being around that time In UK anyway. Seems they either died out, or were less talked about in UK after that until the arrival of Fleet enemas in Boots and other chemists.

Personally, we only had the bulb type in our house, which I was never very fond of. It was administered by our father only when there was a bought of pinworms going around. He wasn't particularly gentle and I always found it hurt when he shoved the nozzle in. Not sure what my siblings remember about it, but I seem to remember all three of us crying standing in a line getting the "treatment"

I wonder whether it was so golden lol. Many moms like mine were fixated on your bowel movements. If you didn’t go there was no hesitancy about getting out the red enema bag. So we were conditioned to use enemas to relieve constipation or to promote regularity I wonder for those who are contemporaries in age, men and woman, how it affected you as an adult.

I was born in 1955, which by most accounts was during the "Golden Age" give or take a few years. I did not receive enemas on a regular basis or ever for that matter. It wasn't until the late 60s that I discovered my mother's enema kit and that is when I became very interested in enemas, which has carried on to this day. I really don't know if my mother gave herself enemas or used the douche nozzle for vaginal cleaning. When I found the kit, it was in a cardboard box and I never saw any sign of water indicating recent use and I was constantly checking.

I was never aware of my friends getting enemas or seeing enema equipment when I visited their homes for regular kid playtime. So I guess the point I am making is that for those that did receive enemas from their parents and did see enema equipment at their friends house, there were those like me who were never exposed to the "Golden Age" of enemas. Now of course this is my anecdotal account and a sample size of one, but I have to believe even during the "Golden Age" the percentage of people using enemas wasn't universal- an enema bag hanging on every bathroom door hook.

We all love enemas here on this site and the thought that there was a time when every household was giving and receiving enemas to all its family members is an exciting thought. The "Golden Age" was perceived as a time where enemas were held in a positive light and not something to be ashamed of. Now most of us live in the shadows and can't openly talk about our love for enemas to our friends and in some cases our significant others fearing admonishment for taking pleasure from such a "hewee gross activity."

So the "Golden Age" seems to represent to many a psychological haven where enema use was accepted and out in the open and people who loved doing enemas did not have to hide their enema usage. This is why I think the Golden Age continues to be a subject of fascination on this site.

I think one thing that's not been considered is that the interest in enemas seems to have derived according to general location in the US. I obviously can't speak of other countries, but in the US, I find lots more people writing in from the midwest & Eastern US ( South is 2nd). When I have done medical fetish play (I lived in SoCal for most of my life), I rarely found a woman who had any experience with real (bag) enemas. I was surprised, esp. Considering the prevalence of alternative medicine and sexual openness, I found this weird. When I was on Zity in the past (other username--lost my passwords & also my Yahoo email account), the same thing proved true. I don't know about the present, but I wouldn't be surprised if most enema devotees are found in certain areas of the US. Phoenix seems to be a location where enema devotees are found, but I've not met anyone from there. Yet (I'm in AZ, small town, fairly distant from Phoenix area).

I envy those that grew up during the Golden Age of enemas, girdles, corsets, nylons held up with garters, rectal temperatures, spanking spouses when needed or for fun, etc I for one am doing my best to continue that age with my various retro desires that my mother and grandmother I think enjoyed.

................. spanking spouses when needed or for fun, etc ...............

Saw the above mentioned below a bit, and forgive me for going off-topic a bit and hope you don't mind my recounting this: Early 1950's, I was playing with my best friend in the home of another boy. We were doing something with paper, making a mess and wasting it. We were alone in the room, when the boy's mother, an attractive woman as far as mom's went, came into the room and stopped us cold saying that if her husband came home and saw the mess and waste of paper she would be spanked! The serious way she said it remains with me today. That a wife, an adult, would be subjected to spankings from her husband was shocking. I have no idea the day, year, or most things that happened back then, but that one moment remains frozen in my mind - I can picture and hear it clear as a bell today!

Days later, my friend and I ran into the boy, we asked him if his father really spanked his mother, and said yes, that both he and his mother got spankings.

Well back in the 40s and 50s I think could be described as the Golden Age of Enemas here i New Zealand. You'd have found enemas in most homes and they were used very freely. Apart from adult use there was certainly a large focus on children's bowels.

For me though not quite a "golden" event, as a five year old in foster care I got more than my fare share of the dreaded enema. My foster aunt and uncle were both fixated on my bowels. Need I say more.

Someone mentioned various areas of US being most prevalent for enema use , well , we are a small group , so where the population is greatest is probably where most folks may be located , plus the few that have the courage to look for and correspond , also there . I am from the North East , but spend nearly 6 months of the year east of Phoenix , Az.. There is tremendous diversity of winter visitors from all over the country here . Just made a connection thru answering an add on a park bulletin board , for Home assistant / or Health aide . Got experienced person , Understands my medical need for an assistant . Likes doing it for me , is working out fine . Person is from Northern mid west . So diversity prevails !

@Piper_Fox, you are a lucky guy...😉😉😉

Thank you to all who replied to my post here, on “probing” the Golden Age.

It was done in gentle jest, and not as an academic study, but nevertheless, let me embroider the theme further, in part based on replies.

The first point, is a major drawback, in that we have no definition of ‘golden age’, and it is hard to discuss a point if lacking an agreed definition. I think we all know what we mean, but that would not be enough to satisfy academic rigour. Also, despite asking, I cannot find the first usage of the term on this board, since absent a definition, we might be able to infer a meaning.

There seems to be general agreement that it covers the period 40’s, 50’s and 60’s, and there has been a suggestion of the 30’s as well.

What is clear from this, is that we are dealing with childhood recollections of many on the board, the majority of whom may be regarded as the older generation, who are recounting their own experiences.

Since they cannot speak from experience of their parents generation, they cannot comment on enema use between the turn of the 20th Century, and their own experience. However, since the Golden Age was typified, at least in party, by parents frequently giving enemas to their offspring, it may be that they too, like their children, were frequent recipients of the treatment, which suggests in turn, that there was frequent use of the enema.

If we look at retail catalogues for the period, both at the turn of the century, as well as from around the 1880’s we can see pages of all sorts of enema equipment - both in the US and the UK - suggesting frequent use, and more importantly, a regular demand for enema equipment.

This is borne out further by books on homie nursing, and the “home doctor” genre, which usually have a section, and not infrequently an entire chapter dedicated to how to give an enema.

At that time too, there were, to my knowledge, at least ten firms offering Higginson Syringes on sale, also suggesting a healthy demand for the product - hence the suggestion that the golden age was not limited to our memory, but that of our parents, and possibly their parents too.

Then, of course, there is history and contemporary writing, and to some extent art, which reflects and reverts to enemas quite frequently - for example, Shakespeare, Moliere, Swift, and others, all of whom suggest that enemas (clysters) were quite well recognized and understood. All of this suggests, that they golden age, if indeed it was, began long before the current generation recognize, and probably warned from place to place over time. If they were popular in pre-revolutionary France, they may not have been popular at that time in other countries. And in passing, let’s not forget Sigmund Freud, who published case notes on what we would now regard as a Klismophile.

Then of course, there is a class context as well, and I would suspect that for the working agricultural peasantry, or the newly urbanized proletariat, there was neither the time, nor the resources to expend on enemas in the home.

Even if we cannot say when it began, we can certainly pin down when it ended, and I would suggest that this dates from the introduction of the disposable - and I would refer to the current state as the “disposable age”.

It is also possible that by golden age, we also mean the use of re-usable equipment, for enemas as well as for vaginal douching. If this is so, then, the disposable sounded the death knell of the traditional means of administering, and the larger volume enema. Are we likely to return - I don't think so, because we are so attuned to throwaway items these days. However, in the absence on sales data, we cannot really compare the number of enemas used, other than to say the figures must run into millions in the USA, if you look at the availability of Fleet bottles, in drug stores, supermarkets and the like - so if we measure the golden age by frequency of enema administration, maybe we are not doing so badly.

I would therefore in summary suggest that there were various golden ages from time to time and country to county, and that the American golden age probably was from just before the turn of the 20th century, until a decade after WW 2, and the introduction of the disposable, which rang the death knell for traditional equipment that would be reusable, large volume soap and water enemas, as well as declining frequency of use. Doctors certainly have a different view of constipation today, and generally seem to prefer to approach It from a dietary point of view.

This, of course may work, and make medical sense, but its not nearly as much fun!

Delia

ANOTHER reply from me...

While all of us bemoan the death of the Sears (et al) catalogues, Amazon, eBay, and other specialty stores have taken their place. Judging by the sheer # of items available, I'd say we've entered the DIAMOND age of enemas...

As I've mentioned elsewhere, YouTube is full of "enema advice," much of it given by smiling pretty girls who may or may not know that they fuel many a fantasy...

This advice includes material like, "the right size bag is two liters," "take the whole bag," the implication that more is better, and recommendations for recipes, frequency, and the promise that a good enema will relieve listing, constipation, & a host of other ills. If we judge by these pieces of evidence, enemas made their comeback a while ago...

That's a good thing!

The golden age? For Sears and Roebuck, it was in the 50s when their many rubber goods bathing toys were selling fast and they had 4 pages of them in their catalog. At school, kids were really daring when they told of watching to see who was picking them up at the store.

@delia

My take: While we might not have a clear and unambiguous definition of the Golden Age (of Enemas) we probably have a sense of what that might entail. I would liken it to the more classical Greek or Roman cycles where the definition of a golden age is "Where all is good in the world (of enemas)," it is widely accepted and largely ubiquitous. For us older members here, we likely had childhoods during and lived through the end of the "golden age" in a way that sets up a sort of nostalgia for what "we" experienced and the good times experienced while possibly ignoring or overlooking less pleasant experiences.

As you also surmised, and the sales literature and catalogs tend to suggest, it appears that that Golden Age started well-before the 1940-1960's timeframe that tends to be referenced here. And it may have been started for reasons other than purely enemas as the early advertisements for various combination bags seem to focus more on douching than enemas, though both are available/possible through the purchased products. It's far more likely, that given these sort of sales literature of the times in the early 20th century, that our grandparents and our great grandparents were on the early cusp of the Golden Age. Douches and enemas likely became part of a form of standard wellness and treatment protocol. Just look at the number who have stated that they were given enemas as regular as clockwork (I can't claim that I remember that. Only that my mom gave me enemas). My mom obviously got the "knowledge" about enemas from somewhere. Is it possible that she got that training/knowledge from her mom? Hard to say. How about from her stepmother and step-grandmother? It certainly seems plausible with my mom born in the early 1930's. How about from our pediatrician? Possibly. And it could be that enemas were given to me as "treatment" for my tonsils and all the infections I had associated with them (removed at age 5).

How about from my dad's side of the family? It's possible up to a point. My great grandmother was born in 1864 and lived on what I would call our family homestead. So did my grand aunt (my paternal grandfather's sister who never married). Much of the property around that house was property owned and farmed by family members (brothers and sisters of my grandfather as well as assorted cousins). Having been born at the turn of the 20th century and growing up in the early 20th century, would they have been living through the early stages of the Golden Age? Probably. But the rubber products of that era are long since departed. There may have been a Jones can or two in that two-story wood frame house. There was a lot of enamelware in that house which was a relic of the days before the house had indoor plumbing. I do recall that.

But I also think that a family practice of periodic enemas might have been broken with my paternal grandfather and grandmother. I never knew either of them. My paternal grandmother died when my dad was in his early teens and she was ill for a couple of years before she died (as my dad and his dad took care of her before her death). My paternal grandfather died five months after my birth. From what I know of him, it seems that my grandfather would not have given my dad enemas.

Also recall that during the 1918 influenza pandemic, enemas were considered to be one of the many treatments for the flu and a number of my distant family members came through that. Of course there was also World War I, the Great Depression, World War II and all the issues associated with operating in the society during those periods. And then after WWII, there were the "boomers" and that would be many of us who can remember what we experienced during our childhoods.

The evidence seems to suggest that the Golden Age of Enemas is much longer than we, who can discuss our experiences in the here and now, actually realize. With a lack of discussion of family life for our parents, grandparents, great grandparents, and aunts and uncles, some of us can only guess.

I'm not sure THIS is not the golden age

We can buy stuff with a credit card and a few mouse clicks that in the so-called "golden age" we had to go to run down buildings in sleazy neighborhoods with cash!

@LisaK - Good point! LOL!

I see the Golden Age as a combination of key things - the availability all sorts of brands and models of red rubber enema bags and douche bags, Bakelite nozzles, metal clips, etc. that could be purchased in local drug stores, as well as where an amazing selection was offered for sale in major mail order catalogs. Just as important in defining the Golden Ages it was a time when the enema was usually the first choice to relieve constipation and mothers were quick to reach for those bags and use them on their children as well as themselves. (Okay, on husbands as well 😁 )..

My opinion: When the enema was excepted as a practical thing to do at home, at will, not requiring medical supervision. That ended years ago. I'm guessing when the Merck manual stopped printing it. What year was that? 1970? It started when rubber produces were available and a strict health regiment was felt to be important. I think this was after the second world war. Having ordered and structure, and listening to the experts is how we won the war anyway.

In the event that enemas become the norm again we will have another better "golden age" .... So this definitely is not the golden age.... It would take the medical community to change this... . (who the hell are they) ...

The Golden Age was when the Combination bag or Fountain Syringe and bulb syringe had personality , for me the best part of the bags personality was that beautiful aroma , then that unmistakable pretty red and the alluring black nozzles and then the Hundreds of styles and designs of bags and when you add a touch of fashion into an enema / douche bag well then like shoes and pocketbooks naturally women were drawn to keeping up with the latest , remember way back , doctors would order their female patients to take enemas during masturbating as an aid to orgasm for hysteria so there was an unspoken huge sexual connection early on for women with the enema . now new enema bags have zero personality at all

@Annie2: Cannot ever remember anyone saying enema and douche bags had/have personality. But wow! So beautifully written, something to keep, so spot on, and so true as to the way I feel. Speaking of which I would often hold up my full enema bag, shown as my avatar, and actually kiss that full bag before it gave me an enema - like it's a woman of sorts..

I often read here about Bakelite nozzles. All the black nozzles I ever saw were hard rubber in fact one of the best enema bags, hoses and nozzles were made by the B. F. Goodrich Company and sold at their tire stores. My Dads sister, Aunt Maggie who was born in 1892, told me that they had a fire in the wall next to the fireplace (1916?) and she put the fire out with an enema bag full of water. Bakelite was patented in 1909 and I never heard it being used for enema nozzles. One time, when my folks were away, I was going to take an enema and I decided to sterilize the hose and nozzle. I put the hose and nozzle in a saucepan and brought to a boil and after a few minutes I took it out and to my dismay the nozzle was the shape of the saucepan and was gray. I put the nozzle back in the hot water for minute then took it out and rolled in the flat surface above the oven. It was again straight and put Vaseline on it and it was shiny black as before.

I know a lot of the girdles my Mom wore were things that are not even available anywhere today.

She expressed to Dad a belief about the future.

I think she was sincere in her belief that "The need will always be there, and business will always be able to make at least a modest profit answering a need. The firm girdle is not going away! The need is too huge." She could not have known!

If anyone had told her that the corset would make the comeback it has she never would have believed it!

As far as the enema bag, again she expressed to Dad and I think she was sincere in her belief "At some point the US WILL have to join the world economy and will be more or less forced to convert to Metric, at that point the standard enema and women's bag(She had been taught since she found out what a douche was "You DO NOT use that word in the presence of men!") will become 2 liter bags. I will like it because it will get rid of this whole nonsense we face now about a 2-qt enema being bigger in Canada than in the US! They will both just be 2 liters and a fair comparison will be possible!

These were all things she expressed to him at various times in various situations over the years.

For some reason, it really does not affect me at all when I use the same bag my Mom may have used.

It WILL be a different nozzle.

That's the part that really goes inside anyway.

As long as my sexy, pink fountain syringe continues to give a good cleansing enema, a touch of the "golden age" remains alive, kept discreetly among the linens and bedding or hanging to dry in the shower of our master bathroom.

@Vicki_V: kept discreetly among the linens and bedding or hanging to dry in the shower of our master bathroom.

Brings back memories... keeping the fountain syringe hidden in the linen closet like you mentioned...

I would define/date the Golden Age of (home enemas) @ 1950 to 1972. Almost every household had 1 or even 2 enema bags and enemas were regularly given for constipated children. Most Pediatricians then considered a enema for a constipated child to be a very effective remedy vs. “ify” oral laxatives .