Enemas in the 1940s and 50s

Hi Lisa, I was born in 1959 in the tail end of the Golden Age where enemas were pretty much a way of life. Their use started to wind down in the middle to late 1960s. I do remember as a kid, seeing many enema bags hanging in the shower when over my friends houses. It is a dying art indeed.

I suppose that my early life in the 50's conditioned me for much of the rest of my life. While I grew up to be quite a contrarian in many respects, my early experiences with enemas stuck with me for a lifetime. My mom and her parents had many hangups and my sisters followed suit. I was exposed to my paternal grandparents quite often, and discovered many aspects of daily life that weren't governed by my mom's hangups.

The bottom line is that enemas were a common treatment in my childhood. I do have recall of some events when I was a toddler and I can confirm them due to our frequent changes in living arrangements. I also self-administered the first time at age 6. I can confirm this by an event (earthquake) that caused a significant calamity.

Like others, I recall the frequent and common display of enema/douching equipment at home, friend's houses, and also other places such as hospitals, clinics, and certainly the drug stores. The medical texts of the time seemed to always have information and illustrations relavent to the administration of such treatments.

Seldom did one get admitted to a hospital without a "welcoming" enema or shave. Various tests were preceded by "enemas til clear". Laxative regimines came along years later. Hospitals still used red rubber enema bags and hot water bottles. Disposables seemed to be introduced in the late 60's to early 70's and those beautiful implements started to disappear. While I was quite intimidated by the red enema bag and black nozzle as my mom hovered over me, later in life I developed a fetish for these items and have collected, bought, and sold hundreds.

I have found that an enema, with a vintage item from decades ago, provides varying degrees of stimulus and/or relaxation, as the need or desire arises. I'm glad that the world and technology has progressed over time, but still enjoy that simplest of procedures as an old fart!

For a lot of reasons, just ONE being enemas, I don't see that era as being so "innocent"

I'm glad in a lot of ways I was not around back then.

The 1950s were before either of my parents were born. Mom had a couple of brothers who were born in the mid 1950s. One of those is already gone.

Her father would have spent that decade in the RCAF. Most of that spent working on the DEW Line.

On Dad's side his Mom immigrated in 1956.

His Dad spent much of that time in law school and before that the US Navy. I don't think a lot of enemas went on with either side of my family in most of the 1950s

I was born in ‘51. I don’t recall but a few things before I started kindergarten which was at 5. I do remember my early enemas from mom but I can't recall the specific age although I know I received some before starting school so I must have been 4 going on 5. But again I don't remember specifics until a later age.

As a War Baby I was in the second grade by 1950. Enemas were given to me on a routine basis until I reached age 12. Doctors ordered them as symptoms of early Polio were the same as constipation.

My first enema was late 50’s. I don’t remember the circumstances but I did get a lot of milk of magnesia during that time so I suspect the first occasion that it didn’t work my mom moved on to an enema. I only remember having to lay on a towel on my parent’s bed and there being a pint jar of soapy water on the night stand. The infant bulb syringe was red with a black nozzle. I can remember the sounds of the syringe bubbling in that jar as she filled it like it was yesterday! I put up a fight so she didn’t get more than a bulb or two in me before she picked me up and carried me to the toilet.

That bulb got a lot of action after that and until I was graduated to the bag several years later. Once when in college I was home alone and happened to spot it in my parents bathroom closet. I just had to use it for old times sake. The first time I squeezed it, it split! It got returned to it’s tucked away place. Next time I looked for it, it was gone.

Don't know if I posted this or not before, in the ‘50’s, remember going to somebody's party, birthday, who knows. One of the items unboxed was an enema bag. At another time going to a wrestling match with my dad and the same friend mentioned above, he made the comment “enema tonight, huh?” I think it was common after eating junk food at an event, you got cleaned out afterwards.

Another time, remember going to a birthday party as a kid, after the party we all lined up for the bathroom, we all got enemas in the bathtub, so the bathtub was busy so was the toilet. Again, probably because of the “junk” food at the party. I wonder if enemas were part of the Portuguese culture.

No wonder we are klysmos or however you spell it … the hoseman1

My siblings and I were all born in the forties and grew up in the fifties. Enemas were commonplace in the fifties when we were growing up and were the go too treatment for a lot of different maladies.

A douche/enema bag always hung in our bathroom and I saw similar bags hanging in our friends bathrooms. We all got enemas at home from mom or grandma for a number of different reasons.

Our friends were no different, getting enemas from their mom or grandmother. We talked amongst ourselves about who had gotten an enema or who was going to get one. One thing we all did was put up a facade about not liking enemas to our friends when the opposite was the truth. The only ones we couldn’t fool were our siblings, they knew how we really felt about enemas.

As we got older, we slowly dropped the facade with our friends and talked more openly about enemas. Our moms talked among themselves about our enemas with each other. Telling the others who had gotten an enema or who was fixing to get one and why. We overheard these conversations from time to time and couldn’t keep quiet about it. Some of our friends and their siblings got enemas on a regular schedule once a week or every other week. We didn’t get enemas on a regular schedule, but we might just as well have had. Because I don’t think a week went by that we didn’t get an enema for one reason or the other during the school year.

Summer time was different, because we spent a lot of time at our grandmothers during summer vacation. Mom had two teenage sisters still living at home and our RN grandmother assigned them the job of taking care of us. If grandma thought we all needed a couple of enemas she had the two girls do it before our evening bath. Like mom, her two sisters gave us enemas while we were together in grandmas large downstairs bathroom before we got a shower or a bath. Grandma gave us enemas one on one or told one of the girls to do it, but for the most part, it was one of the girls doing the one on ones.

Another time, remember going to a birthday party as a kid, after the party we all lined up for the bathroom, we all got enemas in the bathtub, so the bathtub was busy so was the toilet. Again, probably because of the “junk” food at the party.

That sounds very remarkable and quite odd. Kids going to a birthday party which ends up in them (presumably undressed) getting an enema? I suppose all parents would have had to be in accordance to have anything like that happen.

remember going to somebody's party, birthday, who knows. One of the items unboxed was an enema bag.

Now that's a gift one would not forget, 😢

@reddevil said,

Now that's a gift one would not forget, 😢

Our sister was given a douche/enema bag a few months before she turned thirteen. I don’t recall now who it was from, but we were at our grandmothers when she received it. So, I suspect it was grandma, but it could have been mom or one of mom's sisters. My brother and I were not given one of our own, we were expected to use the family bag hanging in the bathroom. However, one summer while at grandmas three or four years later, she did give each of us an enema bag of our own. Best I recall, it was the year I started High School.

Don't know if I posted this or not before, in the ‘50’s, remember going to somebody's party, birthday, who knows. One of the items unboxed was an enema bag. At another time going to a wrestling match with my dad and the same friend mentioned above, he made the comment “enema tonight, huh?” I think it was common after eating junk food at an event, you got cleaned out afterwards.

Another time, remember going to a birthday party as a kid, after the party we all lined up for the bathroom, we all got enemas in the bathtub, so the bathtub was busy so was the toilet. Again, probably because of the “junk” food at the party. I wonder if enemas were part of the Portuguese culture.

Back in the 40's and 50's parents may have thought a good cleanup after eating junk food was good - but it takes 6-8 hours for food to transit to the large colon - so I doubt enemas after splurging on fast food really didn't do the job they were intended to do. Forcing oneself to “throw up” may better service getting rid of the “junk food” - but that's not a healthy alternative (e.g. NOT recommended). Everybody splurges occasionally, and the best remedy is to get up the next day and jog, exercise, go to the gym, drink lots of fluids!!!

Oh I do remember the days when it seemed most friends or relatives bathrooms had an enema bag, for enema or douching, hanging near the bathtub. I remember seeing red, hot water bottle type and the translucent amber latex type bags with hoses attached. I remember my cousins mentioning that Saturday night was “bath and enema night” before getting ready for bed. I never did quite understand why it was reserved for Saturday nights though.

My house never a routine schedule. It was when required. First was preop in hospital. Pretty young nurse. Mom was also pretty, might say sexy with nice body, looked great holding the full red enema bag. My allergies, dehydration from playing out on hot days caused my constipation. Mom noted my lethargic state. “I think I need to give you an enema” was her opening line. There was no changing her mind. The enema was administered over her lap, always Ivory bar soap. If you never were given an enema, words cannot adequately describe the experience. It is not like sex, not like a bowel of ice cream. It is physical, emotional, embarrassing all immersive. Regardless of the giver, it’s all about you. Warning, an enema can be addictive.

Enemas were freely flowing in my house . my grandmother who was a nurse gave the enemas. I received weekly enemas Two during each session. Friday night was the night for me or Saturday depending on the things going on. My sisters were given theirs during. The week Tuesday or Wednesday.my enemas started at the age of 8 after I had. My tonsillectomies removed and continued until I Almost 15.

I recall several times when my mom thought I hadn't been “regular enough” that she thought an enema was in order. I'd be called into the bathroom. She'd be sitting on the bathtub with a towel over her lap. The red bag was clipped to the shower curtain rod . She would tell me to take off my pants and shorts which I would almost always do. If I resisted she would threaten me with the hairbrush which of course was right there next to the sink. That threat always brought me around! I'd lay over her lap and she'd tell me this was going to help me poop. I remember her wiping the Vaseline on the black nozzle. She would spread my bottom cheeks and I'd feel the nozzle going inside, followed by the feeling of the water after the click of the clamp. It never took long until I felt crampy and would complain and begin to whine. I never knew just how much liquid was in the bag but don't recall it bulging. After another couple of complaints about cramping she would tell me she was taking the nozzle out and to move to the toilet and try to poop. I seem to recall her following me with her hand holding my cheeks together till I got to the toilet. And I recall letting the water go with relief and the end of my constipation. She stood by and wiped my bottom when I'd finished. My mom wiped my bottom after a poop till I was 7. I think I got my last enema when I was 10.

I was born in 1954 and got my fair share of enemas in the 50s and 60s. I remember the big red enema bag with black nozzles, Ivory soap, and Vaseline. I may have gotten in at the tail end of the Golden Age, but I didn't miss out.

I was born in the mid 50s. I got my fair share of enemas from my mom in the 50s and 60s. I remember seeing lots of enema bags in friends' and relatives' bathrooms in the 60s and 70s. By the 80s, the bags were gone or at least hidden.

@hoseman1 Can you tell me more about this enema at the birthday party?

I remember discussing enemas with my friends in high school in the 1970s. I was unfamiliar with open top bags since my family used the closed top combination bag and a friend explained it in great detail. Several other friends talked about it too. It wasn't really embarrassing, it was more humorous. If you were a high school wrestler, enemas were a way to make your weigh-in. I don't remember the girls talking about it though.

I’ve enjoyed reading this thread and identify with many who received enemas for just about any childhood issue/illness, real or perceived.

My mother did well at administering but with my aunt, her youngest sister, it was really enjoyable. She visited us and stayed every summer and seemed to enjoy any chance to give me a good enema, or my girl cousin, her daughter, just a year older than me. I’ve probably posted on some other thread about that.

She would, after filling the fountain syringe and hanging on the hook installed on the wall just for that purpose, hike her dress up around her waist always telling me she didn’t want to “get it wet”. I was then told to remove my pajama bottoms and shorts and lay across her bare legs as she sat on the toilet with the lid down. At times her legs were bare, at times clad in nylons held up by a garter belt.

I was sexually curious at an early age, and would sneak a peek at her panties and could see wisps of pubic hair peeking from around the leg openings. She lubed me carefully with vaseline, then reached for the nozzle and lubed it also. She would go slowly encouraging me to relax and breathe deeply, left the bathroom and let me up to expel if the cramping became too bad. Usually this was repeated 3 or 4 times and I slept very well after that. I enjoyed receiving from her from about age 8 to 13.

About that time, I began to get erections and wasn’t a boy anymore. After that, I was deemed old enough to self administer. Which wasn’t quite as enjoyable.

@JohnnyZ , You certainly experienced a great time being able to talk about enemas without being labeled, should be very good. I'd like to have friends to talk to about it. Happened of any of your friends apply on you or you in them?

In my growing up years, kids just got enemas. It was just a fact of life. You weren't stigmatized because of it. At least half the kids could directly relate and the other half had at least heard about it. It was just something teenage boys found funny about their childhoods.

Interest started at 5 yo in hospital for tonsils when a nurse introduced me to the enema can, I had no idea what was going to happen, but I remember the surprise when it was inserted. Only got the one but I remember hoping for another. I never understood what that had to do with having tonsils out. After that enemas at home started with the red bulb until I was about 7 or 8 then equipment changed to the hot water bottle with the “extension cord”! When I must have been between 5 and 6, I remember my sister 2 years younger laying on her back and mom and dad trying to give her a suppository debating as to how far to insert, or just hold it in a little. Why she didn't get the bulb I never knew. Looking back it seems that they had never had instruction or experience with suppository insertion. I'm now in my mid 70s and those early days are firmly stored in memory.

I was born in 1946, enemas were a part of life. Everyone knew about them and most likely got them for all sorts of ailments. It is not uncommon to find enema bags hanging on a hook behind the bathroom door in friends' and relatives' bathrooms.

In our house, the enema bag with the hose and nozzle was hung in the bathroom to dry. Our enema kit had a red bag and hose with black bakelite nozzles, an infant, and adult, and a six-inch curved douche nozzle. There was also an infant bulb and a larger one for adults as well. Sometimes I would see a wet bag hanging in the bathroom, so either mom or dad got an enema that night. I later figured out my mom was giving me dad enemas. I saw her with a full enema bag going to the bedroom There were other times would see a wet bag with the douche nozzle, this was always in the afternoon after school, so my mom was using enemas when no one was home. I was fascinated by the douche nozzle but had no idea of its proper usage, secretly wanted it used on me for an enema. I asked my mom about it when she was getting an enema ready for me and the douche nozzle was atta she was changing it to the rectal pipe. She just said it was for deep enemas.

I started playing with the enemas left in the bathroom. I started giving myself enemas, first with the bulb I moved I used bag enemas. It wasn't long before obsessed with that beautiful black douche nozzle. It had a bulbous tip and struggled to get it in my tight young ass but I remember the sound it made. I inserted the entire six inches in my willing butt. I continued to use the douche every time played with myself enemas.

@bagman925

The black enema and douche nozzles were not Bakelite. Almost all of them were made of hard rubber and soften when put in boiling water for a couple of minutes Bakelite doesn't soften. Hence the variety of curves seen on douche nozzles of the period…. some almost straight,, some very curved. The woman could easily modify the nozzle curve to be comfortable for her anatomy.