Enamel Enema Cans

Does anyone know the origin or when they were first used?

I have a lot of old catalogs from as far back as 1900. The white enamel irrigators are in there. One antique enamel ware publication shows a dark gray enamel enema can. I would guess that's from around 1880....... just a guess.

For many years, the enema cans were very popular especially in hospitals bcause of their durability and ease of cleaning after use. I think my mom took that into account when deciding that the family would get enemas from a can.

My husband and I have and use two cans.

My Aunt Kathy was an RN and gave my mother, three sisters and I enemas from a Jones can and an 18-inch colon tube.. Her usual method was to give the enema in the bathroom with the recipient in the knee chest position with the can placed on the top of the toilet tank, she'd kneel down beside and insert a few inches of the colon tube, open the clamp and then insert all the tube, or as much as she safely could, as the enema flowed. When it was in she'd sit on the toilet seat and controlling the flow as she held the tube in and coach me to take the entire enema. If I was having difficulty then she'd kneel back beside me again and massage my abdomen to help the enema move through my colon and relieve cramping. Once the enema was taken she'd leave the tube in and continue coaching me to hold the enema to let it do its work, When I had held it to her satisfaction she'd get up, raise the lid of the toilet seat, pull out the colon tube, help me onto the toilet and let me expel privately.

My husband Marvin's mother was an LPN and she gave enemas to him from a Volrath can. My husband when hospitalized at age 9 for a ruptured appendix received 9 enemas during a 14 day period from cans and became a Klismo as a result.

We have my aunts and his mothers cans and use them frequently. Marvin really gets turned on seeing me hold the can above him, raising and lowering it as I coach him to take his entire enema like his mother and the nurse in the hospital did.

When he gives me enemas from the can he usually follows the same procedures my aunt did.

~ Marlene

I have a couple of those white enamel cans. They really are easy to clean and seem to empty faster than bags. I have trouble with the tube slipping off the jones can. Any tricks to that?

You might do as one of my aunts did: tape the hose to the can spout to help make a proper fit.

I still remember that the box of oul enema can boasted that it contained, "rapid flow tubing.," so it is possible that cans did empty faster than bags. That appealed to moms like mine who wanted to get the treatment over with fairly quickly.

Yes its easy to fix the rubber tube on the enema can just turn the rubber back on itself and you will make the tube much tighter fit I know Ive three of them and there the best for enemas

I know that a lot of folks love to use the equipment that was used on them when they were raised but I wonder about the safety of using old-fashioned enamel cans from years past. Isn't there a concern that some of the cans could contain lead paint and if so, would that not cause potential health problems with the enema takers?

I haven't heard of lead paint causing a particular problem with the old fashioned enema can which a fair number of us here grew up with. In any case, cans sold today seem to be mainly stainless steel.

I've heard of enamel cookware and dishes and such being a danger due to lead paint since it could be ingested. It just seems like the same could happen if ingested rectally. I know people like their antiques and want some of the equipment they had as children and keep an eye out for such things as yard sales, thrift stores, estate sales and antique shops. I just don't know about the safety of using them for anything except planting flowers in. 😃

I think that enamel cookware would use hotter water than an enema can does, so maybe that increases the chance of contamination. Hospitals routinely used cans for decades and apparently found no problem.

Doctors also used to advocate smoking cigarettes to relieve stress and tension but that doesn't mean they are good for you. 😄

A couple of points. Most enameled enema cans are in fact porcelain finish rather than baked enamel. Porcelain is a lot tougher. it is essentially glass. I suspect that lead oxide (often used as a pigment in white paint in the past) doesn't hold up to the porcelain baking process, so the alternative (Titanium Oxide) pigment is far more likely.

Even so the solubility of the finish at more or less neutral pH and 100F is extremely low. I suspect lead pipes and lead in plumbining fixtures, and the use of hot water is greater potential source of lead intake.

If you really want to be safe, have your tap water checked for lead, and warm the water on the stove or in the microwave, rather than using hotwater from the tap. Heat increases the solubility of solids in water, and run the tap for 30 seconds or so to wash out things that were dissolved while the water was sitting in the pipes.

I still have a "Jones" can from many years ago. I only useit now for coffee enemas. Works good lasts a long time. (Just like Pratt & Whitney!)

the boxcar

Hospitals got away from enamel items years ago and replaced all of it with stainless steel. Enamel chips easily, so irrigation cans, bed pans, emesis basins, male urinal cans, etc. were all replaced in the 50'-60's. 1st wife got her RN in '64 and was only trained with stainless cans. Any of you been in a military hosp. may have met a stainless can with the letters."U.S." stamped on the bottom. About the only place I ever saw enamel was in retail pharmacies, who may have had the items on their shelf for years.

Back in the forties while I was a patient in the childrens hospital the enema equipment from the funnel to the water pitcher was enamel

Actually, on my most recent visit to a hospital (about a month ago), the Urinals I got to use as a patient were plastic. I was never afforded the opportunity to use a bedpan, so I don't know what they are 'currently' manufactured from. Stainless steel was the standard for a long time, I know. I would suspect that enamel devices would be 'collector's items', even though still fully functional..

My first experience with an enamel can was in the hospital for a hernia operation when I was 11 (50 years ago)- I had to lay on my back after the operation so I got the enema by the nurse reaching under and between my legs. what I remember most is not being able to see how much was left and having to keep asking her and she would always say "not too much so jsut bear down"- it seemed like forever until it finished- this happened every other day until I left the hospital a week later

Everything in hospital today is disposable for infection control reasons. Plastic bed pans, urinals, enema bags or buckets (yes they are still there and used on occasion). Patients can take them home if they so desire. Stainless replaced enamel many years ago before disposable became the thing.

I had an enema in the hospital in the early 60s, and they had already moved on to stainless steel at that time, at least in that hospital. They used what looked like a regular water pitcher with the rounded bottom, not the straight side can.

As a collector, I must have 100+ Irrigators/Enema Cans from 1/2 Pint to 4 Liters, German (one collector said for Punishment Enemas). Have enough Jones and related. Ever see a Mexican one, has rubber tubing, multi color, running lengthwise. Got it from Texas. Most have a paper label. Have the usual French multi color ones in Liters. The Dutch ones are very colorful.

Found my 1st one in original box in Gettysburg, the old "Loft", looked inside, coiled red rubber hose, clamp and an adult black enema pipe. My knees shook. Finally got my nerve up to walk up and buy it with no audience. Bought one from a lady, she said: "I wouldn't have one of them in my house". A male dealer groaned when saw it. A young man in Frederick, MD antique mall, thought it was a Coke Dispensor. Bought thru mail from lady in Hanover, PA, 2 enema cans, one smaller, 1 Qt?, plus a foldaway syringe in metal box. Said: she decorated her bathroom with them. Wish I knew her. Live close to there, hmmm.

The one I really missed out on (no one gets them all), was the Auction Site, one from a Mental Institution, if could only talk. I recall reading that during the 40's, enemas were a treatment for schizophrenia. I was born around then, wish I had a job as attendant there.

The strange things people do with them, the adapter the pipes screw into, usually red, gray or black rubber, marked "pipes" on sides, was screwed onto the spout. The hose on to the other "nipple" end. Or plastic tubing with black nozzles. Many are found as-is (which I prefer, like when last used), often with infant rectal pipes.

Like I read in a home medical guide, on Enemas, do what the nurse tells you to, Millions have had them.

Any members want to converse, email me. I usually answer. Anyways, looking to purchase the unusual and related to this subject. Especially manuals, various enema syringes, clinical photos, home health ones, black nozzles, films (have 8mm, 16mm, VHS, etc). Maybe we could produce a book together. Also trade photocopies (I don't have). Like case histories. Have 100's of 3 1/2 floppies from defunct "E" and related Net groups, should be saved for the future.

No PC at home, use friend's and daughter's and Library, but the latter blocked me from using the "E" word.

Suspended my ID and use, until I told lady WebMaster all I do for them. Have manuals/guides, 1900 to 1970's, also Foreign ones. This subject is bigger than can imagine.

In the 40s and 50s white enemal cans could be purchased thru the Sears and Roebuck catalogs. They held about two qts... easy to clean but also easy to chip. As I recall the enema cans used in hospitals were stainless steel with a capacity of three qts. Hospitals also used the left over hand soap for enemas. Does anyone remember the container with the mixing laddle that the soap was put into?

In the only enema prep I witnessed, mom swished a bar of Ivory in her well used white can. The can was chipped on the bottom, but i think that was because the soap solution often made it slippery to hold and easy to drop unless it was the handle type that made it easier to hold on to.

I found an enema can at a flea market and I think I only paid $4 for it. After cleaning it up and adding a length of hose and an old black rectal nozzle that I had it made a nice and sort of fun addition to our rather rustic lake cottage. They are much more convenient than bag syringes for both preparing an enema and cleaning up afterward. Besides I just love the retro look of it.

I found in it's original box...a combination enema and douche kit. Looks like a enamel can rubber hose and a clear glass nozzle.

White enema cans left a telltale ring on pedestal sinks of the period. Anyone else see that ring at the front of the sink edge and know that someone had knelt before its flow regularly? Once the wear would penetrate the enamel, the metal would rust through...and it would be time for a new can.

All the white cans I have seen or was with treated with had chipped bottoms on the exterior and bits of rust on the inside near the bottom..

I have several of these jones and vollrath enema cans i still love them and use them some

When I graduated a friend who shares my love of enemas gave me a brand new, still in the original box, Jones enema can. She passed away unexpectedly shortly after, and it is the only tangible thing I have to remember her by. I did not get a chance to use it before she died, and have been kind of saving it...

Since receiving SSEs from a white enamel irrigator can and white enamel funnel/ colon tube around 1950 while hospitalized for a ruptured appendix I've enjoyed roleplay to duplicate these early enemas. My partner dresses in an authentic white starched nurses dress to administer enemas to closely match my early hospital experiences. We've developed a number of scenarios along these lines. A favorite is a simulated barium enema and prep. This usually begins with an announcement that this procedure has been prescribed. This is followed by a dose of castor oil. After this has done its' intended job a series of strong castile SSEs are administered using a white enamel Jones or Vollrath irrigator can with red tubing and black rectal nozzle. These must be retained for about 10 minutes. The final enema in the series is given using a white enamel hospital style pitcher, a white enamel funnel and red #32 Fr. colon tube slowly inserted to its' full length as the enema flows. This is followed by a simulated barium enema using a full EZem bag and latex double balloon catheter. Finally a "washout" enema is given. We try to closely duplicate my original hospital experiences with this scenario by using authentic equipment from the 50s such as original irrigator cans, funnels, red tubing, black nozzles, a white enamel bedpan and other similar period equipment.

I didn't experience a barium enema prep at that time, but did so later in life; hence the addition of the EZem bag. I'm not sure that barium enemas were developed in the early 50s. Perhaps someone can comment on this?

At any rate, we also use many other scenarios and doing so has contributed to keeping our relationship strong for many years.