Was it the golden age of the enema or of the syringe?

It wasn't just the golden age of the enema, although it was that, too. I tend to think that it was the golden age of the syringe, whether a bag, a bulb, or a can. Growing up we had three of them: a small bulb for when we were kids, mom had a douche bulb, and the family had a combination syringe which was for use as a hot water bottle and an enema bag.

When I went away to college I soon bought myself a travel syringe and just before I got married bought a combination bag for our first apartment. I was born in 1959, went to college in 1977, and got married in 1984. This was pretty much the routine for those times.

I suspect that there are many others here from those times, too.

😄 emom: I agree that the era was more extensive than just the 'enema'. The era was one of more extensive home nursing and care, which included 'the enema', and assorted other activities, which most Moms undertook as part of raising their charges. (I suspect that some Moms actually enjoyed doing their duty.) Moms seem to have taken a more participatory role in caring for their children during that era. This included tending to the child's regularity; caring for the child when it was confined to bed during an illness (checking temperature, administering medication, bathing, etc.) Perhaps they are just lucky, but my son and his wife don't seem to have needed to do any of these things for their two kids. I suspect though that they would be more likely to visit a clinic than to undertake any of the once standard therapies...

Emom, there is at least one other here from those times. The 1940s and 50s when I grew up were certainly a golden age of the syringe. Enema syringes were in almost every home–I know because I always looked for enema stuff in the other kids’ houses. Sometimes the family enema equipment was in plain sight, more often I had to secretly search a bit, but there was always an enema bag or enema bulb or enema can. The variety was wonderful. Oh, how exciting it was!

And the enema equipment was used often. As Cos points out, Moms back then took a very participatory role in their children’s care and that included frequent enemas. Although I have good reason to believe that my parents enjoyed giving me enemas, I can’t say the same for all Moms and suspect that most felt more of a sense of satisfaction with a well-administered and effective enema than a feeling of enjoyment. In any event, giving a kid an enema didn’t cost anything but a house call from the doctor did. Besides, the first thing the doctor would tell the Mom is “Give him a good enema!”

While I was growing up, I made covert use of our family enema bag as often as I could. When I went away to college in the early 60s I bought my own enema bag (a red open-top beauty with delicious black, hard-rubber nozzles that I still have) and there was no problem finding the enema bag–all the drugstores had a wide variety. A couple of my college classmates were married with young kids and I discovered that enemas were still pretty routine in families then although not discussed too openly.

Like many here from the 1940s and '50s, I got nearly all my treatments from "Doctor Mom ." That included sessions with the well-used enema can, and it was used iwithout having to get "permission" from our family doctor, knowing he would approve.

Sadly the passing of the Golden Age was mainly due to enemas falling out of favor in the medical community because of the time constraints on nurses, patient's cooperation, the misinformation from the drug industry and stupid Doctors who just repeat what they are told by attractive drug reps. There is a medical website that I belong to and on it are thousands of women with chronic constipation who write about their daily dramas. It is quite obvious that a good portion of these women would simply need to receive regular enemas but they take all kinds of drugs, laxatives and even surgery to correct something that could be fixed with a determined partner and some soapy water. When they do hear the word 'enema' they only think of Fleets and obviously that is not their ticket to a more comfortable life.

I agree the golden age was the age of the syringe. It was very matter-of-fact that enemas were a routine part of life and the bulb or the bag would ocasionally be on display in the bathroom after its use. Enemas were discussed in public and the only ones embarassed were the children that were frequently on the receiving end. Syringes were openly displayed in every drugstore. Oh the good old days.

Back in the late 40's and early 50's, my Mom always used the old standby red bag, red hose, and black nozzles on us, but I can see where a syringe-bulb enema would be very pleasurable as long as you had a partner to do the insertions and the squeezing. As a solo practioner today however, I find the bulb more distracting than enjoyable.

Emom, you just might be right about it being the golden age of the syringe. As I have posted elsewhere our house had two bags, a combination one that was for family enemas and a red open top that we were told was just for mom's use. Of course hers was for douching. A couple of years later my older sister went away to college and I had the good fortune to discover her folding syringe one time when she was home. That was the beginning of my education because nearly every girl that I dated and was at all serious about during my college years also owned a syringe whether it was a folding one, a combination, a bulb, or a compact. In those times they were expected to keep their vagina clean and I suspect a good number also did enemas. After all they had the equipment.

Keep in mind: At that time, most women were actually ENCOURAGED to douche!

As a result the bag with it's vaginal nozzle was considered standard "girl gear" From the early teens on, most women had their own bag. With the difference being only one nozzle, and medical science being so much more limited in what they could actually treat, go figure what human nature will dictate!

And there was definitely a time that I remember as a child in the 1960's when the local Rexall Drug Store, or any drug store for that matter, had a vast array of enema equipment---combination bags, fountain syringe bags, rectal bulb syringes in assorted sizes, douche bulbs, colon tubes---you name it and you could find it at the local drug store. Now you find cheap enema bag made of weird plastic materials that barely hold a quart!!!

Here is an advertisement currently listed on eBay that helped end the Golden Age. http://www.ebay.com/itm/1966-ad-Fleet-Enema-VINTAGE-medical-vintage-Advertising-PRINT-ADVERT-/151353761439?pt=LH_DefaultDomain_0&hash=item233d631e9f

We often say that the Medical Industry, hospitals particularly, ended the golden age, but the above magazine ad was pointed a consumers. Imagine a Mad Men episode where C.B. Fleet or Lynchburg, VA comes to NYC to develop this campaign which asks the housewife:

REMOVE AN ENEMA'S DISCOMFORT, IRRITATION, INCONVENIENCE, and APPARATUS, and WHAT DO YOU HAVE?

Another misleading ad. The last two claims are true, but eliminating discomfort, and irritation? Nothing to me is more uncomfortable that the irritation created by a Fleet type enema.

Yes.

During my whole life as a young child and into my early teens, small simple enemas were a routine part of my personal hygiene, introduced to me and my half-bro by my Mom. We accepted those as important as brushing our teeth or having a weekly shampoo.

Nearing my Ninth Birthday, Mom turned over more advanced enema training to my Dad who introduced us to Ivory Soap, purposeful abdominal massage and then a generous rinse with plain water.

Enema faded from my life for several years as a teen when the post-WWII Enema taboo destroyed the "Golden Age." Then, when at college I found increased pleasure in regular enemas and developed regularity with a good series before Sunday Morning Chapel. I knew I was in an "OK mode" when I'd see someone else's bag drying in the men's dorm washroom.

Lisa, how true about women being encouraged to douche. My mother never talked to me about it, but once away at college it wasn't long before the other girls exerted a lot of peer pressure on me with the result that I was keeping things clean each month.

I'm significantly older (15 years) than Emom, but I totally agree with her assessment of the "Golden Age". I can remember the times our doctor would willingly make a "house call" and often prescribe an enema or two for whatever ailed me. My mother was always ready to administer an OTK Ivory soap enema with her red bag. GREAT memories that lead to a life-long desire to receive and give erotic enemas.

I was born after the golden age of enemas, but my mom was the firm believer in enemas and douches for herself and me.

Our house was not without a red fountain syringe and black nozzles for enema and douching and a big jar of vaseline.

Mom kept the fountain syringe with it's long red hose on the back of the bathroom door for all to see, because it got frequent use with the two of us.

I remember when I was older that after an enema, while I was still on the toilet, it was time for my douche.

Moms goal was to keep me cleaned out as much as possible, and she would often surprise me with them after school.

It was indeed! Although Sis & I were raised on enemas from earliest memory, I was never able to talk with my peers about this . Sis, on the other hand, talked with her girlfriends, but as an aside to discussions of douching. Looking back, I probably could have had several female enemates, as Susan always told me about which girls got enemas, and why. I never followed through, but remember maybe twenty girls in high school that Suzy tagged as e-friendly. I was always shy about meeting her friends...now I could kick myself! Anyway, douching and enemas were obviously commonplace in the 50's.

Not every home had the enema bag or bulb, some of my friends never had an enema. One girl thought people who put things in their butt were queer. Gave something to think of for a 15 year old with mixed feelings. I never explained to her the good feelings thing. But I knew I wasn't queer, just felt so good after the enema. A lot of us might agree with me. (Excuse my use of the word "queer", it came from "The Golden Age" too.

Unlike e mom who is probably 20 years older than me, it was not my college roommates that introduced me to douching.

I remember the first time it was my mother who surprised me with one after school right after the surprise enema she insisted on giving me one afternoon after school.

When I got home from school, mom told me to go upstairs to the bathroom and take all my clothes off.

I saw the full enema bag with soapsuds overflowing hanging on the shower curtain rod. From prior experiences, I knew that I was in for an enema to clean me out because the black enema nozzle was coated with vaseline.

She expected me to get on my knees and lean over the side of the tub while she inserted the black enema nozzle into my backside. She would sit on the closed toilet seat while I pleaded for her to take out the nozzle. When the bag was empty she allowed me to sit on the toilet while she watched me expel the enema.

While I was expelling the enema I saw her refill the fountain syringe with a little white vinegar and a lot of warm water. I thought, oh no, another enema, but she exchanged the enema nozzle with the long curved nozzle with the little holes on the sides and told me to stay on the toilet when I was finished making.

She said that I had just finished my period and it was time to clean out my vagina. She told me to open my legs, and then she inserted the nozzle for me right into my pussy.

The douche was not as bad as the enema, and I wound up cleaned physically and mentally that afternoon.

For me and my brothers it was the golden age of the enema back in the 59's and 60's. The 8 oz red bulb with the black nozzle and the one quart red bag, long tube, and black nozzle on the end were always in plain sight in our bathroom. By the time I was five or six I can remember seeing or hearing my brothers getting enema's from my mother and sometimes from our step -Dad. They would either be over a lap or kneeling on the bathroom rug next to the bath tub with the bag hanging down from the shower curtain rod, the tube and nozzle coated with Vaseline ready to be put into the waiting rectum and bowels. My Mom loved putting the nozzle into our puckering holes. She always had a big smile on her face. After our tummy's were filled with the warm soapy liquid she waited till we were cramping just enough to know that the enema was working, then she would pull the nozzle out and we would quickly sit down on the toilet to let it all out. She would check the toilet to make sure it was all out, If she didn't like what she saw, she would fill the bag with a half a quart of warm water and then give that to us to make sure every thing was completely clean and clear. We would put up a stink {Pun intended} about it butt there was nothing we could do but take it. I still get them the same way to this day.

It was the golden age of the enema and the syringe. Growing up in the late 50's and early 60's you could find all type of syringes in the drug stores and department stores. They had a complete selection of bulb syringes, rectal and douche, as well as a variety of combination and fountain syringes. Sears and Wards catalogs also contained a vast selection of syringes as well. I remember Rexall ads in the Sunday paper that usually listed the sale prices on various syringes as well. Syringes were common in most homes. A little snooping could often find enema bulb syringes, douche bulb syringes, bags or alll three. Massengill douche powder and Zonite douche were also easily found. Consequently, it was also the golden age of the enema and old fashioned douche. My mother was quick to get out the syringe and use it on me at the first sign of constipation. Many times I was the unwilling recipient of an Ivory soapsuds syringing. It was the time before frequent doctor visits and most families resorted to home remedies. Since I dreaded those early encounters with the syringe it didn't seem like the "golden age" to me at the time, but having later developed an interest in enemas I sometimes wish I could go back to those days and relive them.

Well said, Buddy55. I grew up I the 50's and getting "cleaned out" was a regular activity in our house. Our family enema equipment, hanging on the towel bar in the bathroom drying out, would always draw a comment or chuckle from relatives or friends who stopped by. Everyone had to ask "who got the enema"? The word "enema" would come up in many of the adult conversations, usually about which kid either needed or recently received a "good enema". And as you indicated, print ads of enema equipment were everywhere and drugstores had shelves of rubber "hygiene" gear (my favorite aisle that always drew me like a magnet). Definitely was a "Golden Age" for us older klismo's.

The red Davol bag (probably from Sears & Roebuck) with a red hose, ss clamp, and black bakelite enema nozzle (lubricated with Vaseline, of course) was as common in our household as a bottle of aspirin. Although enemas weren't publicly discussed, Ivory SS enemas followed by a thorough warm water rinse were the "cure all" for whatever ailed us at the time.

Expanding on my reply 4, it was interesting , even comforting, to confirm how common the enema experience was in our growing-up years, whether with an open or closed rubber bag or a hospital type enema can that got good use in our home.

The video clip in this string is fairly true to life.

Nice clip, but when do we get to see Ricky have his turn?

Better than most, but I was really looking forward to watching Ricky get his.

I get it. Most of these films are made by men, with the primary audience men, but couldn't we once in a while see the guy squirm? How many times do we have to watch the girl get the enema while she finger frigs herself? For once I want to see the guy squirm as his gut fills and his dick gets hard. Then he needs to take the matter in hand to get relief. Isn't that what happens? Guys? Am I wrong?

Not in front of his mother as the story line here might lead, but when she excuses herself to let him expel he lets it all fly. How about it girls? Shouldn't we have equal time?

We all have listened to those who tell us the 4,000 year history of the enema. indeed the ancient Egyptions may have originated putting water into the body to flush it out. By the 1940's, all of the contraptions for giving enemas gelled as processed rubber evolved. A dozen companies manufactured "rubber goods" as we know them by their various forms. Bags, Bulbs, Bottles were cheap to manufacture and buy. The average household did not need a trip to the local doctor to relieve the ailments a good enema appeared to help or alleviate. Sears sold enema/douche bags of good quality for $1.98 or less. Pop culture / medicine has a lot of supporters and an enema did most people good. Now you cannot ignore the pleasure side. Many people enjoy putting something into the rear end. Perhaps you do. There are all sorts of branches to these pleasure centers. My question is: Are we (us) the visible proof that the "Golden Age" still exists, and by the very nature of sales of syringes on-line and in a few stores, the age of the enema is not finished.

The age of the Enema has simply evolved...there is more choice now than there ever was....Though some items quality is questionable

"THE" Golden Age for Enemas would be at whatever period in one's life they were the most involved in Enemas. So, for each person, "THE" Golden Age for Enemas would be different.

It seems that, the less clothes a person wears, the less likely they are to take an enema.

In the 1950s, almost every women wore a girdle, and a slip.

Before that, it was a corset, and one or more petticoats.

The more stuff they had to take off just to take a poop, the more they had to control when they did poop, and the more they used enemas to limit the content of the bowel.

The other night while watching a crime show, I was surprised to hear a female detective call a criminal a douche bag. I had never heard the expression before, but I am now told that the term is slang for dirt bag. I wondered at the time whether the detective ever douched.

Since I have often douched with my enema bag after an enema I find it somewhat insulting to woman to relate to douching in such a crude manner. The next expression will be to call someone an enema bag.

I don't relate my enema-douche bag as a dirty thing. Mine is simply used for internal bathing like taking a bath inside. My mother often told me that was the reason for a douche and enema, and I still feel the same way.