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Takoma Park, Maryland, circa 1928. "Washington Sanitarium, children." National Photo Company Collection glass negative. View full size.
My first thought was that this looks like a sad place to be for a child, despite the light and fresh air provided by the windows. This looks like it might be an enclosed porch, though, so perhaps they spent most of their time in a room that was a little more welcoming. I hope parents were able to be with them, but I suspect they were only permitted to be there for a short time each day.
the nurse's kiss curl. She doesn't seem too bothered about her charges standing on the beds. I bet they wouldn't be allowed to do that at home.
That's what happens when you stand on the bed!
Every time my wife has been in the maternity ward (and it's been a few), you can't tell nurses from techs from med students from food service people. Everybody wears the same garish scrubs. The one thing you can be sure of is that the people coming in all day are hardly ever doctors.
So many pretty '20s touches: the sunny room with its many windows and roll-up window shades at the exact same height with their pull cords, the bobbed hair of the children, the flapper nurse's smile and spit curl in the middle of her forehead, the little decorative shade around the ceiling fixture, the comfy radiators for cold weather. And not a safety railing anywhere! That youngster on the end is a step away from a nasty fall and may wind up like the child in the rear bed!
Sure was nice when nurses looked like nurses. Today, I can't tell them from the housekeepers. (No disrespect to housekeepers intended.)
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