Friday, September 5, 2014

FFB: Doctors and Nurses - The Way They Used to Be.



source - Cover art: Isabel Dawson





source - Cover art: Bob Abbett 1961






source - Cover art: Robert Maguire

source

Remember these? Well, even if you never read them (and I don't think I did) these covers may still be familiar to you on some vague level. If only to remind you (me) that once upon a time nurses went about in crisp white uniforms and starched white caps.

Don't forget to check in at Patti Abbott's blog, Pattnase, to see what other forgotten or overlooked books other bloggers are talking about today.

27 comments:

  1. Those were the days--lol! I loved the Cherry Ames series of books when I was a pre-teen. Her nursing career was so exciting and glamorous and she always solved a mystery.

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    1. I posted the Cherry Ames for you, Pat. :) I knew you'd read them as a kid growing up. It never occurred to me that nurses needed to solve mysteries among their various duties. But I guess I was wrong. Ha.

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  2. These really made me chortle and gasp - what a wonderful subgenre, beautifully captured in paperback format - thanks Yvette, made my day - can we have a lot more of these, please? Thermometer optional ...

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    1. Ha! You're a hoot, Sergio. Who knew that there were all these nurses and occasionally a doctor or two, solving mysteries way back then. I do know about hanky-panky in the supply closet, but I think I learned that later from all the hospital television shows. Ha.

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  3. I'd like to see a book like these featuring John Gray!

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    1. Who is John Gray? Tom you must clarify these elliptical comments of yours if you want any sensible reply. :)

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    2. Just look at my blog list, and it will all become a little less elliptical for your sensibilities. Going Gently.

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    3. Tom, I can't look at your blog list since you don't offer a link to your blog.

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  4. Starched white uniforms were a pain to work in!

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    1. I'll bet. :) But they looked so professional and neat. :)

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  5. I do remember those uniforms, but then I come from a distant time when even the operator of an Otis elevator wore a uniform. For the nurses themselves, receiving their distinctive hat was a badge of accomplishment, not unlike a newly commissioned officer receiving a pair of beautiful gold epaulettes.

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    1. I remember those Otis uniforms too, Mark. :) Those were the days. The elevator operator at Lord and Taylor and, I think, B. Altman too wore uniforms. Before they went to those featureless empty boxes of today that is. I even remember the accordion metal closing doors. I'm old.

      As for the nurses caps, I liked them. I wish they still wore them. But I suppose if you're off chasing criminals, a white uniform would just make you too much of a target in the dark alleyways of life. :)

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  6. Does Tom maybe mean the stereotype pundit John Gray who wrote Men Are from Mars, Women Are from Venus?

    Hootenanny Nurse! I practically burst my sides laughing at that one. I'd like to retitle one of them Julie Jones - Spaceman Nurse I could write dozens of straplines for that one, too.
    "Blast off with Julie Jones who loves a man with a rocket."
    "He explored the moon. She saw stars --"
    "10, 9, 8, 7... Countdown to romance with --"
    :^D

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    1. Ha! "He explored the moon. She saw stars..." Perfect. :) I had totally forgotten about this doctor and nurse sub-genre until I stumbled across a couple of covers while looking for something else. Ain't the internet grand?

      I just found them all so amusing. Not that I want to seem as if I'm sneering at the nursing profession. Not at all. It's just that these covers are...well, see for yourself. Ha.

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    2. Well, these novels don't have Too much to do with the profession...any more (or even less) than such novels as THE HOUSE OF GOD...

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    3. Of course not, Todd. That's the point, m'dear. These are purely meant in fun.

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  7. I plead guilty to having read Cherry Ames books before I found Nancy Drew. I had forgotten there were mysteries involved, so my reading of "crime fiction" came even earlier than I had remembered.

    But those were sexist times. I've had from retired nurse friends. And they wanted to get out of those uniforms and caps. They usually wear scrubs and no hat these days. A lot easier for the nurses to clean.

    My friend, a retired nurse-practitioner who worked for 33 years in an ER used to often work double shifts, go home, sleep for a few hours, get up at 6 a.m. to iron her uniform and go back to work. Then, later she worked 12-hour shifts. But it wore her out so she switched jobs to a regular schedule.

    From what I've heard, it's a very tough job and the nurses had to be very tough and resilient and deal with every type of person and problem, including fights and substance abuse. Very hard job.

    I respect nurses and what they do. From my own hospitalizations, it was nurses who made the difference and had to deal with everything for everyone on a floor.

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    1. I'm not, I hope, being seen as making fun of the real-life nursing profession, Kathy. (My best friend's daughter is a registered nurse and I know how difficult a job it is and how hard they work, believe me.) That was not my intention. I merely meant to poke a bit of fun at these vintage covers and their titles and the stories within. I do remember reading one or two nurse-gothic romances back once upon a time.

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  8. Great stuff, Yvette! I love looking at covers of old and vintage paperbacks. I had no idea these books even existed. The medical profession seems to have been a genre by itself. These books were probably the early precursor to the medical dramas on television which are more about romance than surgery in the operation theatre.

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    1. Exactly, Prashant. This was a whole separate genre that I never really got into, but when I stumbled across these covers and their 'intriguing' art work, I just had to post some of them.

      These books were heavy on romance and not so heavy on medical realities. They were 'escapist' fare.

      Definitely.

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  9. What fun! Cape Canaveral Nurse caught my attention as my Dad worked there while I was growing up! Airport Nurse is qute a 'dramatic' cover. John's right though, Hootenanny Nurse takes the cake!

    It was nice though to be able to tell easily who was a nurse and who wasn't by their uniforms. Our hospital has them 'color' coded but you need someone to explain the coding to you first. Very frustrating when your looking for the nurse! Maybe that's the plan!?

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    1. When I was in the hospital for my cancer thing, I was very well taken care of my a team of wonderful nurses and later, during my year of chemotherapy, most of the nurses there were professional and caring. But I always had a hard time distinguishing between doctors and nurses - I didn't know the code. :)

      Yeah, that airport cover is a bit extreme. Do you suppose they're running to stop a plane from taking off so they can stop some nefarious plan? :)

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  10. The covers are hilarious, more so each time I look at them.

    I am so glad that you were well taken care of by nurses during your hospital and chemo days. That is so important.

    I was only addressing how hard they work and that the starched, ironed uniforms and caps aren't always the most practical outfits for the hard work nurses do. Many wear scrubs. I don't think all do yet, but I know that it's liberating for those who can avoid the washing, starching and ironing, the unnecessary work my friends have done after working so many hours.

    And if I'd ever been caught with any of these books as shown above (except for Cherry Ames, at age 11), my parents would have flipped.

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  11. Oh, gosh, I've been collecting stuff for an upcoming nurse post, and I hope it won't look like I've copied! I'll consider it a case of great minds thinking alike. Great post!

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    1. Obviously a case of great minds, Kelly. :) No problem. This kind of thing happens all the time. For me it's the mystery of the cosmos.

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  12. It struck me (as I was double checking to make sure I hadn't Overlooked a Tuesday's A/V post) that the women portrayed in all these paintings had girlish or doll faces, save (essentially) one, that for DOCTOR JANE (and that image was the most attractive one to me, fwiw). I have to wonder if that was canny marketing, as well, thinking that that kind of look would be most attractive/comforting to young women readers (or those who wished to be, young women of all ages).

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    1. I think you're perfectly correct, Todd. I suppose there is a general assumption that we women would all choose to be devilishly cute and doll-like if only we could. At least as far as publishers of romance novels are concerned. I don't mind it. :)

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