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Leith Sun Ray Treatment |
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Recollections 1. Christine Anderson (née Keith) Duddingston, Edinburgh |
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Thank you to Christine Anderson (née Keith) who wrote: |
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Sun-Ray Treatment "I would very much to like to mention a topic that has not yet appeared on any History Recollection Page. It is about Sun Ray Treatment that was given to children who were a bit frail. I was one of those children. We were sent by the Nurse to attend a clinic that was situated at the foot of John Street. Leith Academy School was nearby. Looking back, I suspect it may have been owned by a wealthy Merchant. We were put in a darkened room. We formed a circle around this 'light' which was on the floor. We sat in our underwear wearing rubber goggles to protect our eyes. There was a dreadful smell of heated rubber. I was with a girl called Christine Reid (Leith walk School) and there was another girl called Marie Barnum from another school. It also included taking Malt, cod liver oil and the thick orange juice that was given to babies. I liked the orange juice!!!" School "Looking back to this photograph of my class at Leith Walk School, taken in 1954, I am the smallest girl sitting at the right-hand end of the bench, 3rd row from the back. I would say my sun ray treatments would have been around 1952/1953." Question "Does anyone else remember the sun ray treatment?" Christine Anderson (née Keith), Duddingston, Edinburgh: February 10+11, 2010 |
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Reply to Christine? If you'd like to send a reply to Christine, please email me, then I'll pass on your message to her. Thank you. - Peter Stubbs: March 4, 2010 |
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Update Christine: By coincidence, I have received another email about sun ray treatment. It reached me the day before your message. It came from Brian Swanney who used to live in Royston, Edinburgh and now lives in New Zealand. I've just added his comments to the web site. Please click on this link to read his comments: Royston Recollections 11, Artificial Sunlight Health Clinic Peter Stubbs: March 4, 2010 |
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Reply 1. Charlotte Cote USA |
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Thank you to Charlotte Cote, who has lived in USA since 1972, replied: |
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Sun-Ray Treatment "I was a baby in Leeds, Yorkshire, England when I was taken to a facility (I don't know which one) in Leeds for sun ray Treatment. It may have been around 1949-51. My Mother told me all about it, but I don't remember it. She said I needed the treatment because all the calcium had gone to make teeth, and my legs bowed. They did the treatment to strengthen my leg bones, then my legs grew straight. I'm now age 62. Mum also gave us Virol, some kind of vitamin stuff that was almost caramel, thick orange juice and cod liver oil. Oddly, I have had a lot of pain in my right lower leg for a few years now. According to the doctors, it's something to do with my spine - though it does make you wonder!" Charlotte Cote, USA: August 26, 2010 |
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Reply 2. Christine Northam-Palmer Tavistock, Devon, England |
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Thank you to Chris Northam Palmer who wrote: |
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Sun-Ray Treatment "I've been trying to find out about sun ray treatment my whole life. I am 60. I had sun ray treatment as a tot in Plymouth. I never knew why, apart from my Mother telling me that I was skinny and did not eat." Chris Northam Palmer, Tavistock, Devon, England: March 8, 2011 |
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Reply 3. Kate Fisher (née Mason) Carlisle, Cumbria, England |
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Thank you to Kate Fisher who wrote: |
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Sun-Ray Treatment "I, too, was one of those frail children. I can remember quite vividly everything Christine described, the awful smell of the rubber goggles and sitting round the lamp in our underwear. I went to Leith Academy in the 1950s and don’t remember anyone else from that school going for the sun-ray treatment with me." Kate Fisher (née Mason), Carlisle, Cumberland, England |