Tuesday, June 19, 2012

Looking backward tea

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Today I'm relaxing under the air conditioner and enjoying a cup of Da Hong Pao Big Red Robe, a famous Chinese loose leaf tea that has long leaves. I'm joining Kimmie, the brain child of Tea Tuesday and all my Tea Tuesday friends. Since I normally keep these tea posts extra short, I decided to break that custom today. I thought you might want to see a few of the photos I took at the hospital this week when I visited my friend Kathy.

You can see more photos of the hospital which is celebrating its 100th anniversary by going here.



I have two problems with these photos. One is most of you know my camera doesn't take very good photos, so the captions are hard or impossible to read on most of the pictures. The other is I realized after I removed these from my camera, that we are going backward in time, starting with recent images, including the hospital and its size. I wasn't exaggerating when I said it was a long walk to the car because this hospital has gotten so large since its first small building. And this is not the newest photo, either, because they just keep adding on and on.


What got me were the various styles of clothing worn by the hospital staff and nurses. What really impressed me were the strives in technology that seem to have been made. Not being a member of the medical industry, I was in awe of what I saw unfold as I walked backward in history and snapped photos in reverse order of their occurrence.


I know you can't read it, but it looks like some of the original PCs that came out in the late 70s to early 80s.


Each set of images shows events or milestones that were occurring in the hospital, as well as what the hospital looked like during that time.


I believe this was a picture of the building in 1972, and I suspect Santa visited from his helicopter during that era, also.


You can see the buildings in 1977.


Here I took a detour and almost went outside to enjoy a place to sit and contemplate. However, I knew I had to keep moving, or I would never get out the door and reach the car.


Note the size of the hospital in 1946. Note also the caps the nurses wore. I have no idea when they stopped wearing them, but I think it was the best thing anyone could have suggested or put into practice.


Stepping even further back in time, here is a photo of the Nursing Home associated with Wesley Hospital from 1934. Photos of the emergency room differ considerably from what ERs look like today.

I won't bore you with any more photos, since I have SO many of them. I'll show a few each day because I think they have historical value, not just to this community, but to hospitals in general. I only wish I had my Zi6 and could get decent photos you could actually read.

And while you're laughing at my photography skills, relax and enjoy your favorite drink. Remember, you don't have to drink tea. Kimmie enjoys whatever we are drinking, so please feel free to join us.



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11 thoughtful remarks:

~*~Patty S said...

Best wishes to your friend on getting well very soon E

I too enjoy photos of years gone by and there is so much to learn as you point out

You did good finding something "nice" at your hospital visit

Happy T day to you oxo

Anonymous said...

What a wonderful pictoral history of the place. Nurses today look very different from the way they did then. No dresses and no stockings and no hats. xox

Darla said...

What an elegant teacup.

I really enjoyed this post and the previous one. I worked in a local Medical Center for over 30 years and so it is fun to see one in another time and place. Our center had a very old movie (no sound) that they would pull out and show every once in awhile and it always delighted me.

Darla

Anonymous said...

quite an array of interesting photos you presented today. I love to look at photos of times past and see all the differences between then and now. Sometimes it is amusing and other times you wonder why we don't still do such and such.
Happy T on T to you.
Stop by if you get the chance; I am serving tea today!
~Dawn

SandeeNC said...

I always enjoy checking out the different hairstyles and clothing worn from era to era, and picking out things we no longer have, like rotary phones, the nurses caps, ect. And when I am looking backwards in time, I realize that 50 years from now, someone will be doing the same to my time and it makes me wonder what will be obsolete, what will they laugh at, what will advance in technology! Interesting retrospect today! waving hi from the hills of North Carolina :)

Halle said...

I love old photos so I enjoyed your look back. It's always interesting to me what medical facilities used to be like. A far cry from now days.

Jingle said...

It's really neat that those are there for you to see the progress! Such wonderful photos to look at!

Rita said...

It's really interesting to me, too, when you can see pictures of the changes over time like these photos. Hope you had a nice leisurely cup of tea. :)

Lynn Cohen said...

Came by to wish you happy tea time!!!

The photos of photos show lots of history!

Tracey FK said...

They are great photos and the tea sounds lovely... you must have such a store of them... happy tea day...xx

Unknown said...

It's always nice when a hospital has something interesting to look at while you're waiting or wandering the halls ... I hope your friend is feeling better!