Treadles harmful to your health..
 

The treadle sewing machine could produce "morbid effects" warned the Boston Medical and Surgical Journal in 1871.

"Two young women, sisters, who, in consequence of the prolonged use of the sewing machine, were made sick, the one with metritis, the other with a very rapid development of an ovarian tumor. In these two apparently dissimilar cases, two different diseases sprang from the same cause, which had produced in each a congested state of the inter-pelvic ovaries. It is in fact by the production of a permanent congested state of the generative system that the use of the sewing machine brings about the most injurious and most undeniable morbid effects."

Really unbelievable. LOL

Oh, is that funny or what????

Unbelievable... I am just shaking my head.

Dina

Oh my!! I learned to sew on my grandmother's treadle so many years ago...... my mom used it before me and will be 93 in a couple of months. I still own a treadle..... guess I'd better be careful.... don't want any horrible diseases from using it.

My laughing so hard will probably cause more damage.....

That is kind of what they have said about haircolor all these years. Some people grab the wrong color! I mean have you seen some of the different people with multi-color hair. LOL! It 's almost as bad as when I was told never to raise my arms above my head when I was pregnant. Who else was going to come to our houses and hang our laundry on the line. Anyone else have any more myths to add that were just myths.

I remember seeing something from that era that warned of women becoming sexually dysfunctional because of the rhythmic motion of the treadle. Good grief.

Wow, the things they could come up with!!! Oh I heard the never raise your arms above your head thing. I tried not to do that!!

Don't cross your eyes or they may freeze that way.LOL

and back then, cigarettes were good for you.

Did it work???

WOW, that is funny.

yeah! Who needs a man?LOL

I was going to quote from "The American Quilt Story The How-To and Heritage of a Craft Tradition" by Susan Jenkins and Linda Seward but I have to get permission from them to quote it here so in my own words from what I read, it was believed that women couldn't control machinery and freedom from their chores,... they would go wild. Only men were intelligent enough to work with machines but women had their tools, needle, broom and washboard.
This book is so good on history of the machine and quilting, an easy read and interesting. Very likely out of print by now but maybe could be found on B&N used or ebay.

LOL!

I remember when I was a young teenager, about 13 or 14, an Aunt told me not to get wet when it was that time of the month because it could produce seizures! Yuck! No showers! No way!

Oh, my best friend in high school, her mother told me it was a good thing that she gave coffee to her boys when they were little so it could stunt their growth. All of her boys were at least 6'5"! She said can you imagine how tall they would be if she hadn't given them coffee!

And no one cared if the pregnant woman drank alcohol to oblivion either.

Hmm. Guess we've learned good and bad.

Not so long ago women risked having their uterus-es fall out if they engaged in running or vigorous sports.

And we had to wait 30 minutes after eating before we could go swimming, otherwise we could end up with cramps and could drown! Bwaa haaa haaa! I give my mom soooo much grief about that now...

They didn't know much about cancer back then...

They also used to think that raising your arms over your head while pregnant would cause the cord to wrap around the baby's neck!

Ignorance was not bliss.

Oh, really! I'm surprised that they didn't say it caused female hysteria from all the rubbing. LOL!

Don't forget about the wantonness caused by horseback or bicycle riding!

I really think most of those illnesses were caused by those tight corsets women were trussed into. No corsets at my house...lol

Ever wonder where the term hysterectomy came from? It literally means removal of hysteria. The medical diagnosis included anything and everything. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Female_hysteria Doctors performed a lot of hysterectomies in the Victorian age and I doubt very many were for cancer. A lot of the listed symptoms sound like PMS - except for the "tendency to cause trouble."

I don't have a treadle, but my ovaries suddenly feel crushed!

Wow...How foolish people use to think....

Wonder what we are saying today that our DG willl laugh at in later years?

All I can say is we are a little smarter now, more than then.
peace

2 sisters both had issues with their reproductive system. Maybe cancer? Did they know about it back then? They sure didn't know about genetically linked illnesses.

I just got a treadle machine for Mother's Day and have been learning to use it. Looks as if I'd better think twice - not!

PS, It's a Lotus, and I love it! Treadling is easier than I expected, but may provide a little much-needed exercise.

Actually hysteria is from the root for the uterus. They believed the uterus caused hysteria. Whatever hysteria IS.

Don't wash hair when its youR time. Took my gan to hospital or a severe cut on her head. She didn't want to go in case they found out she had a dropped womb her wording. I laughed so much.
Don walk on the cracks in pavements. Buttercup shows if you like butter. Picking dandelions makes you wet the bed.
Surely all these have some reasoning behind them ,our grandparents etc were not stupid just didn't know.

Or maybe they just wanted to scare you into not doing something. Boys were told they'd go blind or grow hair on their palms if they self-pleasured. Good grief.