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Brother Buzz

(40,378 posts)

45. We drove to the county health building in '57 or '58, too, twenty miles away

Wed Feb 4, 2015, 01:00 AM

Feb 2015

We were living in the epicenter of a scary hot polio cluster and my parents made a special appointment for the new polio vaccine. The locals and health officials mistakenly blamed the tidal wetlands in our backyards for the cluster and bumped us to the front of the waiting list for the polio serum that was in very short supply at the time.

Years later we also had the sugar cube treatment.

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Anyone else old enough to remember standing in line for your polio shots [View all] Peacetrain Feb 2015 OP

I remember, along with the big honking scab and scar notadmblnd Feb 2015 #1

That sounds like the smallpox vaccination. 3catwoman3 Feb 2015 #10

Yeah, I had the smallpox one. cwydro Feb 2015 #12

maybe, but I don't remember ever getting any sugar cube notadmblnd Feb 2015 #16

I got the shots.. sugar cubes cames later Peacetrain Feb 2015 #19

It was a shot, then a sugar cube, and later some sort of gel. n/t winter is coming Feb 2015 #22

That's what I remember Sanity Claws Feb 2015 #27

My polio vaccine was on a sugar cube. napi21 Feb 2015 #50

No I was pre-vaccine, but remember classmates who survived but Cleita Feb 2015 #2

I think it was third grade for me too. haikugal Feb 2015 #3

I got my shot while it was still in the trial stage, Blue_In_AK Feb 2015 #4

And sugar cubes. madamesilverspurs Feb 2015 #5

Yep. I remember standing in line for our sugar cubes. Luminous Animal Feb 2015 #25

My Mom was from Australia.. haikugal Feb 2015 #56

Those smallpox scars are a generational marker now. Several years ago I was Exhibit A ... Hekate Feb 2015 #36

The asshats in the U.S. who don't vaccinate can't cause an epidemic without help. Gormy Cuss Feb 2015 #6

The issue with the asshats in the U.S. who don't vaccinate is not an epidemic. MohRokTah Feb 2015 #43

And again, if the foreign transmission risk were eliminated it would be a non-issue. Gormy Cuss Feb 2015 #70

Concentrating on asshats in the US and making it mandatory they vaccinate their children eliminates MohRokTah Feb 2015 #72

What's idiotic is pretending that a focus on American anti-vaxxers will cure the problem/ Gormy Cuss Feb 2015 #85

If the US falls back to endemic status, decades of work towards eradication are wiped out. MohRokTah Feb 2015 #86

I had the sugar cube when I was really young, maybe before 6 years? KatyaR Feb 2015 #7

Sugar cube, handed to us in one of those fluted paper cups. Demit Feb 2015 #8

I really don't remember nitpicker Feb 2015 #66

We got the polio vaccine in sugar cubes. cwydro Feb 2015 #9

Yeah, I'm one of the "sugar cube" generation too. Hell I loved it! Rowdyboy Feb 2015 #39

I know, can you imagine? cwydro Feb 2015 #40

As a young boy I had a VERY sweet tooth. The sugar cubes "vanished" in nothing flat! Rowdyboy Feb 2015 #42

Ha! I did like the Pixie Stix. cwydro Feb 2015 #44

One of my favorites! Also Sweet Tarts.... Rowdyboy Feb 2015 #46

Loved sweet tarts! cwydro Feb 2015 #47

Anyone remember haikugal Feb 2015 #57

Yes, today it would be a high fructose corn syrup cube! Phentex Feb 2015 #77

Yup, I got the sugar cube too. HappyMe Feb 2015 #64

This should blow up to over 300 replies WhaTHellsgoingonhere Feb 2015 #11

I distinctly remember... 3catwoman3 Feb 2015 #13

Yes. Stood in line for shots Kingofalldems Feb 2015 #14

I remember standing in line for the sugar cubes. NOLALady Feb 2015 #15

Yup. Shots. 1957 or 58. MineralMan Feb 2015 #17

Me, too. But the doctor came to the house. displacedtexan Feb 2015 #20

We drove to the county health building in '57 or '58, too, twenty miles away Brother Buzz Feb 2015 #45

Sugar cubes at school. nt FLyellowdog Feb 2015 #18

Me too. cwydro Feb 2015 #48

Same here. blue neen Feb 2015 #54

I remember going to the armory in Memphis. Laffy Kat Feb 2015 #21

I remember it well........ truegrit44 Feb 2015 #23

No. Oral had just come out, so we got sugar cubes Panich52 Feb 2015 #24

Polio = sugar cube. Smallpox = needle scratch. Raster Feb 2015 #26

The first Salk vaccine was an injection. longship Feb 2015 #59

Absolutely and the kids screaming getting injections. gordianot Feb 2015 #28

We had an outbreak of polio at the little lake Peacetrain Feb 2015 #81

Sugar cube when I was in 1st grade. My father-in-law contracted LibDemAlways Feb 2015 #29

I was born in 1964 PasadenaTrudy Feb 2015 #30

Yes, I do and was glad to get the polio vaccination csziggy Feb 2015 #31

I got a sugar cube Kalidurga Feb 2015 #32

Yes, in the 1950's. we were bused to the Health Dept. for the shots dem in texas Feb 2015 #33

Absolutely. Clinic was held at elementary school in the evening & every parent in town was there... Hekate Feb 2015 #34

Lots of people pipi_k Feb 2015 #35

I remember first the sugar cube and thought hey this ain't so bad newfie11 Feb 2015 #37

Sugar cubes rusty fender Feb 2015 #38

Sugar cubes in flimsy cupcake liners. And felt Euphoria Feb 2015 #41

Stood in line for sugar cubes at BOSCO's, across the street from the very first Albertson's store. Major Hogwash Feb 2015 #49

I don't remember what they pricked/fuel injected me for Art_from_Ark Feb 2015 #51

Sandoz sugar cubes olddots Feb 2015 #52

I remember standing in line in a school gym.... prairierose Feb 2015 #53

in the gym MFM008 Feb 2015 #55

Stood in line at the elementary school gym with my brother. ladyVet Feb 2015 #58

kindergarten Panama, New York 1959-1960 with a big glass needle - I remember passing out Douglas Carpenter Feb 2015 #60

I can still see three kids ahead of me Peacetrain Feb 2015 #83

I remember taking it on a sugar lump... LeftishBrit Feb 2015 #61

Yep Hobo Feb 2015 #62

Yes - in P.S. 56 kindergarten LiberalElite Feb 2015 #63

Raising Hand! ProfessorGAC Feb 2015 #65

Me...first grade, I believe deutsey Feb 2015 #67

Remember it? Hell, I got my picture in the paper and still have it. Scuba Feb 2015 #68

Stood in Line itcfish Feb 2015 #69

I remember standing in line for shots and sugar cubes. Paladin Feb 2015 #71

We got them in the gymnaisium of our school. Polio had killed and maimed a fair share of children jwirr Feb 2015 #73

Sugar cubes, not shots shanti Feb 2015 #74

Standing in Line RobinA Feb 2015 #75

Polio vaccine was on the sugar cube..... love_me_some_pickles Feb 2015 #76

Not in the beginning of the vaccine campaign,,not until the 1960's Peacetrain Feb 2015 #80

Glafd I got the "cube" !! love_me_some_pickles Feb 2015 #82

I am glad you did too!! Peacetrain Feb 2015 #84

Stood in line at school for the sugar cube. sarge43 Feb 2015 #78

Sugar cubes, March of Dimes to Sousa tunes Lifelong Protester Feb 2015 #79

Salk Polio shots GreyGhost47 Jul 2015 #87