Different eras - different customs
By Judy Evans
@JudyEv (381815)
Rockingham, Australia
January 26, 2018 6:05pm CST
This discussion was first published in Bubblews and I've added to it.
My parents would have been very poor when they married. Mum wore a brown suit and I don't think they were married in a church. Her face looked different in the photos as though she didn't have her teeth in. I was dumbfounded when someone told me it was the done thing in those days (1937) for the woman to have all her teeth removed and false teeth fitted to save the husband meeting this expense eventually.
However I am in the process of transcribing my Dad’s 1937 diary. Some of the entries after july 31 when they married are in Mum’s handwriting. An entry on Friday, September 17 reads: Had first impression for teeth. Then on September 24: Had second impression for teeth today. Which shows that when she was married, she would have been minus all her teeth.
This is something that really affects me. I feel so sad for my mother. I think about how embarrassed she would have been but I guess if that was the norm for the times, maybe it didn't affect her as much as it affects me so many years later.
And to end on a much happier note, my young son was very intrigued when Mum dropped her top teeth down just to show him. He was probably about four but he immediately called out to his grandfather 'hey Poppa, come and look at this!' Their marriage lasted 63 years and ended with my father's death in the year 2000.
The photo was taken on their wedding day.
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33 responses
@much2say (57760)
• Los Angeles, California
27 Jan 18
I never heard of that teeth removal custom - woh! I can't imagine getting rid of perfectly good teeth like that, but like you said, it was the norm back then. I suppose they never ever had to worry about teeth issues after that though 
!3 people like this
@bagarad (14283)
• Paso Robles, California
27 Jan 18
Dentistry has come a long way since WW2. My mom hated dentists with good reason. One broke a novocaine needle in her jaw. I caught her fear of dentists. I'd still rather not pay for torture, but it's much better now than back then. My parents were born in 1916 and married in 1940. They both still had most of their teeth. What they lost were replaced with bridges. Neither ever got dentures. My husband and I seem to be accumulating implants. I think they are much more expensive than dentures, and no one pays but the patient unless there is dental insurance that covers part of it. We don't have any such insurance.
I think it's wonderful you are getting to know your parents through their journals. I hope when you transcribe them your son will be interested in passing them on down the family line. My nephew is only now getting interested in his family history. His brother doesn't seem to care that much.
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@BarBaraPrz (51811)
• St. Catharines, Ontario
27 Jan 18
@JudyEv Nieces? Nephews? Cousins?
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@JudyEv (381815)
• Rockingham, Australia
27 Jan 18
There seems to be one in each generation who is interested in the family history. However our line with die out with our sons has neither has children so it's a bit of a problem to know what is best to do with the journals. There doesn't seem much point in keeping them although I will for the moment.
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@JudyEv (381815)
• Rockingham, Australia
27 Jan 18
@BarBaraPrz I really don't think any of them would want our journals but I won't get rid of them without checking out all avenues.
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@xFiacre (14784)
• Ireland
27 Jan 18
@judyev When we lived in the bush there was an itinerant Irish missionary-dentist-vet who had a drill that, since we had no electricity, he linked to my mother’s treadle sewing machine. I remember getting a filling on the kitchen table when I was quite young.
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@JudyEv (381815)
• Rockingham, Australia
27 Jan 18
Was this in Africa? I've heard of dentists' drills that were run by the dentists treadling away but the drills themselves were set up with treadles. Do you remember who did the treadling? You wouldn't think the revs would be sufficiently speedy.
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@Jeanniemaries (8237)
• United States
27 Jan 18
I can't even imagine. But if there was little or no dental care up to that point, perhaps teeth were not in the condition we enjoy today. Dentures were probably a blessing.
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@JudyEv (381815)
• Rockingham, Australia
1 Feb 18
@Jeanniemaries @DaddyEvil has given me a couple of really good links which show that it wasn't an uncommon practice at all in those days to have all your teeth removed.
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@Jeanniemaries (8237)
• United States
31 Jan 18
@JudyEv It definitely was the practical thing to do.
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@shaggin (74988)
• United States
28 Jan 18
I recall reading this so it must have been one I read at Bubblews. To me it is so sad to that the bride to be had to suffer through the pain and bad looks of having her teeth removed! It made her look much older in the photo then she was I'm sure. Boy and I glad this is not the common custom now today.
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@arthurchappell (44941)
• Preston, England
28 Jan 18
not heard of this approach to yesteryear's dentistry before - so sad
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@arthurchappell (44941)
• Preston, England
28 Jan 18
@JudyEv ripping the lot out was pretty extreme though
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@JudyEv (381815)
• Rockingham, Australia
29 Jan 18
@arthurchappell Yes it does so I'm not sure what the whole story was. Maybe if we knew more it would make more sense .
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@hereandthere (45628)
• Philippines
27 Jan 18
i did notice her mouth immediately and felt sad because it's her wedding day but she couldn't smile. what do you plan to do after transcribing your father's diary?
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@hereandthere (45628)
• Philippines
27 Jan 18
@JudyEv do you yourself have a diary or journal? what would you do with it?
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@HazySue (39265)
• Gouverneur, New York
27 Jan 18
That is a lovely photo of your parents on their wedding day. I had no idea that there was a tradition like that. I understand the idea of saving the new husband money but still... I can't image the feelings it would cause in the new bride.
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@JudyEv (381815)
• Rockingham, Australia
28 Jan 18
If it was something that was commonly done I guess it may not have worried them too much. I try to console myself by telling myself that as I was devastated when I first found out. I thought it was a dreadful thing for brides to have to face. I really don't know how common it was.
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@Courtlynn (67089)
• United States
27 Jan 18
Interesting.
My mom hasn't had teeth since she was pregnant with me or my brother.
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@JudyEv (381815)
• Rockingham, Australia
27 Jan 18
@Courtlynn So was it lack of iron that affected her teeth?
@JudyEv (381815)
• Rockingham, Australia
27 Jan 18
I know some people's teeth deteriorate a great deal when they become pregnant.
@Courtlynn (67089)
• United States
27 Jan 18
@JudyEv hers didn't. She had to get them all pulled while pregnant because she wasnt gaining weight during the pregnancy, so she was taken off meats and had a eggs and other food diet. So ended up not getting enough iron.
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@Kandae11 (57233)
•
1 Feb 18
@DaddyEvil Your dad looks like a movie star from back in the day - can't remember which one.
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@toniganzon (77064)
• Philippines
27 Jan 18
If that was the custom back then I'm pretty sure she didn't feel the way you did when you found out about it.
It's interesting to know that such custom existed though. My grandparents where married in the 1940s and my grandma went to live with her mother-in-law and it was her mother-in-law who sent her to a university and become a teacher. Grandma told me she didn't want to get married but her father insisted because my grandfather was known to be a playboy that time and grandma's dad didn't want her daughter to be shamed by a playboy so he had them married right away and she was only 18.
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@toniganzon (77064)
• Philippines
27 Jan 18
@JudyEv She was very happy in her married life. She loved my grandfather so much and he loved her just the same. He was such ha sweet man who knows how to take care of a woman. He may have made mistakes during their marriage but he surely knew how to make up for it. He would tell me stories of his mistakes and how he'd fix everything and tell my grandmother about them. He told me that trust is the basic foundation in every relationship.
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@JudyEv (381815)
• Rockingham, Australia
27 Jan 18
@toniganzon He does sound a lovely man.
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@JudyEv (381815)
• Rockingham, Australia
27 Jan 18
This happened in 1937 and things were different then. Many people didn't look after their teeth, dentists were expensive and many ended up with dentures. This custom stopped a long time ago and it wasn't something that was compulsory.
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@JudyEv (381815)
• Rockingham, Australia
28 Jan 18
@yugocean People didn't pay much attention to their teeth so they often had decayed teeth. Dentists were expensive and most people only went to the dentist when they got a bad tooth-ache. They didn't have teeth filled. By the time they went to the dentist the only thing to do was to take the teeth out. Men would have their teeth taken out too if they got tooth-ache and many men also had dentures.
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@JudyEv (381815)
• Rockingham, Australia
5 Feb 18
@DaddyEvil put up the following link: which is really interesting, more so the first few comments on the link. It seems it wasn't uncommon at all to have this done.
This is tangential to my genealogical quest, but I was struck by this reminiscence amongst my grandfather's papers: She was a vegetarian from the date of our marriage. It was her own wish. She said that she had never felt better in her life, but she was st
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@moffittjc (128824)
• Gainesville, Florida
27 Jan 18
I remember when my grandmother popped her set of teeth out one day when I was little so that she could clean them. I was completely amazed and somewhat baffled. I remember asking my grandmother, "Our teeth can come out?" She laughed and quickly used the moment as a learning experience. "This is why you should always brush your teeth thoroughly every day when you're told to!" I have been meticulous about brushing my teeth ever since! lol
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@moffittjc (128824)
• Gainesville, Florida
27 Jan 18
@JudyEv Wow, that's funny about the teeth being frozen in the glass of water! Well, I guess it wasn't funny to her though!
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@JudyEv (381815)
• Rockingham, Australia
27 Jan 18
@moffittjc They must have been pretty chilly to put in her mouth.
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@JudyEv (381815)
• Rockingham, Australia
27 Jan 18
It was a great opportunity to ensure you'd look after your teeth, wasn't it? Mum put hers in a glass of water when she was camping with us once and in the morning they had frozen in the water. They were so cold they couldn't even chatter. 
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@JamesHxstatic (29410)
• Eugene, Oregon
27 Jan 18
I suppose that dentists were few, far between and too expensive for people back in those days. My mother had her teeth removed in her 40s, as I recall (she was 39 when I was born). She had problems with the dentures forever, even a new set or two.
I never heard of the custom you mentioned of having them removed before marriage. Amazing.
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@JamesHxstatic (29410)
• Eugene, Oregon
27 Jan 18
@JudyEv Same with my parents, I'm sure, both born at the turn of the 20th century, 1899 & 1901.
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@JudyEv (381815)
• Rockingham, Australia
27 Jan 18
@JamesHxstatic Mum was born in 1910 and Vince's Dad in 1900. Vince's Mum would have been 41 when he was born and 43 when his younger brother was born. Lately mothers seem to have reverted to being generally older when having children whereas in my generation, we were usually early 20s+ when we started our families.
@just4him (323168)
• Green Bay, Wisconsin
28 Jan 18
You mentioned that about the teeth in another post. It's still hard to believe they would do something like that. It's a very nice picture of your parents, and I can see the resemblance of you in your mother.
I'm sure your son thought it was hilarious for her to do that. I bet he still remembers the episode.
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