You Put Your Right Hand In; She Puts Your Right Hand Out--and You Shake it All About

I asked 'Nell' about whether her parents were worried about her moving to Chicago when she was 18 in 1943.  A mother can never worry enough, and Nell's wanted her daughter well prepared for the 'city of the big shoulders.'  She told her, "You're going to the doctor today, and he's going to explain sex to you."

Nervously, she waited alone in the doctor's office.  He strode in and said sternly, “Let me tell you about these guys; If you let them start in on you upstairs, (pointing to his chest) then they’re gonna wanna go downstairs, (pointing to his crotch).  If that happens you will go crazy and end up in a mental institution."  And he walked out of the room.

Nell moved to the Windy City likely sporting high buttoned blouses and tightly cinched belts. She recalls one of her neighbors being very upset one night.  She told Nell that, while she and a fellow were dancing, they tripped and fell on top of each other.  The gal was worried she was now pregnant.

I asked Nell when she got the real story on sex, and she remembered a friend explaining it at a gathering.  One of the gals declared, "Well, my parents would NEVER do that!"

Most women of that era played the Hokey Pokey for the first time on their wedding night. The young Mrs. was often heard to comment, "So that's what it's all about."

©6/07/2011  Jana B Patrick

 Happy Birthday, 'Nell!'     "Chicago," by Carl Sandburg, 1916
                                                      Hog butcher for the world,
                                                      Tool maker, stacker of wheat,
                                                      Player with railroads and the nation's freight handler;
                                                      Stormy, husky, brawling,
                                                      City of the big shoulders.