19th-Century Photos of Nurses
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A Nurse
A nurse, a simple nurse; to the unthinking
Only a nurse, and nothing but a name;
A patient woman in her round of duty,
Living and dying all unknown to fame.
Only a nurse, a messenger of mercy,
An angel sent unto our suffering race,
With quiet step, and tender hand of healing,
Divinest pity on her gentle face.
When all the world lies wrapt in quiet slumber,
Save the poor sufferer moaning on his bed,
Whose watchful eye with Christian love keeps vigil
Through the long night with silent softened tread?
Only a nurse, in duty all unshrinking;
Before such scenes, man's stouter heart would quail;
See there! That sweet, fair girl, in sorest trial
Is at her post, nor will her courage fail.
The fever we but terror-struck encounter,
Or fly before with selfish, coward dread;
While nurse and doctor hasten to the rescue,
And stand unflinching by the stricken bed.
Hark! That weird bell —an accident at midnight;
The nurse and doctor, wakeful, close at hand,
The minister to suffering or dying,
The hospital's heroic little band!
There you or I may in our need find refuge,
With kindly help and loving tender care;
Respect we'll give those brave, unselfish women,
And night and day remember them in prayer.
—E.M.C., 1886.
Notice the nursing chatelaines worn by these two nurses in Glasgow. The thin, cylindrical item on the right is a thermometer in a special chatelaine-attachment holder. These nursing chatelaines are the kind which Nurse McCoy wears in my historical fiction series.
"The nurse reached for a tiny corkscrew hanging on a chain at her waist. There were other chains there in a bundle; Jacob supposed it was some sort of chatelaine, but half the tools were strange to him. She popped the cork out of the bottle, daubed the brown liquid onto a cloth and wiped it over Miss Kellam's swollen ankle…"
--From Love Will Find A Wheel
"The nurse reached for a tiny corkscrew hanging on a chain at her waist. There were other chains there in a bundle; Jacob supposed it was some sort of chatelaine, but half the tools were strange to him. She popped the cork out of the bottle, daubed the brown liquid onto a cloth and wiped it over Miss Kellam's swollen ankle…"
--From Love Will Find A Wheel
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"When she went back down to the second floor she stopped at her own room and took off her hat and her shoulder wrap, then switched out her chatelaine pocket for her nursing chatelaine. She felt better with her nursing chatelaine at the ready on her waist: she always felt undressed without it…"
—From A Rapping At The Door
Images of other types of chatelaines: Chatelaine images
Reverse of cabinet card shown above.
"A number of corsets - many of them patented designs - were specifically marketed towards working women, and had corded supports and extra reinforcements in strategic areas to help them stand up to the strains of bending and stooping to which housemaids and cleaning women would subject their garments. They were actually designed to help support their wearers' backs during these tasks. Corsets' utility for working women could even be seen in the names of certain models, such as the "Pretty Housemaid," a popular mass-manufactured body marketed towards working women..." - Victorian Secrets: What A Corset Taught Me About The Past, The Present, and Myself, Sarah A. Chrisman, Skyhorse Publishing, 2013
To see more historical images, check out these pages on our website:
Animals
Athletes
Children
Clothes advertisements—also see Corset advertisements, Fashion plates
Comics
Corset advertisements
Cycling
Dining
Fashion Plates
Flowers
Food
Health and Beauty Products
Holidays
Kitchens and kitchen tools
Men and Women, illustrations
Misc.
Photo of children
Photos of couples and families
Photos of groups
Photos of maids
Photos of men
Photos of nurses
Photos of women
Romantic images
Seasonal illustrations
Servants
Sheet music
Trade cards
Animals
Athletes
Children
Clothes advertisements—also see Corset advertisements, Fashion plates
Comics
Corset advertisements
Cycling
Dining
Fashion Plates
Flowers
Food
Health and Beauty Products
Holidays
Kitchens and kitchen tools
Men and Women, illustrations
Misc.
Photo of children
Photos of couples and families
Photos of groups
Photos of maids
Photos of men
Photos of nurses
Photos of women
Romantic images
Seasonal illustrations
Servants
Sheet music
Trade cards
In a seaport town in the late 19th-century Pacific Northwest, a group of friends find themselves drawn together —by chance, by love, and by the marvelous changes their world is undergoing. In the process, they learn that the family we choose can be just as important as the ones we're born into. Join their adventures in
The Tales of Chetzemoka
To read about the exhaustive research that goes into each book, click on their "Learn More" buttons!
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