Figure 1.-- |
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A HBC reader suggest that this practice began in the Netherlands during the the 17th century. He reports that family life with children brought up as children began in
those so beautiful little houses. We can not yet conform or dispute this. One Dutch reader recalls a halter-like device that was prescribed for him as a boy in the
1960s.
A HBC reader suggest that this practice began in the Netherlands during the the 17th century. He reports that family life with children brought up as children began in
those so beautiful little houses. We can not yet conform or dispute this.
Reading the HBC pages about leading strings, harnesses and the like remind me of a device my mother made me wear, however shortly, when I was about ten years old. I had had a bout of hepatitis and the family doctor saw fit to advise some rather unconventional measures to buck up my resistance. I had to be rubbed all over twice daily with a washcloth made of very coarse camel hair dipped in ice cold water and on top of that he fancied that I had
a tendency to stoop. It doesn't show on any of my boyhood pictures, but the man was rather obstinate and convinced my parents that overextension of my chest and deap breathing would be beneficial to my health. He had a kind of harness made which fitted around my breast and shoulders. It was made of narrow strips of leather with felt lining on the skin side. I cannot now describe exactly how it ran about my chest but it could be ajusted with buckles at the back for a tighter fit. This caused some discomfort whenever one let one's shoulders drop forward, so one was constantly reminded to maintain an upright position. It was worn under one's shirt and not too obvious yet I hated it from the very first moment I saw it and I was quite determined that this humiliating situation was not going to last long. They had kind of caught me by surprise, however, just before we went into the city and I was stuck with it for the day. I made sure not to complain so as not to arouse suspicion, feigning not to object. As soon as I was home I went to my room and cut the thing to pieces.
I know of nobody else who's had the same experience.I wonder if any of HBC's readers has ever heard of it.?
We note a Dutch brother and sister who seem to be playing the harness game with yarn in 1951.
A reader comments, "I know what the reader means. I recall a kind of braces supposed to maintain upright posture. From my point of view, this kind of harness needs more to be associated to something like a conditioned reflex device. If leaning too much forward, the body is recalled to stay upward. A friend tells me that as a girl learning to play the piano, she was harnessed like that for not having her face on the keyboard. No
results. Like Glen Gould, she prefered to play leaned forward."
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