A rather odd choice of postcard to send to a young boy for his birthday, but it gives an interesting view of a children's ward in the 1940s or 50s. How things have changed! The card was sent in 1951 from The Hague in the Netherlands to Haarlem.
Could the Irene Pavilion have been a tuberculosis sanatorium? It does look like one. I found another picture of the same place, with the children wearing the same hats, in the Hague Municipal Image Library. Unfortunately it doesn't give any further information about the hospital in those days.
The Juliana Children's Hospital in The Hague, is 125 years old. When it first opened in 1885, it had only six beds and a cot. That first year they treated 52 children. The building soon became far too small and a new hospital was built on Dr. Van Welylaan. In 1999 it moved to its current location on Sportlaan, part of a large and modern complex very different from the picture on the postcard. The only similarity is that it continues to look after children from birth to 16 years old.
A post for Sepia Saturday.
Birthday card?!?! Must've been a message to be grateful for what you've got.
ReplyDeleteYes, weird, isn't it? There may be an explanation but the handwriting, and in Dutch of course, is very hard to read.
ReplyDeleteStrange choice of birthday card. I wonder if it wa a TB ward as they are outside.
ReplyDeletePerhaps the card was sent by a patient in the hospital and there was limited choice? The plants by the doors look almost tropical. Jo
ReplyDeleteWow. It is a great picture though.
ReplyDeleteKathy M.
You are right, very complex indeed....quite an amazing place/story though...thanks for sharing it!
ReplyDeleteAlmost certainly a TB sanitorium, there can be now other reason for the beds outdoors.
ReplyDeleteIt must have been nice for them to get outside, even if they were confined to bed.
ReplyDeleteI have seen similar photographs of TB hospitals over here with the beds pushed out into the open air. Good for the TB perhaps, but it must have been so cold.
ReplyDeleteIt must have been for TB if they put patients outside.
ReplyDeleteMy father-in-law slept out on the flour porch because his father was certain it would be healthier for him. He slept with a bedroom window open regardless of the season.
ReplyDeleteI too agree about the TB hospitals, you often see people being wheeled outside.
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