How Lincoln Was Dissed

[L Verge]

Mike,

I realize that breast-feeding is not in the normal sphere of any man's knowledge, but "wet nurses" were very prominent in earlier centuries because of the fragility of many women after childbirth (or even the death of the mothers during childbirth). 99% of the time, it was not the choice of the mother to employ the use of a wet nurse - it was a necessity. My own mother was sent to a wet nurse in the village when she was born in 1914. My grandmother was past forty when she was born and could not produce enough milk to provide for her newborn.

Needless to say, wet nurses had to be women who had recently given birth themselves and were lactating or were following the dictates of the time that children should be nursed for much longer periods of time than what most modern women will do today. Extended nursing of yours or anyone else's child meant extended lactating. I know, too much information...

I believe that there were formulas available around the Civil War period - courtesy of the Borden Company and their condensed milk.

I do have one question for Liz - why are you so obsessed with the issue of slavery that it has to be incorporated into nearly every one of your postings? I dare say that 99.9% of the people on this forum know that it was a "peculiar" and reprehensible institution -- from ancient civilizations to modern ones. Please stop beating the drum unless you can tell us something we don't already know.