EP: 80 The Curious Tale of the Morrison Shelter Bed and Peculiar Practices from the 1960s

Ever wondered how people managed to sleep soundly amidst the chaos of World War II air raids? Join us as we explore the intriguing tale of the Morrison Shelter Bed, a bizarre yet life-saving invention designed to protect British citizens from falling debris and flying objects during nighttime bombings. Picture a metal cage-like bed that might as well have been a coffin—yep, it’s a wild ride through history! We’ll also introduce you to some truly astonishing practices from the '60s, like the sight of toddlers sitting in garbage cans on the streets of New York City. It’s quirky, it’s curious, and it’s a part of our past that’s hard to believe.

In this episode of the Double A Club, we, your hosts ny Boom and big Daz, kick off with a discussion on how holidays have evolved over time. But before we get festive, we take a detour into some of the strangest historical practices that have thankfully been left behind. From wartime innovations to peculiar parenting methods, we marvel at the stark contrast between then and now. With our usual mix of humor and historical intrigue, we promise an entertaining and enlightening session that will leave you both chuckling and shaking your head in disbelief. Don’t miss out on these curious tales from yesteryear!

Transcript

Speaker 1: 0:01

You are listening to the Double A Club and this is your host, ny Boom, and my co-host, big Daz. We'll be talking about trending topics in healthcare and basically, just as a disclaimer just to let the listeners know that this is just basically on our opinions and speculations and I hope you guys enjoy the show. Let's start off and kick off with our first topic.

Speaker 2: 0:33

What's up. What's up, yo yo, yo yo. How we going Good. Good, we back at it again, yeah. So today's kind of an interesting topic. We're going to be talking about holidays and how they changed from the past, or you know, whatever information we can find about the holidays Could be about maybe a special something that happened on the holidays, whatever. So yeah, special something to happen on the holidays, whatever. So yeah. But before we get into that topic, I want to bring up some stuff that I found on the web and it's unusual things that was done in the past that no longer is done anymore, and some of these things. When I came across to it I was like wow, they really did this shit.

Speaker 2: 1:29

So during World War II, germany would frequently bomb and do air raids in the United Kingdom at night, especially at night. And this guy, his name is Herbert Morrison. He created the Morrison Shelter Bed, which would allow people to sleep peacefully at night while they're getting aerated. Okay, now, this bed measured 6 foot 6 inches long. It was about 4 feet wide, so it was about maybe the size of a twin bed, and 2 and a half inches in height. It was encased in a cage, so in the bottom and the top was like a wooden platform, and then around it holding the two wooden platforms was like steel bars. So it was kind of like you put yourself in a bed cage, okay, and what this would do is it? I guess, when they get aerated, you know shit flies around or bombs explode or whatever, things just you know possibly flies around or bombs explode or whatever, or things just you know possibly could hit you while you're sleeping. So this would prevent them from being hit from an object, or maybe, if the building was falling, maybe it could save their life because they wouldn't get crushed. Yeah, so, and this is something that they did back then crazy, like I was looked at it and I saw a picture.

Speaker 2: 3:08

Really, no way, how can you sleep in that fucking metal box, metal, fucking coffin, basically? Basically, it was you, just you bought a coffin sleeping there, so, and it could not have been comfortable. I'll tell you that. Well, it depends on what you put inside. Well, I mean, the cage was probably maybe two or three feet above the top of the bed, so it's not like you have much room or space to do much. Oh, yeah, you can't add stuff to that, but no, but even you can't add stuff to make the bed more comfortable. It's going to make you higher. I don't know. Yeah, I don't know either. It was weird, it's not, it's gonna take, it's gonna make you higher. Yeah, they're right. Huh, there's a mattress in there, right? Yes, the mat. That's insane. The cage came with a mattress. Yeah, the mattress, take out. You put another one. Well then, they're war, war. How good were the mattresses? It's not like they had seat numbers. Yeah, you're right. So I guess they did what they did and that was it. So fuck it, you know.

Speaker 2: 4:35

Also, another thing I ran into was and this is crazy, this is before we were born In the 1960s, it was very normal to see a baby inside a metal garbage can. What? Yeah, it was normal in the 60s and probably a little bit before that, let's say 50s and 60s to see a newborn baby or a baby that's able to walk not newborn, but, you know, first year, a toddler, something like that. Yeah, inside of a garbage can, a New York City garbage can on top. Wow, that's pretty crazy, yeah, yeah. Well, now that you say that it's something that interests me, that I believe in Switzerland it is very common to leave your baby in your stroller, this stroller alone, anywhere in the street, by the supermarket, by the park, by parking lot, next to the church. Yeah well, switzerland is considered one of the safest places in the world. The crime rate is like in the single digits, like like 6%. Yeah, I guess, I guess that's why they let their babies to sleep while they go shopping and stuff in the middle of the street. Yeah, that bothers my mind. Yeah, yeah. Well, so this, I guess this is similar.

Speaker 2: 6:19

So women, women would take their babies to the park and they would empty a metal trash bin and place it over the baby, simulating a cage and allowing the baby to run around wherever he was inside his cage, so he can move anywhere in the park, pushing his cage, kind of like you know how they do the roller cage, the roll ball cage I got you. So the babies would play and the mothers would be worry-free from the child hurting himself. Well, it kind of makes sense. Until STDs came in. Yeah, I wonder what made that trend? Stop, yo, the kids probably had hepatitis, something Like. Come on, the kid's holding on to the cage, he's pushing the cage right, the trash bin, he's pushing it plain in the grass or whatever, and then he's licking his fingers. I mean seriously, yeah, he's putting his whole fist in his mouth. I don't know what people would think of that thing, but you think that's crazy. Wait till you hear this next one. This next one is going to fuck you up really bad.

Speaker 2: 7:48

So this item was similar to that cage in the park right, the trash bin but it wasn't a trash bin, it was an actual cage. Okay, so they had like a little box cage, right, and what you do is you hook it onto your window outside. It'd be like it's like a baby fire escape. So you put the baby inside the cage and they'd be outside of the window in this cage, hooked onto the, to the window sill, and they would just look at the world in this cage outside of the window. Okay, yeah, that they were out, I didn't let go. Yeah, they were outside the window, not inside, they were outside. You know how you? Huh, he's in a cage, though the only thing he's got to worry about is bird shit or fucking bird packing him or something.

Speaker 2: 8:49

What if the cage fucking falls? Well, the cage should be fucking secured onto the window. Well, it's not like it's a fire escape. You manually have to secure it, and I don't think they used drills. It wasn't even on a fire. Oh, that is crazy. No, it was not on a fire. That's what I'm saying. This was separate. It was imagine a fire escape, right, but a small one that only a baby could fit in, with no stairs. That's what it was. That's what it was. It was a little cage and you put the baby in there and she would go do her cooking or cleaning or whatever, while the baby is five floors up in the sky looking down. That's fucking. Now we know where the daredevils came from. Yeah, I don't even know. I do think I do wonder what did actually make that trend stop? I mean, they mentioned pollution, so but could it, could it also have been? Maybe there was some accidents or defects? Maybe, who knows well, we can find out it could be historical things now thank you for listening to the AA Club.

Speaker 1: 10:19

Listen to us next episode to continue this topic. If you want to reach us on the email, it's doubleaclubpodcast at gmailcom. Catch you on the next one.