Rabbit Box Blog

Mom has had trouble with her back for most of her life. So did Grandpa Nelson and many of her siblings. Grandpa Nelson used to go to Dr. Brown, his favorite “choir-practer,” as he called him. He enjoyed coming up with his own pronunciations, so he would sometimes announce he was going to the choir practice to see Dr. Brown. 

Uncle Leroy once told me that a doctor told him that the family has an extra bone in their tailbone that leads to the chronic back trouble. I’ve never had any confirmation of that, and at least one doctor chuckled when I asked him whether Mom had an extra tailbone.

But many years ago Mom’s doctor, probably Dr. Weathers, Sr., told her to put a board under her mattress and get a corset to wear when her back “went out.” I remember Dad putting a part of a sheet of plywood under her side of their mattress.

Mom says she went to Belk’s to have a corset custom made because they didn’t stock any small enough for her. 

And I remember her tying herself into it when she had back trouble. That is, I remember her telling us she had it on. We boys were never allowed to see any of her undergarments, except maybe on wash day. 

Apparently the corset helped, because she was usually able to get back on her feet a short time after strapping it on. She had enough faith in it to recommend it to her siblings when they had back problems. Nobody that I know of got one of their own, but instead they borrowed hers.

Uncle Ray was the most frequent borrower, I think. Uncle Leroy also borrowed it several times. He was considerably larger than his brother and sister, so I’m not sure how he made it work, but he swore it helped. Others probably borrowed it, but those I remember quite well.

Mom still has the corset, although she doesn’t use it anymore. She says anyone who needs it is welcome to borrow it, of course.