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Remember when nurses wore white caps, white uniforms, white stockings, and drove convertibles? Hawkins Hospital in Searcy Arkansas.

By
Real Estate Agent with RE/MAX Advantage

Nurses demanded respect when they wore those white dresses, white shoes, white stockings, and a perky little white cap on their heads.

Look at these nurses at Hawkins Hospital/Clinic in Searcy Arkansas.  I just wrote a blog about the Hawkins Clinic and these pictures were sent to me to further illustrate the clinic. 

My friend Anita sent them. She says this first one was taken at the emergency entrance to the hospital.   She may have sent them to also show off how cool she looked with her convertible that was as long as the street!  Kids of today would have called her a "hottie" with that car! Looks as if some envious soul is looking out through the window of the back door.

Anita at Hawkins Hospital

Here she is again with a friend who is also a friend of mine.  Betty Robbins still lives in Searcy and is still lovely.  They are now at the front of the hospital.  Wonder where the handicapped entrance was?

Hawkins Hospital

And now Betty is shown with the supervisor (superintendent of nurses) Mrs. Maureen Twyford.  They were all employees of the Hospital and these photos were taken probably in the 50's.  They are beside the sign which was at the corner of Grand and East Market Streets.  Parking lots now occupy all the corners at these streets. 

 

Hawkins Hospital

Comments (19)

Brenda Mullen
RE/MAX Associates - San Antonio, TX
Your San Antonio TX Real Estate Agent!!

Those are some great pictures.  Thank you for sharing!

Aug 28, 2009 08:08 AM
Susan Emo
Sotheby's International Realty Canada - Brokerage - Kingston, ON
Kingston and the 1000 Islands Area

I bet those photos bring back some great memories!  Thanks for letting us take a peek.

Aug 28, 2009 08:14 AM
Ed Silva, 203-206-0754
Mapleridge Realty, CT 203-206-0754 - Waterbury, CT
Central CT Real Estate Broker Serving all equally

ThatBetty has one very heavy elbow, she cracked the sign. And the black rimmed glasses, where's the white tape to hold the bridge together

Aug 28, 2009 08:42 AM
Steven L. Smith
King of the House Home Inspection, Inc. - Bellingham, WA
Bellingham WA Home Inspector

Barbara,

I remember those days. Now it seems like most of them around here are dressed to go to Hawaii.

Aug 28, 2009 10:27 AM
Barbara S. Duncan
RE/MAX Advantage - Searcy, AR
GRI, e-PRO, Executive Broker, Searcy AR

Brenda, thanks.

Susan, thanks for peeking at them.

Ed, remember cat-eyed glasses.  They were a fashion item too!!  I remember one lady who wore the cat eyes and she was so ugly.  Then suddenly she took those glass off and she was lovely!! 

Steven, it's the same here.  Loose fitting pajama things. 

Aug 28, 2009 12:57 PM
Pat Whitehouse
RE/MAX 1st Olympic Lynchburg Va - Lynchburg, VA
Broker/Owner

Hi Barbara-Those sure do bring back memories as my Mom was a nurse. A great stroll down memory lane. :-)

Aug 28, 2009 01:01 PM
Myrl Jeffcoat
Sacramento, CA
Greater Sacramento Realtor - Retired

Barbara - I have several members of my family who were nurses. . .None had convertibles however.   But all had those little starched hats.  What happened to those hats anyway?  I haven't seen one in years!  I still have my 1960s cat eye glasses.  I haul 'em out occassionally and wear them at the office for a laugh:-)

Aug 28, 2009 02:49 PM
Barbara S. Duncan
RE/MAX Advantage - Searcy, AR
GRI, e-PRO, Executive Broker, Searcy AR

Pat, I'll bet your mom wore those white dresses, didn't she?

Myrl, this Anita who has the convertible was a child who had a "golden childhood."  She was so happy and her mother kept a great record with photos of this golden girl.  These photos show up grown up and blessed with a convertible!!!  It is my first glimpse into her young adulthood!!!  Can you imagine how other kids envied her.  (Anita, if you read this you can deny any of it that you want to...: )  The wonderful thing is, she's still a golden girl, happy as can be, and supplies me with lots of blog fodder!!

Aug 29, 2009 12:43 AM
Anonymous
Anita Fuller

That is Betty Robbin's big Oldsmobile parked behind my Skyliner Ford!  It was as big and long as my car.  Wonder what kind of milage we got?  I wasn't interested then, having said that with gas about a quarter a gallon, who would care?

As to the caps: in my day and before, each school of nursing had it's own very distinctive cap.  One didn't recieve a cap until late in the senior year or maybe just before Senior year at a very impressive "capping ceremony" complete with candles, etc.  Each nursing wore her cap proudly....and I think it was neat to see all the different caps when one would go into a hospital.  Now caps are a thing of the past:  I think some do-gooder thought up that they were "dirty" and carriers of germs.   As you said, now you can't distinguish the doctors, nurses, technitians from the cleaning department.

  I will have to say they are probably a lot more comfortable, though.

Anita

Aug 29, 2009 12:44 AM
#9
Steven L. Smith
King of the House Home Inspection, Inc. - Bellingham, WA
Bellingham WA Home Inspector

I liked it when women were women, men were men and nurses wore white.

Nutsy

Aug 29, 2009 03:53 AM
Barbara S. Duncan
RE/MAX Advantage - Searcy, AR
GRI, e-PRO, Executive Broker, Searcy AR

Anita, I didn't know that about caps.  They were all different according to schools!  I guess you had to bobbie pin those little things to your head.  You can't see Betty's cap so her's much have been from a school that made it go back further on the head?  Or was she negligent and now wearing one? 

The cars were so big!!  There were no seat belts and no restrictions on kids.  My arm always flew out automatically to catch the kid who would be standing in the front seat beside me as I drove and started to brake.  Once I had a birthday cake on the front seat and the standing kid was in the back seat.  Upon braking the kid landed in the cake.  No harm done except to the cake! 

I guess we could say those were the good ole days.

Aug 29, 2009 05:32 AM
Barbara S. Duncan
RE/MAX Advantage - Searcy, AR
GRI, e-PRO, Executive Broker, Searcy AR

Nutsy, don't you dare turn out to be a male chauvinist!  You can be a cowboy if you'd like but not a chauvinist.  But you really could tell a nurse a mile off then!!

Aug 29, 2009 05:34 AM
Anonymous
Anita Fuller

Thank you for thinking I am golden and happy!  I still say, everyone had a golden childhood in those days, growing up in Searcy.

anyway, Betty always was a sort of rebel (and you can tell her I said that), so she just probably couldn't be bothered with putting her cap on.  Interesting fact, though:  Betty was a graduate of St. Vincent Hospital School of Nursing, I graduated from Vanderbilt University School of Nursing.  Both of those schools had very similiar nurses caps.  We could tell the difference, of course, but most people couldn't. and yes, you had to pin them on carefully with bobby pins.  Do you realize there were white bobby pins?

I am still laughing at the comment about Betty having a heavy elbow, bending the sign!!!!!  and Mrs. Twyford would turn over in her grave before she would tape her glasses with white tape.

Aug 29, 2009 07:23 AM
#13
Anonymous
Harold G. Sullivan

I cannot let Anita's comment about not caring about gas milage when gas cost only 25 cents a gallon.  Back then a good wage was 40 cents per hour.  Now days a minimum wage is about $8 which would make 25 cents a gallon gas be about $5 a gallon now.  So 25 cent gas wasn't so cheap.

Aug 29, 2009 04:17 PM
#14
Barbara S. Duncan
RE/MAX Advantage - Searcy, AR
GRI, e-PRO, Executive Broker, Searcy AR

Anita, we need to ask Betty if she wore her cap.  Looks as if it would have been a BIG requirement so that all the nurses looked alike EXCEPT for the little caps with the white bobbie pins.  (No, I didn't know they had white pins!)

Harold, I agree with you about the gasoline.  Anita didn't worry about gasoline because she was the golden child with no worries!  I would have been the one making 40 (No. Less because you said that was a good wage.)  cents an hour and walking to my assignments.  I'll swear she had one golden childhood!! 

Aug 30, 2009 01:37 AM
Steven L. Smith
King of the House Home Inspection, Inc. - Bellingham, WA
Bellingham WA Home Inspector

Mrs Barbara,

Do you think one of your nurse friends could insist that Mr Charles take his meds so he can be routed more in the PG direction vs XXX in his posts. I guess not everyone is as straight-laced as you and your Godson. I hate to attract undue attention.

Nutsy

Aug 30, 2009 05:46 AM
Barbara S. Duncan
RE/MAX Advantage - Searcy, AR
GRI, e-PRO, Executive Broker, Searcy AR

Nutsy, I'm afraid to send one of my nurse friends to see Mr. Charles.  He'd scare her to death!  You take him his meds!!!  We are very straight-laced, honest, smart, and hard-working and meek!  Have a good day, Nutsy!

Aug 30, 2009 06:15 AM
Don Thompson
Donthomp Associates - Sunnyvale, CA

I couldn't stand seeing this pic with the hood missing so I created a  "could have been" from pics of the great 1956 Ford Fairlane convertible.

May 27, 2020 12:57 PM
Barbara S. Duncan
RE/MAX Advantage - Searcy, AR
GRI, e-PRO, Executive Broker, Searcy AR

Only you, Don Thompson, could have finished the already-great picture with the front of a magnificent car!!  Anita will be so proud!  Thanks!!!

 

May 28, 2020 04:42 AM
Don Thompson

Thanks. I spent a fair amount of time on this pic. Had to find a pic of a car like Anita's and notice even the shadow fits.


 


 


 


 

Mar 23, 2021 05:49 PM