Identified! PA - Philadelphia - 'Boy in the Box' - 4UMPA - Feb'57 - Joseph Augustus Zarelli #4

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The dichotomy in care screams to me that he was under the care of different people at various points in his life.
Also if he only received medical care when he was sick or injured he may not have been vaccinated. I can’t speak to the 50’s but in my lifetime it’s been common place not to vaccinate while sick. It’s usually recommended at follow up.
 
I see it is gone now, but yesterday someone posted a link to a genealogist naming the biological parents (or who he thought they were), basically accusing the mother of murder. He wrote an entire Lifetime move script. It was awful and probably violated TOS big time.
I don’t think there is much more we can do on this. Joseph’s identity is known, the rest is a criminal investigation.

I believe that the oldest UID in Pennsylvania is now Mr. Bones.
 
DBinMA said:
The dichotomy in care screams to me that he was under the care of different people at various points in his life.
Also if he only received medical care when he was sick or injured he may not have been vaccinated. I can’t speak to the 50’s but in my lifetime it’s been common place not to vaccinate while sick. It’s usually recommended at follow up.
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It could be. I can't find any statistics on vaccine uptake in the 50s. There are articles indicating that there were people who were suspicious of vaccinations in the 50s; Elvis got his polio vaccination to make it seem "cool" for people to get it.
 
steff13 said:
It could be. I can't find any statistics on vaccine uptake in the 50s, but I can't find anything concrete. There are articles indicating that there were people who were suspicious of vaccinations in the 50s; Elvis got his polio vaccination to make it seem "cool" for people to get it.
Click to expand...
What about vaccines in institutions? There is a possible connection there.
 
Daphne1972 said:
Why wasn't Joseph vaccinated? Because he was kept hidden? Or because he wasn't seen as "valuable"?
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At the time, at least until the child was in school the parents kept the records.

The doctor may have it, but people switch doctors. If he didn't see the baby, it could mean that the parents switched doctors.

Kindergarten was not big until the 1960's and he would started first grade in 1959, at the earliest.
 
How old were kids when vaccinations were given to them in the 1950's? Maybe he wasn't old enough for some of them yet on the timetable they used then? Just a guess. I was born in the 1970's and can remember getting a polio vaccine (booster, I think) in the form of a Kool-Aid-like drink in a little cup right before I started kindergarten.

I also agree about not having kindergarten widely in the 1950's. There's also the possibility that his family would have sent him to Catholic school, given their background. My mother, born a month after Joseph in NYC, attended Catholic school there and did not attend kindergarten because it wasn't offered. She started school in first grade as a six-year-old in 1959.
 
osadelnorte said:
How old were kids when vaccinations were given to them in the 1950's? Maybe he wasn't old enough for some of them yet on the timetable they used then? Just a guess. I was born in the 1970's and can remember getting a polio vaccine (booster, I think) in the form of a Kool-Aid-like drink in a little cup right before I started kindergarten.

I also agree about not having kindergarten widely in the 1950's. There's also the possibility that his family would have sent him to Catholic school, given their background. My mother, born a month after Joseph in NYC, attended Catholic school there and did not attend kindergarten because it wasn't offered. She started school in first grade as a six-year-old in 1959.
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Generally preschool, about 3 years old.

Smallpox and polio, though smallpox might have been later.
 
Daphne1972 said:
Why wasn't Joseph vaccinated? Because he was kept hidden? Or because he wasn't seen as "valuable"?
Click to expand...

I’m not sure vaccines where given then, I’m 66 and I remember getting the smallpox vaccine in the mid sixties at a church, like an assembly line. I did have the whooping cough when I was young.

Yeah I don’t think they vaccinated babies then like they do now.

Jmo
 
osadelnorte said:
How old were kids when vaccinations were given to them in the 1950's? Maybe he wasn't old enough for some of them yet on the timetable they used then? Just a guess. I was born in the 1970's and can remember getting a polio vaccine (booster, I think) in the form of a Kool-Aid-like drink in a little cup right before I started kindergarten.

I also agree about not having kindergarten widely in the 1950's. There's also the possibility that his family would have sent him to Catholic school, given their background. My mother, born a month after Joseph in NYC, attended Catholic school there and did not attend kindergarten because it wasn't offered. She started school in first grade as a six-year-old in 1959.
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It looks like at that time you'd have the DTP series and the smallpox vaccine "a total of five shots by the time they were 2 years old and not more than one shot at a single visit." I think the smallpox is the only one that would leave a scar, so is that what they are basing his lack of immunizations on or is there another way to tell? (Polio vaccine was developed in 1955 and not widespread for a bit so it was unlikely he would have had that anyway)
 
osadelnorte said:
How old were kids when vaccinations were given to them in the 1950's? Maybe he wasn't old enough for some of them yet on the timetable they used then? Just a guess. I was born in the 1970's and can remember getting a polio vaccine (booster, I think) in the form of a Kool-Aid-like drink in a little cup right before I started kindergarten.

I also agree about not having kindergarten widely in the 1950's. There's also the possibility that his family would have sent him to Catholic school, given their background. My mother, born a month after Joseph in NYC, attended Catholic school there and did not attend kindergarten because it wasn't offered. She started school in first grade as a six-year-old in 1959.
Click to expand...
Years ago when I worked with adults with disabilities, we worked with a group of people who had been in state institutions. One man was committed to the institution in 1959. He was not vaccinated then, because he contracted TB in the institution. He had, however, been lobotomized.
 
vaccines were common in the late 50s. I remember getting shots and the sugar cubes. Kindergartens were also around at this time, they just weren’t public. They were either run by churches or were private.
 
Thank you all for your replies to my question about vaccines and ages given. Joseph maybe just didn't have a chance to get a polio vaccine before he died, since the vaccine was so new. I don't know if they could tell whether you'd had one just by looking at you anyway.

As for smallpox, that is a mystery. I have to think it could have been neglect, but as someone else mentioned, if he had a bunch of medical problems I can see where they'd hold off until he was older or in better health.

Maybe there was a family history of bad reactions to vaccines and they thought he'd have one too? I have moderate reactions and my son inherited that from me so I was always a little cautious with him when I took him for one (planned to be able to stay home for a couple of days afterward, brought the Tylenol in my purse for after, etc.).

Just thinking out loud...
 
Elley Mae said:
I’m not sure vaccines where given then, I’m 66 and I remember getting the smallpox vaccine in the mid sixties at a church, like an assembly line. I did have the whooping cough when I was young.

Yeah I don’t think they vaccinated babies then like they do now.

Jmo
Click to expand...
My brother was born in 1961. I remember when he got his smallpox vaccine. (The scab was a big deal and it was "don't let him touch it") He was about 9 months or so.

I also remember getting a smallpox scrape. I was old enough to know that it wasn't an injection.

I'm also 66. My dad was military and we had to get all the vaccines on time...(And then some) My smallpox scar is pretty big. I also read that kids got smallpox boosters, which would explain remembering the scrape. I read that boosters didn't leave scars.
 
Friday Fan said:
My brother was born in 1961. I remember when he got his smallpox vaccine. (The scab was a big deal and it was "don't let him touch it") He was about 9 months or so.

I also remember getting a smallpox scrape. I was old enough to know that it wasn't an injection.

I'm also 66. My dad was military and we had to get all the vaccines on time...(And then some) My smallpox scar is pretty big. I also read that kids got smallpox boosters, which would explain remembering the scrape. I read that boosters didn't leave scars.
Click to expand...

Yes some were/are big, my scab was the size of a nickel was told not to touch or pick at it or the scar will be bigger. I didn’t and it is barely visible.
Only vaccine I known of that you didn’t need paperwork to prove.

Jmo
 
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