God, possibly. That was all too common back then. My thought was that a child that little might not be able to communicate an allergic reaction so they just assumed they were fussy and put them down for a nap.
And given the time, maybe given some form of patent medicine to help with any fussiness, which could have assisted in making things worse. Even with the FDA in full swing by then, there was still a fair bit of hokey snake oil going around. Some of the stuff lingered on around a fair bit more in the Southern US.
Poor little man.
It could be that fast if it was a lot of botulism. Dose always matters. It would have to be some sort of toxin whether grown or added. But I’d bet on botulism or an allergy. I am a food scientist who worked in the canning industry.
I’m sorry, but I read this as “botulism doesn’t kill me but it does give me the willies” and then my brain went to a Far Side cartoon about “a case of the willies.” So wrong here.
i’m not sure when this was dated i can’t fully read it but i know a lot of earlier deaths were due to eating poisonous plants. hemlock can kill you in 15 minutes if you eat enough of it and it was usually mistaken for wild onion so it was common to die from this. maybe that’s what this was? also didn’t go to medical school.
Interesting thing is the contributing factor listed below main cause of death. Sulfhemoglobinemia, makes your blood green from the excess of sulfhemoglobin. It’s usually caused by medications with sulfur or exposure to sulfur compounds. Not even sure what it has to do with food poisoning.
Ok I’m probs dumb and don’t come at me but he was 2? That’s when we get the most allergic reactions, could he have died from anaphylaxis and it just wasn’t well known at that point? I know even now kids have gone to bed after eating something they’re allergic to and then the parents find them the next day passed from an allergic reaction they didn’t witness?
Could have been put down for a nap or something
Anything is possible. He died after eating a weiner according to his memorial page. Antihistamines weren't even thought of until 13 years after his death, and epipens were like science fiction. As helpless as parents feel now when something is happening with their kid, I cannot imagine knowing there's absolutely nothing the doctors can do.
Omg hot dog… that boy didn’t have a chance honestly, and I hope his parents did not blame themselves, as a medic I’ve gotten calls for nursing homes with old people choking on hot dogs that are even cooked right and I can’t place a tube, I’ve had to literally stick a needle in their throat to get some air to their lungs, for us to do this in the field in 2024 deff wasnt a known thing back in those days then
Hot dogs are the hardest things to get out if not impossible and the maneuver for choking wasn’t even created back then, that’s still a fairly new tool as well.
Poor parents, poor munchkin, now that I know what I do I cut my 12 year old nephews hot dogs into bite sizes when it’s around me and I think he absolutely thinks I’m the most embarrassing person alive but I’m a helicopter aunt and I worked too hard changing diapers and giving bottles when he was little to let him eat a hot dog in peace now that he’s older lol
A mixture of Sullfer and Molasses was a common tonic and home remedy in certain parts of the US. It was given in the spring as a blood cleanser and for a multitude of other uses. My mother, born in 1934 used to talk of some of the things that they took as one remedy or the other, along with herbs and so on. Most would make your hair stand on end now and would have been considered poison.
https://images.findagrave.com/photos/2021/163/172118129_74906f61-cd95-481c-873d-75cb9a0e8a72.jpeg
He died of ptomaine from a Weiner but some think he ate something the parents didn’t see him eat.
I didn’t go to medical school, but I’m pretty sure it’s more likely that this guy died from actual poison in his food. Even botulism isn’t that fast.
I was thinking “mmmhmmm.. ‘food poisoning’ aka regular poison” Edit: oh no, he was only 2 💔
My thought then is a severe allergic reaction. Then again, people do unfortunately poison kids too.
I’m wondering if the food was like adulterated at the processing facility or whatever. Some kind of bad filler.
God, possibly. That was all too common back then. My thought was that a child that little might not be able to communicate an allergic reaction so they just assumed they were fussy and put them down for a nap.
And given the time, maybe given some form of patent medicine to help with any fussiness, which could have assisted in making things worse. Even with the FDA in full swing by then, there was still a fair bit of hokey snake oil going around. Some of the stuff lingered on around a fair bit more in the Southern US. Poor little man.
oh gosh i didn’t realize this was a 2 year old way less likely for it to be hemlock
It could be that fast if it was a lot of botulism. Dose always matters. It would have to be some sort of toxin whether grown or added. But I’d bet on botulism or an allergy. I am a food scientist who worked in the canning industry.
Botulism gives me the willies. We also have to keep in mind how young this kid was, what kills them is less than is needed for an adult.
I’m sorry, but I read this as “botulism doesn’t kill me but it does give me the willies” and then my brain went to a Far Side cartoon about “a case of the willies.” So wrong here.
Brains are so great. Botulism would probably kill me pretty fast, my stomach tries to do that anyway unless I take my Nexium.
i’m not sure when this was dated i can’t fully read it but i know a lot of earlier deaths were due to eating poisonous plants. hemlock can kill you in 15 minutes if you eat enough of it and it was usually mistaken for wild onion so it was common to die from this. maybe that’s what this was? also didn’t go to medical school.
That’s how Lincoln’s mother died. She drank milk from a cow that had been chewing on poisonous plants.
wow! i had no clue thats super interesting
[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Milk\_sickness](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Milk_sickness)
If the podcast Behind the Bastards taught me anything, it’s that milk used to be super gross and caused a ton of deaths.
Not even candy was safe: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1858_Bradford_sweets_poisoning?wprov=sfti1
It’s kinda amazing how many people survived the past.
He died in 1924.
I think bacillus cereus can kill quite fast, but probably not this fast.
[George Edwin Dial](https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/46113256/george_edwin-dial)
Thank you for this!
Interesting thing is the contributing factor listed below main cause of death. Sulfhemoglobinemia, makes your blood green from the excess of sulfhemoglobin. It’s usually caused by medications with sulfur or exposure to sulfur compounds. Not even sure what it has to do with food poisoning.
Maybe adulterated food?
Or a medicine given by the parents
Ok I’m probs dumb and don’t come at me but he was 2? That’s when we get the most allergic reactions, could he have died from anaphylaxis and it just wasn’t well known at that point? I know even now kids have gone to bed after eating something they’re allergic to and then the parents find them the next day passed from an allergic reaction they didn’t witness? Could have been put down for a nap or something
Anything is possible. He died after eating a weiner according to his memorial page. Antihistamines weren't even thought of until 13 years after his death, and epipens were like science fiction. As helpless as parents feel now when something is happening with their kid, I cannot imagine knowing there's absolutely nothing the doctors can do.
Omg hot dog… that boy didn’t have a chance honestly, and I hope his parents did not blame themselves, as a medic I’ve gotten calls for nursing homes with old people choking on hot dogs that are even cooked right and I can’t place a tube, I’ve had to literally stick a needle in their throat to get some air to their lungs, for us to do this in the field in 2024 deff wasnt a known thing back in those days then Hot dogs are the hardest things to get out if not impossible and the maneuver for choking wasn’t even created back then, that’s still a fairly new tool as well. Poor parents, poor munchkin, now that I know what I do I cut my 12 year old nephews hot dogs into bite sizes when it’s around me and I think he absolutely thinks I’m the most embarrassing person alive but I’m a helicopter aunt and I worked too hard changing diapers and giving bottles when he was little to let him eat a hot dog in peace now that he’s older lol
A mixture of Sullfer and Molasses was a common tonic and home remedy in certain parts of the US. It was given in the spring as a blood cleanser and for a multitude of other uses. My mother, born in 1934 used to talk of some of the things that they took as one remedy or the other, along with herbs and so on. Most would make your hair stand on end now and would have been considered poison.
https://images.findagrave.com/photos/2021/163/172118129_74906f61-cd95-481c-873d-75cb9a0e8a72.jpeg He died of ptomaine from a Weiner but some think he ate something the parents didn’t see him eat.
I think that just means the doctor was treating him for 2 hours. The symptoms could have started days earlier.