1948 New Year’s baby

“Oh my gosh! I read your column every week and now you want to do one about me?”

This was Joan Johnson’s reaction when I reached her on the telephone earlier this month. Staff informed me that she has a very interesting story for the weekly Hospital Insider column. They also told me Joan ‘is a delightful woman, a lot of fun.’ They were correct.

“I am 81- years old,” Joan said as she laughed and kibitzed throughout our conversation. “I was up at the Brantford General shortly after new years day this year. I had some extra time so I went around to introduce myself to the mother of the first baby of this year, but she had already gone home. I wanted to congratulate her because I had the first baby on January 1, 1948 at the Brantford General Hospital.”

Joan still recalls the day 60- years ago very well.

“I had come from England and I hadn’t seen very much snow,” Joan said. “One day after my baby was born I was out on the porch of the original Stratford house wearing my pajamas and night coat taking a picture of the snow and the nurse told me that I had better get back into bed.”

Joan already had a baby born in England, but the experience there was unlike what she was about to go through in Canada. At 5:10 AM with Dr. Marquis at her side, Michael, weighing 10 pounds 3 ounces, arrived. “The nurse told me to hurry up because there hadn’t been a New Year’s baby yet. Today, Michael works at Raymond Industrial Equipment in Brantford.”

Remember this was 60 years ago so Joan and her baby remained in the hospital for “at least a week and Dr. Marquis came to see us every day.”   

Joan recalled the hoopla that surrounded the first baby of the year in 1948.

“Ray Menzies, a photographer from the Brantford Expositor arrived to take a picture. They put a bow in my hair and the next day the photograph was on the front page.” But that was really just the beginning of Joan and Michaels’ fifteen minutes of fame.

“Many people came with special gifts for Michael and myself. We even received a half- ton of coal for our house- free. Ideal Cleaners delivered my mauve, padded housecoat to the hospital with a note that said, ‘Compliments of the staff.’ It was quite a thrill.”

Joan met her husband, Jack (John Harold) Johnson in England. Jack was in the 1st Canadian Parachute Battalion and together they had eight children including Michael- David (born in England), Pamela, Kathryn, Julie, twins Barry and Brenda, and Colleen. Joan recalled that when the twins were born there were six sets of twins in the BGH nursery at the same time!

Joan enjoyed the Brantford General Hospital so much that she eventually worked here for a brief stint on the old QEP 3 Pavilion. “I was a ward aide and I got to wear a green dress. I tidied up magazines and made lunches for the patients. The very first time I was there when a patient died the family cried so much that I cried too. My husband had to come and take me home. Things are certainly different now.”

Yes, things are different. Thank heaven for memories.

Gary Chalk is senior executive director- public affairs & development for the Brant Community Healthcare System. Brantford General is a regional health centre providing primary, emergency and specialized services. The Willett, Paris, is a multi-service health centre providing urgent care, primary and community outreach programs.