My mother loved watching out her second kitchen window at my brother and I playing in the 'Little Park.' People passing, friends waving and of course, the constant surveillance of her two young sons going through their antics in the playground seemed to keep her happy. Hers was always a warm and familiar face up there at that second floor window.
Bug Spray Was
Not Safe
(Below is the view from our kitchen window. Photo taken in 1973)
Some of the only times that she was not at the window was when the insecticide machines were passing by to do their job. Each of these trucks had a huge blower mounted on its back portion. I eagerly awaited their performance because to my young eyes they seemed like something out of a science fiction movie. The swivel based machine would twist and turn, up and down and from side to side, all in an effort to eradicate the dreaded vermin that lay hidden in the trees.
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I vaguely remember there being some sort of loudspeaker announcement requesting that tenants close their windows while the trucks were doing their work. Those of us living from the first to the fourth floors were the ones that the announcement was really for. Many of the trees had been planted twenty or thirty yards away from the buildings and this closeness added to the beauty of the project complex.
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The spray was considered safe so that once the old fashioned, weakly secured windows were shut, the drenching that occurred as the pressurized spray passed through the trees and then onto the buildings, was negligible. You've got to understand, the monster bug killers served a noble purpose since they were alleviating the nuisances that were eating through the leaves of the trees. But let's take a look at what they were spraying, shall we?
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Most likely the insecticide being used was DDT which was popular at that time. Starting in 1948, DDT was widely promoted as being deadly to insects yet not harmful to humans and animals and it gave protection against the polio disease. Years later, DDT was proved to be a carcinogen and harmful to all those who were exposed to it, over periods of time. Its use was ceased and it was taken off the market completely by 1972.
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DDT Wars
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Now when I look back on seeing the huge exterminators, back in the fifties and sixties, I can only shake my head. I remember that some windows had remained open. The tenants were probably not home or thought it didn't make a difference. The flimsy windows that were in existence back then, even when closed, would allow some of the spray to get in anyway.
Today, we are all aware of how big companies will boost their profits regardless of the health risks to others. But back then, we were all a lot more innocent and trusting.
Because of my love for my life in the projects, I tend not to want to believe that it was possible that there were people knowingly spraying poison, which was seeping into the apartments. I'd rather just remember my mother's sweet smile as she watched us playing.