Dentists

My dad loved Franks Mints. They were made in Newport and were individually wrapped in cellophane. They were square-shaped with light brown and brown stripes, and they were always a ‘go-to’ present for him for birthdays and Christmas. Does anyone remember Franks Mints?

And for me, post-rationing, there were Wine Gums, American Hard Gums and tiny Midget Gems. Then there were sherbet fountains and liquorice sticks. All so lovely! I was never keen on Dolly Mixture, but I can always remember choosing my sweets from the big glass jars on display and then having them weighed and dropped into little paper bags, always finished with a twist by the shopkeeper.
What were your favourites?

And where were the shops in Whitchurch where you could buy such confections?
The reason for all of this reminiscing is that I’ve just been to the dentist for a check-up (only now getting back to proper ‘normal’ after the pandemic problems), and I’m so pleased that I was given a clean bill of health.

But of course, my mind went back to the flipside of childhood sweets and sweetshops; the School Dentist! Because we lived in Cathays, we children went to Gladstone School, and I can still remember how we were all lined up in the hall for a yearly dental check-up; and then an appointment to have treatment (it seemed always to be an extraction under anaesthetic). Is it just me or do others remember the smell of the rubber mask?
We went to the clinic in North Road for treatment, and I still shudder every time I drive past, even today.

Where did Whitchurch children go for treatment in those post-war days? I read a note recently from Bunty suggesting that Tabernacle was used by the school dentist. Her memories c1940 are just like mine! Diane added that they only used local anaesthetic at Tabernacle not gas. Was it in the church or the church hall? Jan, the church secretary at Tabernacle doesn’t know. Does anyone have any memories?

Back to sweets
Locals still talk about the lovely smells emanating from the Jupps Sweets factory near the common. What sweets did they make? I’ve seen a few old photographs of the building, and also a few of the interior. The photograph included shows sweet-making about 1950 (thanks yet again to Steve Nicholas for the image). I wonder what it was like to work there?

What about dentists? Further north, there was a dentist in the Laurels a hundred years ago, and it’s strange that there’s still a dental practice there now. Were there any others?

The Pines in Old Church Road is now a swanky dentist and Chris Dalton in Bishops Road (now Holmes’) is another. And what about dentists in Llandaff North, Rhiwbina and Tongwynlais, were there any?

We’ve looked previously at Templar Malins (his advert was on the first buses in Whitchurch) offering false teeth from his practice in Queen Street.

We’re so fortunate that we have ‘proper’ dentists now, and that they take such great care of us, and quite gentle too. But memories of toothache and ‘gas’ extractions are still burned into my memory. Does anyone share my phobias?

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