Dr . L. Emmett Holt, author of a textbook on pediatrics and a manual for child care, was to the 1920s what Dr. Benjamin Spock became for later generations, an expert on child-rearing practices. I Holt's advice was archaic-and repressive as compared to Spock's, and a mother who followed Holt's recommendations in the modern day might be accused of child abuse. Dr. Holt warned of serious objections to kissing infants. He declared, "Babies under six months old should never be played with; and the less of it at any time the better for the infant." According to Holt, the most common bad habits of children were sucking, nail biting, dirt eating, bed-wetting, and masturbation. He recommended wearing mittens or fastening the hands to the sides during sleep. "In more obstinate cases, it may be necessary to confine the, elbow by small pasteboard splints. . . ." Children should...