Doc Adams, Gunsmoke question

[model70hunter]

When I was young the Drs office was on the 2nd floor. Also most of th Attorneys offices.

Prime space was probably a premium. So the grocery stores, shoe stores, clothing stores rented out the "attics" to help pay for the building.

Matt was shot a lot, back in the day that was acceptable and Miss Kitty's were not acceptable. She looked the part but unlike Matt and Doc's profession hers was not discussed.

Now Le is under the gun and girls that dress the part get on stage, sing and get smiley.

I also read the one of the reasons for dying in the old days after being shot was infection. The bullet would take clothing particles or pieces into the wound. The clothes were dirty and bacteria hot beds. That is what caused so many amputations in the civil war. So Matt defied this in addition to lead poisoning and bleeding to death. Guess he was was just a very clean fella.

 

[kenv1950]

https://youtu.be/OfCCi9oCrAU

 

[Mickey D]

No wise acre, no smart aleck answers please and I implore the administrators to chastise anyone who does offer such answers. Just good, logical, sane and serious answers please.

Since when has this become normal when posting?
Are you one of today's so called offended by everything crowd?

 

[THE PILGRIM]

You guys do know that while outside shoots are outdoors, Inside shots are usually shot on a sound stage?
Take Longmire- Walt's house is shown as the Foreman's house up at the Valles Caldera, about 40 Miles from Santa Fe.
The interior shots, including his house, are shot at the Greer Garson Studios, located in Santa Fe.
So no matter which building he is seen walking into, when he's seen inside its at the Greer Garson.

 

[handejector]

Matt's wound tally-

Locations:
Left Arm/Shoulder: 26
Torso: 13
Right Arm/Shoulder: 7
Right Leg: 4
Head: 5
Left Leg: 2

TOTAL = 55

The show ran for 20 years.
So, that's only an average of 2.75 wounds per year.
Considerin' that so many were only flesh wounds, ma'am, that ain't nuthin for a man as tough as Matt.

Trivia-
John Wayne was asked by Gunsmoke producers who might be right for the Dillon role. Wayne told them he had a young man under contract that was perfect for the job, and hooked Arness up.
Arness was 6'-6" or 6'-7" tall, depending on who you read.
Peter Graves (Mission Impossible TV series) was his younger brother.
Arness was shot up badly in one leg at Anzio (3rd ID), and spent months in the hospital, having multiple surgeries. The leg bothered him the rest of his life. Ever notice him limping in some episodes?

 

[tecolote]

Doc had an 1851 Colt Navy that he intended to use on some bad guy in one episode, and Chester said to Matt" You know what a Colt Navy can do to a man". Maybe Chester was thinking of a Dragoon, or knowing Doc, he filled the chambers to the brim before ramming in the balls...

 

[El Biblioitecario]

I always wondered why Ms. Kitty, who is the brothel pimp, never really flirted with or took the customers up the stairs. I mean after all she was suppose to be a prostitute running the local cat house...

Which explains why the doc's office was on the second floor--his primary practice was obviously doing medical checks on Ms. Kitty's workstaff. This was Doc's contribution to helping Matt Dillon clean up Dodge City.

 

[the ringo kid]

Doc had an 1851 Colt Navy that he intended to use on some bad guy in one episode, and Chester said to Matt" You know what a Colt Navy can do to a man". Maybe Chester was thinking of a Dragoon, or knowing Doc, he filled the chambers to the brim before ramming in the balls...

I remember that episode. It was a 1st season episode. The doc wanted to kill someone very bad. It was the guy who stole his fiance.

 

[DWalt]

Frontier medicine wasn't far removed from what witch doctors practiced. No antiseptics (except maybe whiskey), no painkillers (except maybe whiskey), no anesthetics, no antibiotics, no hygiene at all. It's a wonder Matt survived his first shootout without dying of infection. Many "Doctors" had very little formal medical training, they just learned on the job by trial and error. They may have owned a few medical books for reference. Also, no medical malpractice suits or medical insurance coverage.

In my childhood in a rural area of Southern Ohio, there was one local doctor. He had gone to a 2-year medical school in Cincinnati (sort of like a trade school) back in the early decades of the century - no other higher education. He practiced well into his 80's, and from a wheelchair. His office was a wing of his house and he had a waiting room which would hold maybe 4 or 5 people. No receptionist or other assistance personnel - just him. No appointments, you just walked in when the office was open, and paid $3 for a visit, in cash (this was in the 1940s and 1950s). He was also the local pharmacy. He didn't write a prescription. He went into a back room where he kept his medicines, and came out with a couple of bottles or envelopes of whatever stuff he thought you needed to take. You paid for that in cash also. And in an emergency, he would make house calls. We lived maybe a quarter-mile away, and I remember him coming to our house several times when I or my brother was really sick. He had a big black leather bag, mainly full of medicine. I don't know what he charged for a house call. If you didn't like that quality of medical treatment, you had to go about 30 miles to town where there were other doctors.

 

[S&WIowegan]

I just finished watching season 3. Doc was in his buggy headed to a ranch. Bad guy played by Jack Lord stopped Doc with drawn gun and ordered him to go back to town. Doc refused so BG shot Doc's horse. Doc then pulled a double-barreled shotgun, gave BG both loads and left him laying in the dirt. Then took BG's horse and continued down the road.

Doc's conscience bothered him later.

 

[eyegots2no]

The upstairs thing was odd to me as well----but I did not think of it very much.

What I mostly remember thinking is what would Miss Kitty be like nekked?

 

[UncleEd]

The upstairs thing was odd to me as well----but I did not think of it very much.

What I mostly remember thinking is what would Miss Kitty be like nekked?

This thread keeps drifting and drifting.

 

[Xfuzz]

This thread keeps drifting and drifting.

This thread drifted.....???
WHAT the heck were doing the day this
thought popped into your head ?

It was 1950's TV...repeat TV...
You think the writers ever gave a single
thought/care were the Doc's office may be
in a fictional TV show ???

Dude....Dude...??

 

[THE PILGRIM]

Drifting?
How bout Ken Curtis (Festus) singing -
Tumbling Tumble Weeds.

[ame]https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=fWR6FLnPack[/ame]

 

[arjay]

When I was about 14 I'd taken a fall off of a little cliff and had a small tear in a kidney.I was ordered to stay in bed for a week to let it heal.Felt great after a day and just ignored ma.Doc showed up,walked in my room and told me if I got out of bed again he was putting me in the hospital [emoji33]
After he retired,Bob and his second wife opened a saloon.

 

[Armybrat]

I always wondered why Ms. Kitty, who is the brothel pimp, never really flirted with or took the customers up the stairs. I mean after all she was suppose to be a prostitute running the local cat house. Never made much sense to me especially in later years they could at least made her character a little more risque.

As far as the doctor, yeah he made house calls and traveled to the patients. However, I do remember him drinking a lot so while they probably did not make him an alcoholic it definitely gave the impression that he liked to party.

Speaking of Miss Kitty being the Longbranch Saloon owner & madam, in real life Amanda Blake died from AIDS - after her brief marriage with a former Austin, Texas city councilman (who infected her) prior to his death).

And I don't ever recall seeing where Doc, Matt, Chester, or Festus actually lived in Dodge City.

Maybe Doc lived in that office on the 2nd floor & the others in the jail?

 

[Jack Flash]

Doc's education / credentials:
In the TV show, several times over the years Doc mentioned that he studied medicine "back East". I believe he was also a doctor in the Civil War.

In the radio show, Doc is little more than a self-educated quack who would do just about anything to turn a buck.

I believe that back in the 1870s, just about anyone could hang out a shingle and call himself a doctor.

 

[rwsmith]

I just noticed.....

Anybody Can Kill a Marshal: 2 - lower right leg
Avengers, The: 1 - left upper thigh
Badge, The (1959): 1 - upper left chest near shoulder, from behind
Badge, The (1970): 1 - left chest/side near badge
Big Man, Big Target: 1 - right arm
Brothers, The: 1 - left shoulder/arm
Cover Up, The: 1 - graze on left forearm
Coward, The: 1 - upper right arm
Cows & Cribs: 1 - upper left arm
Deadman's Law: 1 - left shoulder
Disciple: 1 - right forearm
Foundling, The: 1 - forehead graze
Gallows, The: 1 - left shoulder
Gold Train -The Bullet: 1 - mid-back next to spine
Good Samaritans, The: 1 - left side stomach area
Helping Hand: 1 - graze in left side above waist
Hidalgo: 2 - right mid-chest
Imposter, The: 1 - upper right arm
I Thee Wed: 1 - upper left arm
Joe Phy: 1 - upper left arm or shoulder
Kate Heller: 3 - upper left shoulder from the back
Louie Pheeters: 1 - left arm
Lover Boy: 1 - upper left arm
Lynott: 2 - left shoulder; left chest
Mannon: 1 - left shoulder high above badge
Matt Gets It: 2 - forehead crease; right side lower chest
Matt's Love Story: 1 - forehead graze
Muley: 1 - back
Noose, The: 1 - right leg above knee
Parson Comes to Town: 1 - right side from back
Quest for Asa Janin, The: 1 - upper right leg
Raid, The: 1 - upper left arm
Round Up, The: 1 - upper left arm
Seven Hours To Dawn: 4 - lower right torso; head graze; two others
unspecified
Slocum: 1 - left upper arm
Snow Train: 1 - graze on upper right arm
There Never Was a Horse: 1 - right forearm close to elbow
Till Death Do Us: 1 - left forearm near elbow
Unmarked Grave: 1 - left side stomach area
Us Haggens: 1 - upper left arm
Whelan's Men: 1 - upper left arm
Winner Take All: 1 - left shoulder from behind
Wishbone: 1 - upper left arm
Wonder: 1 - upper left arm
Zavala: 1 - left side behind vest

Gunsmoke Movies:
Return to Dodge: 1 - upper left arm
To the Last Man: 1 - upper right arm
The Long Ride: 2 - crease on left neck; upper left leg
One Man's Justice: 1 - upper left arm

Locations:
Left Arm/Shoulder: 26
Torso: 13
Right Arm/Shoulder: 7
Right Leg: 4
Head: 5
Left Leg: 2

I noticed watching the show and your statistics hold it up how often Matt was 'winged'.

Anybody seen this 'alternative' opening that starts about 29 seconds into this video??

[ame]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Rqpa8i7R4uM[/ame]


PS After many years Gunsmoke is my favorite western that I can still enjoy just like when it was first on. Bonanza was great, but something about the flavor just doesn't hold up well and a lot of the stories were really contrived.

Remember when Hoss saw the leprechauns or 'martians'? "Pa, I saw them little green men?

I never seem to get tired of 'The Rifleman" either, except I've seen some of the shows a dozen times. One that I like because it was different was 'The Guns of Will Sonnet'. Wagon train is a little like Bonanza where they are constantly running into unusual situations.

 

[walnutred]

Given the level of medical treatment at the time if the patient could not get up the stairs he was probably a gonner anyway. Think of the stairs as 19th century triage.

 

[UncleEd]

As the OP I must say answers #4 and #9 remain very good but answer #59 is quite logical!