Polio swept through the United States in the ‘40s. By 1948, it was a full-on epidemic that led to 42,173 cases and 2,720 deaths in 1949 alone — and young children were the most vulnerable. Eleanor Abbott was around 38 years old when she contracted polio. At the time, she’d worked repairing watches for a jewelry store. While recovering in a San Diego hospital, she was struck by the number of children impacted by the disease. They were lonely, bored, and in pain.