Yes, doctors actually made house calls into the mid-50s or so, and they were priced so the people could actually pay the bill themselves.

Re: hanging. My parents said that there used to be some kind of magic shows where the person would be "hung", and when they were "unhung", they would step forward, smile and take a bow. Being less sophisticated back then, most people didn't know the hung person actually had a harness under his coat, and that harness was holding his weight. The noose was just part of the trick. But kids would try to find a way to do this "trick", and often they would practice in private with fatal results. IIRC, this was how Katherine Hepburn's younger brother died when they were both kids. (If you remember her.)

Sue