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Hi - I enjoyed your pages for the Old Timer's. I'm 67, and I remember my
mother's home remedy's on us five children in the 1940's. During the
depression and war, we didn't have money for medicines, and no car to go get
them if we could.
For a chest cold, my mom would rub our chests with Vicks, then she heated a warmed soft cloth with an iron, put it over our chests and we'd sleep like that all night. For a bad cough, she melted some Vicks in a teaspoon over a flame, making sure it didn't get too hot, she add a touch of sugar and we'd gargle with it. ISometimes it made us vomit, but usually it just made us choke until we coughed up the phlem. It helped, and I remember doing the same with my kids when they were young in the 50's. It does work, but it tastes bad. Also, I'd put some Vicks in a pan of hot water and let it simmer so the vapors could flow through the house, thus, a humidifyer (I was broke most of the time too, with 4 children of my own.) For bee stings and mosquito bites, she made a creamy paste of baking soda and cold water. She'd dampen a washcloth in it, and hold it on the bite. It would take away the sting. I then used the same remedy on my own children because it worked. We'd walk around with the paste still drying on our bite, but it didn't hurt anymore. When we had the measles in the 40's, which several kids got at the same time, we'd all be in the same bedroom, with the shades pulled down, as "the sun would have made us blind." We were given cool or lukewarm baths with uncooked oatmeal in the water to stop the itch and heal the sores. I guess it worked. I also did that with my own kids, as the vacines had not come out yet. By the time my kids got measles or chickenpox in the 50's, I knew the rooms did not have to be dark. Mom used the butter or lard for burns. There was a black ointment in a small round tin can that was used for boils. Spread that ointment on a boil, and the next day the pus would pour out. I don't know what it was called, but someone told me it may have been a balm used on cows udders. My dad always had goats, so that is a possibility. I hope I have helped. This is very interesting to me. Thanks for your pages of rembrances. Emily |
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