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Old Time Home Remedies

November 12th, 2009 at 02:05 am

Let me say first that I am NOT recommending any of these, only reporting what I've heard! I just saw an article on 12 surprising things that you can do with Vicks Vapo-Rub. Well, I wasn't surprised by most of them, but there were a couple of new ones. It was the comments that got me! For years my MIL told all of us that her Mother used to make them swallow a ball of Vicks when they had a sore throat, I was quietly sceptical. But, oh no, someone else in the comments had a Granny that did the same thing! I am amazed, and nauseated. I don't know how they kept it down. Just the thought of it..... you get the idea. It got me thinking about some of the other "home remedies" that have come down thru the family. We never had Tums in the house when I was a kid, and it wasn't THAT long ago. If you had a stomach ache/upset stomach, you could drink baking soda and water (tastes terrible), or make a tea with some caraway seeds and hot water. (also tastes terrible) I don't remember that either worked very well. Especially avoid the soda if your problem is alcohol, my MIL also had a very funny story about her Hubby coming home, under the weather, shall we say, and the two did NOT mix well. He always broke in at this point to say that she was trying to kill him, or it felt like it anyway. WE did use a lot of Vicks, but only on chests and throats, Hubby says that his Mom rubbed it under their noses, and that it would take your skin off after a while. Maybe it used to be stronger. FIL told of the Army soaking your feet in kerosene to kill athletes foot, and "bugs" on any part of the body , kerosene also. Wow, and they smoked a lot?!?! Mint leaves could cure a headache, you wet your forehead and stuck them to it, fresh or dried were OK. (this never worked for my Mother) We did always have aspirin in the house, and cough syrup. Hubby remembers the whiskey and honey cough remedy, I don't know if you quit coughing, or were just so fuzzy that you didn't care anymore. I remember putting table salt on cuts and scrapes, stung like the devil, but I don't ever remember one getting infected. And lots of cold water on burns, but nothing else, you just put up with it until it healed, but I also don't remember having many burns. My inlaws were big tonic and salve people, they were older, hubby was at the end of a bunch of kids. My Mother took you to the Dr. (mostly because her parents never took her) but ours was an old osteopath, and more often than not you got directions for aspirin and vitamins, minerals, soaks, etc. I remember breathing treatments before nebulizers, a bowl of hot water with ?? steeping, and a towel over your head. And this was in the late 50's and 60's! We were still quite rural then. I do remember my SIL telling of getting head lice in country school, and the remedy that came from the drugstore reeked so badly that you ended up cutting the hair, nobody could stand it. Well, her grandmother wouldn't let them do it, SIL had long, beautiful black ringlets, so she rubbed vaseline all over the scalp, and wrapped a towel over it all, and you kept it on for 2 days. Then after 7 days, you did it again, and 7 days again. It supposidly did work, smothered them I guess, but imagine trying to wash vaseline out of your hair! It was a remedy from the "old country" and you used goose grease, who has goose grease here! Wouldn't you smell like a rancid pate?

7 Responses to “Old Time Home Remedies”

  1. creditcardfree Says:
    1257991986

    I've rubbed Vicks on my feet to help with cold symptons and a cough! It seems to work. Smile

  2. lizajane Says:
    1257997366

    One of the radio stations just had a similar topic one morning. Someone called in about swallowing Vicks too. Yuck! I can't remember what some of the others were. I've heard Vicks on toenails will get rid of fungus. I tried it, but not faithfully, so I haven't noticed anything different.

  3. homebody Says:
    1258001211

    Ajax on toenails! I transcribed for a doctor who recommended it.

    When I got the H1N1 a few weeks ago, the first thing I had DH get me besides puffs tissues was the old fashioned Vicks. We had some kind of Vicks cream that was not as good as the old fashioned salve.

  4. LuxLiving Says:
    1258041961

    Black pepper in a cut, simulates the platelets and helps it to clot.

  5. miz pat Says:
    1258047280

    Good Lord. I remember getting bitten by a spider and my mom making a poltice of salt and baking soda that itched like crazy but made the hives go away.

    Natural apple cider vinegar cleans out your intestines and helps your tummy - put a tablespoon in hot water and slug it down first thing in the morning and if you don't puke right away, it works.

    And the same apple cider soaked in flannel wrapped around your wrists helps reduce the intensity of asthma attacks - this actually really works.

  6. girltherapy Says:
    1258060975

    Funny how many of these remedies are prefaced with "if you don't puke..."

  7. Jerry Says:
    1258155468

    I haven't heard about black pepper in a cut, but I have seen red cayenne pepper lead bleeding to stop almost instantaneously. Mind you, it hurts like a really-bad-cussword, but it works for some reason! I like to keep these things in mind. When I was a field medic (corpsman) with the Marines I used to use some of them in the field, actually... at least the ones that I had some insurance (usually personal experience) worked. (And yeah, where's that goose grease when you need it, huh?) =)
    Jerry

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