The Victorians

[Caran]

Did anyone see this article in the Mail? It's about tips from the the likes of Mrs Beeton, some are priceless.

Remedy for whooping cough - Father to take a child to a field at sunset and gently hold their head in a hole.

Cure for Ague - Hold the feet of a dead chicken against your body.

Relief from teething pain - Hang a dead miole around the neck of your baby.

Baldness - Rub a cut onion on your head. ( I actually saw my father do this).

Earache - Place a readycooked baked potato on the painful area and secure tightly. (my mother made me have a sock filled with mashed potatoes strapped to my ear when I was little)

Runny nose - Sniff a mouldy sock.

We have advanced a bit I think.

[Caran]

sorry mole.

[sandyRoe]

Did the cut onion work?

[masma]

My mother-in-law said if your baby has ear ache put wee in their ear, I never did ask her who's wee it should be!

[Psybbo]

Caran, the way things are going we might need to revisit old remeies

[Caran]

Definitely not!!

[sandyRoe]

Pity. I'll just keep wearing the flat cap.

[jomifl]

Yup, we sure have advanced, crystal therapy, ear candling, aroma therapy, homeopathy, traditional chinese medecine,flower therapy and dozens of other alternative treatments, all known to work without fail.

[owdhamer]

My step mother had some black ointment which had been prescribed,it came in a little very stiff cardboard container, like a minature hatbox.She kept it locked up and used it sparingly on cuts, sprains,swellings etc, they disappeared overnight,she said once it was gone it could not be replaced.

[Dee Sa]

lol caran, I was made to dip my toes in my wee as a child a remedy for chillblains ! and my aunt used to sit on a chamberpot filled with hay, hot water and gin to prevent her getting pregnant on the "morning after" - how crazy was that ?[ps it didnt work she had three kids !]

[sandyRoe]

I believe I read a while back about a celebrity who believes in the curative powers of drinking your own pee. Though that's not a New Age thing. When I was little a teaspoon full was said to help with chickenpox. I have blocked the memory of the taste from my mind.

[Psybbo]

There is a golfer who does that dandy

[owdhamer]

My lap top took bogart ,this was sixty years ago, nothing on the market today comes close,ideas anyone

[jno]

you may be thinking of Gandhi, sandyRoe

http://wfmu.org/LCD/19/urine.html

I have not yet been ill enough to try this one

[Caran]

When I had a sore throat once Mum produced a bottle of Sandersons Throat Specific (I have never forgotten it), she also had a small paint brush, she went on to paint said specific on the back of my throat, was not pleased when I vomited all over her, she never did it again.

[mojay]

I remember kids being taken to smell hot tar from road works as a cure for whooping cough

[sandyRoe]

Does anyone remember EE, Double E, powders? A paper wrap with white powder in it.

[askyourgran]

My mother in law had a lot of old remedies, it's a wonder her children ever made it to adulthood with the stuff she gave them. She had a cupboard full of natural remedies to cure coughs colds boils and pimples on the ditty.

[craft1948]

I still haven't figured out why I had to have daily doses of cod liver oil and black treacle.....................

[mojay]

owdhammer - that sounds remarkably like Black Jack- a well known cure-all 1