Old wives tale or foolproof cure-all?
Did your ancestor have an interesting way of fixing everything? Whether it was a stained carpet or nagging cold, tell us all about the creative ways your ancestors used premios dinero webjugar jack black gratisjugar al instante lineasands hotel casinojugar apostar portalapuesta dinero portales internetjuegos apuestas pagina webjuegos ruletajugar a ruletacasinos espana pagina internetjugar seguro pagina internetcasinos virtuales portaljuegos instantaneos portales webganar premios portales internetpromocion casino portal internet,promocion casino linea,promocion casinocasino net,www casino net com,www casino on netcasino games downloadfun roulette onlinenew online casinocasino online ohne einzahlungspielen kasinogratis casino bonuscasino online kostenlosgratis roulette spielecasino online und poker portalspielregeln spieleautomatenvideo poker onlineonline casino spielenonline casino ratgeberfaires spiellotto spielencasino online bonus,casino online,casino online paypalonline casino deutschcasino slot gamesjack black spieleslot machines online spielencasino games demoblack jack regelnwww roulette deroulette strategiecasino online playcasino net pokerspielen im casinoonline kenoplay baccarat onlinerussisches rouletteglucks spieleonline casino gamesbaccarat online spieleblackjack regeln their wits and theories to fix what ailed them.
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When my brothers and I were bored or felt we didn’t have anything to do, my father and grandfather would always tell us to “Go stand on your head and spit wooden nickels.” I always hated it when they said that.
My father’s mother was a firm believer in the curative powers of hydrogen peroxide. Any time we had a sore throat we had to gargle with the peroxide, yech! I would sometimes “forget” to mention my pain, even though now I use hydrogen peroxide for a wide variety of ills. Judy Engelhart, WY
This hand written remedy for asthma was found in the Bible which accompanied the family in their journey from Ireland to the colonies in 1735. The remedy is not dated nor signed so I am uncertain of the time period. The hand writing is in an old script style though.
Receipt of Astma
(Asthma Receipe)
for the astma take two pounds tap root mullen one pound comfree root bruise them and simmer them in two gallons apple vinegar to one and when blood heat add three pints honey and one pint wheat bran first take out the comfree and mullen let it ferment and clear of let the patient take half a pint of it every morning and night if the person is fleshey let 8 ounces of blood
I think I like our modern remedies better.
Sip a glass of hot water mixed with the juice of 1 lemon to make a sore throat feel better.
Make a paste of baking soda and water to rub on bee stings. This works, I know from experience. I was stung 38 times when I stepped in a beehive that had fallen down to the ground.
When pregnant, if you grow out mostly in the front, it is a boy. If you grow out to the side a lot, it is a girl.
These are “Old wives tales” from my mother, who was a nurse. She was born in 1910.
My grandma always kept baking soda in the house for bee stings. Mix a little water with the soda to create a paste and place that on the sting and viola! Instantly, the sting was soothed.
VARNISH REMOVER:
1 part Sal Soda
2 parts flour
enough water to make a thick paste
apply with paint brush
leave on overnight
wash off with warm water
This “eco-friendly” household hint was given to me by my aunt, Bernice Gangl Schmidt (1924-2004).
My grandmother had an interesting “cure” for coughing and colds. She used to tell me that if it didn’t cure you, at least you could sleep through it. Her remedy? Juice of 4 lemons, 1/2 cup of sugar, heat until sugar is melted. Pour in 1/2 pint of whiskey. Heat until hot. Drink as needed. Any leftovers were poured back into a whiskey bottle and stuck in her apron pocket in case she may have a “cough”.
Believe it or not, it works.
For burns i.e. sunburns, cooking burns, etc, my grandma used to pour milk on a clean rag and place it over the burn. It works. I got burned by some cooking grease while frying up some bacon.
I got a paper towel and poured milk over it and put it on my arm. Within 20 mintues, there wasn’t even a red spot where I got burned. Our friends were amazed by what they saw. It was a pretty bad burn too and not just a small one either.
We got to talking about old remedies and he said that when he was little and getting a cold sore, his mother told him to rub his finger behind his ear and then rub it on the cold sore. I’ve used this little trick many times and the cold sores go away with no scabing etc.
MY GRAND MOTHER WOULD TAKE AN OLD NYLON STOCKING, PUT HALF A PELLED ONION IN THE STOCKING AND TIE IT AROUND OUR FOREHEADS TO “DRAW” A FEVER OUT.
I AM AFRICAN AMERICAN AND GREW UP IN THE WASHINGTON, D.C. AREA DURING THE 1950″S.
Leg cramps? Drink pickle juice.
Poison Ivy? Secret deoderant
Bee Sting? Put chewed chewing tobacco or food tenderizer on the sting after you remove the stinger
And of course: have a cold? Drink a little Honey and wiskey
When we were little, my brother and I lived with our paternal grandparents. Any ailment which included a sore throat and/or cough was treated by gargling with a 50% solution of water and hydrogen peroxide. Many, many, many years later, I had a sore throat which refused to go away. I tried everything from over the counter to prescriptions my family physician provided. Nothing worked. Out of desperation, I tried my grandmother’s old remedy. Oddly enough, it worked. I’ve used it for very severe sore throats (but not on any one else as I’m afraid someone might swallow by mistake) and am always amazed how well it really does work.
When we were little, my brother and I lived with our paternal grandparents. Any ailment which included a sore throat and/or cough was treated by gargling with a half and half solution of water and hydrogen peroxide. Many, many, many years later, I had a sore throat which refused to go away. I tried everything from over the counter to prescriptions my family physician provided. Nothing worked. Out of desperation, I tried my grandmother’s old remedy. Oddly enough, it worked. I’ve used it for very severe sore throats (but not on any one else as I’m afraid someone might swallow by mistake) and am always amazed how well it really does work.
For INSTANT relief from insect bites such as ants and wasps, try just a “dab” of plain clorine bleach!
This is worth a free subscription!
My grandmother used to say when you have a very bad headache they would take a brown paper bag and dip it in vinegar and lay it on your head and your headache would go away. I never tried it but I am sure it would make something or someone go away.
My husbands family swears by cheap whiskey on bad sunburns. I thought they were nuts but after getting a really bad sunburn I was desperate enough to try it out. My husband bought the cheapest nastiest stuff he could find, poured isome of it into a bowl, soaked washcloths in it and applied it to the burn. INSTANT relief!!! Took the burn out of it immediatly. We just reapplied the cloths when they would dry out. Not the best smelling “cure” for sunburn but definitly works!
I am a mother of three boys. I discovered the true meaning of colic when I had my second child. I would be up until 3 o’clock every night with him. We tried everything, but nothing would stop his crying. Nothing, that is, until my mother told me to brew catnip tea and add a little karo syrup to sweeten it. It was wonderful; he would fall asleep before finishing the small bottle of tea. It worked every time.
cure for a sore throat gargle with pickle juice
How to get rid of mosquitoes a spray bottle of Listerine spray grass deck clothes everything
cure for sore throat tie an old dirty sock around
neck (yuk)
cure for teething babies or a tooth ache rub a little whiskey on gums
Don’t want deers in your flowers or yard urinate around
boarder of yard or bed they will stay away
egg shells crushed make good fertilizer for flower and vegetable gardens
add garlic powder to your food or drink to clear bladder infection.
apple cider vinegar helps with the itching for shingles (apply 4 times during day 3 times during night) and poison ivy (for poison ivy can use equal parts of water but pure vinegar helps best)
Apple cider vinegar put on a varicose vein morning and night will shrink vein with in a month
a piece of ice cold foil gets rid of a head ache
Never break a blister until after the sun sets and not a full moon
rubbing alcohol cures stinky feet apply to feet with cotton ball or cloth
for a bruise place a piece of steak on it
eat pure honey 3 times a day to cure hay fever
cure for tooth ache put a tea bag in an ice cold glass of water and hold on tooth
for insomnia drink warm milk
arthritis pain rub joints with olive oil to relieve pain
consumption of 1 cup of fresh pineapple juice daily reduces swelling and inflammation of arthritis
ginger tea good for a belly ache
a pinch of salt thrown over shoulder for good luck
My g-g-grandfather was an herbalist in Germany before coming to America. One remedy he passed down was a burn cream that my father remembers gathering flowers for. The cream consisted of pure lard and marigold seeds. The recipe goes ” Wrap a bunch of seeda in cheese cloth and cook them slowly in lard for a while, remove the seeds and let the lard harden back.” My father said this is a very good burn cream. I plan on making some when my marigold seeds come in this year.
Levi Druley, my great great grandfather, is listed on the most of the census records as a farmer, but the 1900 census lists him as a “horseman.” However, two family letters shed further light on him.
“Levi as I remember him was quite interested in horses and was a breeder of horses…”
“I recall Grandfather Levi quite well since he had white shoulder length hair and, also, his blooded stallions. In fact the first whipping I remember was for going near the stables…”
His son, Lewis kept a record book containing a diary, farm records, financials, and so forth. Pinned to a livestock page was this “receipt” of B & L Druley’s linament. Since I’ve got the horse breeding connection, the linament was a pleasant addition to the collection. There were also other “receipts” as well in the journal as well, which follow Levi’s linament. I have included them for humor value. The spelling has not been altered from the original.
Receipt of B & L Druley’s Linament
Take one gallon of the best alcohol, put in it ½ pound of Labelia seed or ground ½ pound of African Hian Pepper. Let it stand 2 or 3 weeks. Shake it every day well then strain it through a clean cloth till it is clear. Then take one more gallon of alcohol the best and put in it
1 ½ oz of Safsafras oil
1 ½ oz of Hemlock oil
1 ½ oz of Oroganum oil
1 ½ oz of Cedar oil
Then shake it all together until the oils is cut up. This operation may take 2 or 3 hours time, then pour all the materials together in a 2 gallon jug. Then let it stand 3 or 4 weeks, shaking it well every day. Then it is fit for use. The above amount will make 2 gallons, if you make 1 gallon you will have to take half of the quantity but it is the best to make 2 gallons at a time for you have to have 2 jugs to make it in.
Trease Black Linament
Raw linseed oil, one pt
Turpentine, one half pt
Oil viteriel, 3 oz
Mix viteriel last with few drops at a time
Linament for sors
Oil spike, 2 oz.
Oil stone, 2 oz.
Spirits of camphor, 2 oz.
Turpentine, 2 oz.
Heave cure
Rosin weed fluid, 1 oz.
Lobelia, 1 oz.
Oil tar, 1 oz.
Feed twice a day ½ oz.
Hair Restorer
Castor oil, 1 oz.
Alcohol, 1 oz.
Tincture cantharides, 1 oz.
Rain water, 1 oz.
Oil of Bergamot, 1 dr.
Mix well
Receipt for Rumatick
1 quart of soft water boyled
2 lemmons pieces
quarter teas of cream tarter
forth of one pound of epison salt
Boil water and strain water, lemmon juice, cream tarter, epson salts, trew a clean cloth and put in a quart jar, cool place. Let water cool before adding ingredience. Take wine glass and take drink of cool water.
Now here’s the funny part. The receipt for rumatick (the one to drink in a wine glass) has a single name written beside it: Stella. Um… Stella was one of the family cows!
The old nursery rime-Jack and Jill–has a second verse which is, “Then up Jack got and home did trot as fast as he could caper. They put him to bed and plastered his head with vinegar and brown paper.” When I was a child, for a headache, we soaked a washcloth with vinegar and water and applied it to the forehead. I still use that treatment for sinus headaches-and not long ago saw an article that offered that as a home remedy. Theory is that the odor shrinks the sinus membranes. Whatever, it works!
My Grandmother, Adelaide Constance Gray Francis, b 1878 in Nottingham,England, was a very versatile lady. She had lots of tricks and tips for homemaking.
For a stain on the rug, spray with peroxide, work with your fingers and blot up with a clean white rag. You may want to test an inconspicous area first.
Peroxide is great for removing blood stains,too.
Let it sit for a while and then launder in cold water.
Use club soda or plain table salt for red wine stains.
Living in a humid area, place rice granules in your salt container to absorb moisture. The rice will stop your salt from hardening in the shaker.
Sore throat? Gargle several times a day with a tsp. of plain table salt mixed with warm water.
Soaking in a warm bath with one cup of Epsom salts helps relieve aching muscles.
Epsom salts are great for your roses, sprinkle a handful around the base of each plant.
Don’t throw out that water from your boiled potatoes, let it cool and water your garden with it.
Save your onion skins and sprinkle them around your potatoe plants in the garden, they help keep all sorts of bugs away.
To rid your hands of onion smell, wash them with cold water and a stainless steel utensil.
Ear Infection. Just before bed grandma would heat salt in a pan and place the salt into the hankie and fold it into a square. She would place the hankie on her lap and have you place the ear with the infection on top of it for about 15-20. Seems to work because over night the ear will drain and the earache will be gone. For the next week you had to have a piece of cotton stuffed into your ears to make sure you didn’t get a draft and cause the infection to return.
My father had, what is now probably call chronic bronchitis.A remedy that my mother used, probably from dad’s german imigrant mother: boil a large pot of potatoes, skin and all. Sit on a kitchen chair,put the pot of potatoes on the floor between your feet,cover you and the chair with a quilt.Lean over and breath the steam.
I became depressed and fatigued from the lack of sleep, during the first six weeks follwing the birth of my first child. She cried constantly, leaving me only enough time in a 24 hour period, to get the basic responsibilities of sterilizing bottles, cleaning diapers and household chores to keep the home functioning. After a brief visit from my mother in law one day, during the distressed crying of her grandchild, she asked if I wanted to hear her cure of what seemed to be the cholic in my child. Please do tell, I replied. She said to wash a white onion, wrap in foil, and bake it about 350 degrees in an oven, until juices were running freely. Let it cool off and give the baby about one half a teaspoonful.
“Onions I cried ! That will give her an upset stomach, and cause her to vomit her formula I spoke my fears….and probably make matters worse” I said. “O.K., but, only if you’ll stand by, and supervise” I pled out eventually. I had no money to purchase the paragoric prescribed by most family doctors, then. So we continued to try it out. Almost immediatly after administering the onion juice, my baby was comfortable and sleeping “Like a BABY”. And the child suffered no after effects of upset stomach, or nausea.
Needless to say, I use the practice today, on my own grandchildren, when necessary. And it works EVERY time !
My Dad worked in bush cutting trees back in the 1930’s. Eating different foods caused him to come down with diarrehea and not a doctor within miles. However, a seasoned bushman took him aside and gave him “the cure” which consisted of: “take a cup and add enough ground ginger to cover a dime, add hot water to your liking and a shot of whiskey” this will cure what ails ya…… and it does! The bushman added, “take as often as needed.” Now I must warn you it tastes awful but the ginger settles your bowel and the whiskey helps you sleep. One year when the flu struck our family ….. one by one the four boys and my husband came down with it. I was fine until through the night I awoke with it. I didn’t have any medication left but I remembered Dad telling me about “the cure”. The problem was I forgot about adding the water and mixed the ginger into the whiskey. As I reluctantly sipped the mixture the thought that ran through my mind was “the cure” is worse than the flu. I went back to bed and slept soundly. In the morning I was my old self again and phoned Dad to thank him. He laughed and told me to add the water the next time. We have used “the cure” whenever required and it never fails…..seldom have to take it more than once.
My family has not had a need to use this remedy in about 180 years, but my grandmother, Lofland Miller Clement, told me that when her grandfather, James D. Blaney, was ill with smallpox, his wife, Mary Ann McCourt Blaney, prevented him from scratching and leaving his face permanently scarred with pox marks by taking a feather and covering his face with chicken grease.
I guess that would stop me from scratching too!
My grandmother grew up when doctors were scarce in the mountains of Western Wyoming. She passed down her belief in apple cider vinegar for disinfecting the house, curing a sore throat or respiratory infection, and general health. Her recommendation of yarrow tea for my bad cramps really worked! Nowadays I confidently recommend garlic pills and echinacea to my friens for colds and sinus infectons as I use them myself. Garlic is a natural antibiotic and echinacea used sparingly will bolster your immunity. Grandma knew this long ago before echinacea became ubiquitous in drugstores in the city.
My mom and grandmother used this remedy for chest colds and coughs.
Mustard Plaster
Use 1 part dry mustard to 8 parts flour. Use enough warm water to make a paste. Spread this paste between two old pieces of material or two washclothes. Then place this on the chest of the person with the cold. Place a towel over that to keep it warm. Leave for 10 or 15 minutes. Check after 5 minutes or so to make sure the plaster is not burning the skin.
I used this remedy with my children and grandchildren. It works well
You’ve probably heard this but cider vinegar is the best treatment for burns. I have used this since my son was a baby and I burned my hand and was afraid I couldn’t change his diapers. Poor vinegar over burns and they don’t even blister. Has saved me with irons, wood stoves, cooking, and curling irons!! Unfortunately, I find that not many people I talk with know this, but they do now and use it. Thanks.
My Grandfather, Dr. J.C. Hill, believed turpentine was a cure-alls for almost everything from fleas and ticks on animals to using as an antiseptic. He said his mother would bath him in it. His sure for a cold or sore throat was peach brandy, honey, and lemon juice.
A cure all for colds was: Onion Tea: In a small sauce pan place one peeled small onion cut like an onion blossom; coat generously with honey; cover half way with wiskey and cook slowly to make a syrup. ( I don’t know if it cured anything but you sure felt better.
Old wives tales from Auntie in southern IN:
Pesimmon seeds tell winter weather; if spoon shaped - shovel lots of snow; if knife shape so cold you can cut it with a knife; fork-off and on weather.
1. Told to me by an elderly hairdresser:
If you have a short hairstyle and want it to keep it’s shape,get your hair cut on the “shrinking” of the moon. It will grow slower and hold the style longer. If you’ve ever had a haircut you think has shrunk after a few days, you cut it in the “shrinking.”
If you want your hair to grow more quickly, cut it only on the “growing” of the moon. It WILL grow faster. Really.
I’ve asked many hairstylists if they ever heard this. Only one said she had, but she didn’t tell people because she would lose money!
2. Told to me by a very elderly lady in the 70’s:
If a person has an over abundance of under-arm hair but can’t stand the itching from sharp edges left by scissors, they can singe the hair off.(You need someone to help you.) Use a comb to raise the hair and singe above the comb with matches or a lighter. Of course you must remember flame goes up and do small sections at a time. The comb will smother any flame as pulled out. Anyway, the tips of the hair are dull and won’t stick in you, therefore no itching after. A good wash to get rid of the burning hair smell and your hair is under control for a while.
A person must be very careful, I must repeat.
I was always told, got a sore throat, mix equal parts of apple cider vinegar with water, microwave to heat it up, gargle and it would draw the infection out. Surprisingly this has worked! Particularly since I was very susceptible for some reason to Strep throat. However at the first sign of a sore throat upon doing this, my sypmtoms subsided in nearly less than a day.
Deep Splinter?
Take a piece of bacon and put over splinter area, cover with bandaid. It will draw out the splinter..guarenteed
Earache?
Urinate in a cup and pour a few drops in your ear..
My parents are from South Carolina. My oldest sister remembers going to the “witch doctor” to cure her thresh. The witch doctor was an African- American lady in the area that would throw around bones and quote things out of the Bible. My mother always put a cold clothe with Sweet Tea on our sunburns. We never bought sunburn medicine from the store. When my Mother was growing up, she said some of her older relatives still would not use toothbrushes, they used the twig of a black gum tree to clean their teeth. My Father’s Brother said he got a very bad cut on his foot once and my Grandmother made him soak it in kerosene for a long time. She then sliced some raw Idaho potato and put it directly on the cut and wraped it up. My Father said that a few times a year she used to make all the children drink coffee with salts in it to “clean them out”.
I enjoyed reading the “remedies” and might consider trying a couple. Thank you
My mother carried on this German tradition with me and my son is continuing the remedy for a chest cold with his own children. Cut up an onion and cook it in water until it is transparent and soft. Wrap very warm cooked onion in old cloth and hold on the chest for 15 or so minutes. It relieves both congestion and coughing. The onion can be reheated in the microwave and reused.
Thank you.
My husband’s Uncle Ron grew up in the ‘Outback’; a very rural part of Australia called Cobar. He always tells how his mother would feed them a plate of fried onions and garlic once a week to keep the worms away. They worked with livestock all the time, and it must have worked because they never got sick and never got worms!
As a child, my mother chewed on the roots of the poison oak plant (not the leaves). She never was affected by poison oak after that even into adulthood. She would rub the leaves on her skin to show me and it never caused her to break out in an itching rash.
Very enjoyable!
Amazing what our grandparents did and many times these old remedies worked. My grandma made a mud pack and put that on bee stings and rubbed me with vinegar when I got a bad sunburn. They both seemed to help just fine. I used teh vinegar on my children (before sunscreen) if they had bad sunburns.
Whenever we got a really bad case of the flu Mom would mix up her ‘cure-all’ - 2 regular Aspirins & 1/2 teaspoon of baking soda in 1/3 to 1/2 cup of cold water. She would make us drink it. It seemed to work but sure tasted awful.
Mom was raised when money was almost non-existent, she used the cures on us that were used on her when she was growing up and we are still alive. Anyway… When I was in the 4th grade my cousins, sister and I were out running in the fields of my Uncle’s Farm in Warrenton, MO. I stepped on a large rusted nail; it went through the arch of my left foot. Mom cleaned my foot and we left to go home to our farm in Wright City, MO. When we got home Mom took a slab of bacon fat still attached to the rind, she pour some kerosene over the fat and let it soak for awhile. Then put the kerosene soaked fat on the bottom of my foot and wrapped it with an ace bandage and had me cover the bandage with a sock. Mom changed the fat out each day, for about 4 days. The wound never got infected, it left a very small scar and I’ve never had a problem with it.
For a chest cold, my grandmother would heat a small amount of Vick’s Vaporub and give us a teaspoon to drink. This same grandmother’ cure for a stye: at the first sign of inflammation, take a needle and point it at the stye, move it toward the stye 3 times while saying, “In the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Ghost” (being very carefull not to touch the face, eye or the stye). I was told by an elderly relative and her cousin had once cut his foot badly while chopping wood. To bind the wound, they used spider webs.