Free orange juice and Minadex

[MRS B 512]

I can remember going to collect little bottles of orange juice which were free for kids from a house in the village. Also Minadex as a tonic? Free milk in little bottles at school from the crate as well. Also the fish man and his van, he used to have dandelion and burdock as well, very fizzy!
we used to have a meat safe which was tiled and had a mesh door, there always used to be some goose grease in there, good for rubbing on chests when you had a cold. And homemade beef dripping which was great on toast.

[Jill Sparrow 10,304]

I remember Minadex. It was a yellowish colour and had a very distinctive taste. I really don't know why I was given it. My mother wasn't one for medications unless they were absolutely necessary, such as the linctus and liquid antibiotic medicine prescribed for me every winter and obtained from Eric Hobson the local chemist. Other than that, there was syrup of figs in the pantry to deal with constipation and Indian Brandee for various complaints.

[MRS B 512]

Jill, I don’t know why I was given it either! It wasn’t very nice was it. Can also remember Syrup of Figs in a small bottle. Probably because you didn’t need much of it to solve the problem. My grandfather used to swear by Liquid Paraffin. Nowadays, I guess you would just add more fibre to your diet eh.

[Jill Sparrow 10,304]

Mum's favourite was Andrews Liver Salts. I remember her telling me how she got into trouble as a child for pinching some from her grandma's pantry. I think she liked it because it was fizzy! Whatever the reason, she was never without a tin.

[MRS B 512]

My dad used to have Andrews Liver Salts which he kept in the bathroom cabinet. We kids used to add it to orange squash and water to make it fizzy. Had forgotten about that till you mentioned it. 

[Beekay 5,134]

While we're on the subject, I remember going to the 'food office', that used be at the bottom of Derby Road, next to the big Co-op. Used get orange from there and National dried milk. They were for my youngest brother, so I could have only been between 6 -8yrs old. Another delight was Delrosa, rose hip syrup and Gripe water. We used to give these to our young uns back in the late 60s. Gripe water could be addictive. Happy Days!  B.

[IAN FINN 807]

Mrs B what did we take Carters Little Liver Pills for?   My mate said that if you see spots before your eyes take Carters Little Liver Pills and see them even clearer.

[mary1947 2,079]

Ian about Carters Little Liver Pills? When i married the master my gran said to me ""Don't be like our Lily (Lily my aunt) and have a house full of kids, take Carters LittleLiver pills and you won't get pregnant, don't rely on your  man Gran probably gave this advice to my aunty Lily as well.  The birth pill had just come out at the time given women our freedom !!!!   So  there was no competition.

[Cliff Ton 10,458]

Now it's been mentioned, I think I remember Minadex, similar to lucozade/haliborange/etc.

 

You can still get it today.  https://www.tesco.com/groceries/en-GB/products/304789338

[Mess 616]

9 hours ago, Beekay said:

While we're on the subject, I remember going to the 'food office', that used be at the bottom of Derby Road, next to the big Co-op. Used get orange from there and National dried milk. They were for my youngest brother, so I could have only been between 6 -8yrs old. Another delight was Delrosa, rose hip syrup and Gripe water. We used to give these to our young uns back in the late 60s. Gripe water could be addictive. Happy Days!  B.

I remember my mum calling in the “food office” next to the Co-Op when she took me into town in the early 50s before I started school. IIRC it was quite a narrow place with a small counter at the end. The stock was brought out from the back. My favourite childhood freebie was Delrosa. So fragrant and sweet. It got me on to Turkish Delight in later years.

I really detested cod liver oil. I took some capsules a few years back to boost my brain power (didn't work BTW lol). The bleddy awful taste still used to come back when you burped.

My sister loved Virol which I also detested.

I clearly remember the empty National dried milk tins being used to store pencils and crayons in at primary school.

My kids had gripe water in the early 70s lovely aniseed smell.

My dear mum always had Indian Brandy in the cupboard for if you had tummy ache. She also had Friars Balsam which I think you inhaled and good old California Syrup of Figs for when you were constipated. That stuff got me into fig rolls. 

[Jill Sparrow 10,304]

Delrosa, I believe, contained garlic! I don't remember having that but my paternal grandma loved the stuff!

 

 My mother always gave me cod liver oil on a spoon when she bathed me before bedtime. She said this was because some of it was always spilled and if it got onto clothes, it was impossible to remove the stain!

 

Indian Brandee was supposed to cure menstrual cramps. Believe me, it didn't! Raspberry leaf tea was reputed to possess the same properties. That didn't work either and it tasted absolutely foul! It wasn't the done thing to mention such matters in those days whereas the subject is staring you in the face from every billboard now!  We suffered in silence...or maybe not in my case.  People used to say the problem went away after you'd had your first child.  I had no intention of testing that one out.

 

 

[Dodie 51]

Cod liver oil and malt was always in the cupboard. Loved it. Dessertspoonful to lick. 

Carter's liver pills made your pee green. 

[Jill Sparrow 10,304]

My older sister, fed up with being teased about being so thin (we were all very slim), bought a large jar of malt extract when she was 17 in 1967. It lived on a shelf in the pantry and, although she hated the taste and texture of the stuff, she dutifully forced down a large spoonful every day. Didn't make one iota of difference! My father, who was built like a racing snake, used to say you can't fatten a thoroughbred. 

[katyjay 5,090]

My mam always kept J Collis Brown's mixture in for bellyache. You put it in hot water to drink. She kept ginger wine in too. Both horrible.  i was bought up on a teaspoon of rose hip syrup, teaspoon of cod liver oil and tablespoon of malt everyday. No wonder I had teeth problems later on. I loved the little bottles of orange juice from the clinic, nothing came near for taste when the commercial variety came out later.  As a post-war baby, mam said it was often a different brand of baby milk powder at the clinic, it was whatever they could get, was what I was fed.  When I had my babies in the 70's, they always said to stick to one brand.  It didn't do me any harm. My dad took Carter's Little Liver Pills, not sure what for. He always had a constipation problem, and would take Ex-Lax or, boil up some senna pods and drink the juice.

[philmayfield 6,115]

At my last firm our personnel office always kept a bottle of J Collis Brown’s mixture in the first aid cupboard. It was quite popular and I always wondered why. Maybe it contained alcohol. As long as my staff were happy in their work I didn’t ask questions.

I’ve just checked and yes, it does contains alcohol. That explains a lot!

[Brew 5,409]

21 minutes ago, philmayfield said:

it does contains alcohol. That explains a lot!

 

It also contains morphine, an opioid, which perhaps explains even more!  

[Brew 5,409]

32 minutes ago, katyjay said:

When I had my babies in the 70's, they always said to stick to one brand.

 

Mam always insisted we stick to one brand (SMA), she thought mixing brands harmed the babies in some way. She also insisted Ostermilk made babies fat.

[katyjay 5,090]

We were always told  that Cow and Gate made babies fat.

[philmayfield 6,115]

Morphine! Thinking back to the regular users that would explain a lot. 

[colly0410 1,181]

I remember the welfare orange juice, it was delicious IIRC, I haven't tasted owt like it since. I used to dip my wet finger in the baby powdered milk & lick it off, if Mam caught me she'd biff me & say "that's for your baby sister not you." 

[Jill Sparrow 10,304]

My mother obtained National Dried Milk and orange juice from the baby clinic next to Hyson Green Library on Gregory Boulevard. The library has moved but the original building is still in existence. Not so the baby clinic next door which site now houses some architectural carbuncle known as The Art Exchange.

 

I can remember being taken to the baby clinic and, in particular, sitting on my mother's lap listening to screaming babies. The reason? Inoculations.  I still have the little pink cards, complete with dates, which document my early childhood vaccinations. I presume baby boys were given blue cards!

 

I loved the concentrated orange juice we obtained there but I certainly didn't like the injections and all the screaming.  Perhaps that's why I'm still needlephobic?

[Beekay 5,134]

Slightly off course, but can anyone verify the name of the clinic near General hospital.

I think it was Postern Street (feel free to correct me). I remember being taken there to have my tonsils out. They were removed as a matter of course. I can't recall any of the procedure thankfully but I do remember being given ice cream and all the other kids on the ward singing, "Slow boat to China". I remember that like it was yesterday. Not sure whether it was a children's clinic or not. Think they had a dental department too. B.

[katyjay 5,090]

Sounds like Chaucer Street?

[Cliff Ton 10,458]

Yes, an old/early version of the Children's Hospital was on Postern Street, across the road from the main General Hospital.

 

Take a look at some of the photos in this lot..........(scroll down a bit, mainly the lower half)

 

https://picturenottingham.co.uk/image-library.html?keywords=postern&keywords=street

[Beekay 5,134]

Many thanks CT. This is the view I remember. KatyJ, where's Chaucer St., remind me. B.