Medicines from my childhood


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My aunt used to buy paregoric from the Co. op chemists at the bottom of Westdale Lane , You took it with warm water to relieve coughs and colds ,I found out years later the main ingredient was cocaine!

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No matter where it hurt.when i a were a Nipper,,,Mam would Dab it with TCP or Smother it in Butter........the tell me to keep me ''Liberty Bodice'' buttoned up'  lol

Anyone thinking about mixing cannabis with cod liver oil don't .............. that is bad for your joints.

“Andrew’s Liver Salts”. I knew someone who took Andrew’s Liver salts twice a day all of his life. When he passed away they had to beat his liver to death with a stick.

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When I was a kid I remember my grandad used to scrub any cuts or bites with salt and water. Ouch! but it seemed to work .he also had a remedy for mouth ulcers,Epsom salts.,which I was treated with a few times,ooo the pain ,but it soon shrivelled them up. My granny used to rub butter on kids heads for bruises (she called them duck eggs) can't remember if that worked though .

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has anyone heard of bread poltice? mum used to get the bread hot & sloppy, then flop it in a bandage & wrap it round the injury.I don't know whether it was the shock of the red hot bread that worked or did it really make the injury better? Sore throat or cold,teaspoon butter ,drop of vinegar & bit of sugar,mixed together , put in an eggcup & told to eat! Horrible)

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#53 I remember Liquafruta being very odd stuff for a creaky chest. The odd thing about it was that it took your breath away. My mother used to visit a herbalist, on Alfreton Road I think, and came back with it along with Indian Brandy and something called Scavenger Ointment, which was good for any skin complaint you can mention. Andrews Liver Salts were good for keeping you on the move!

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I remember a herbalist called henchers in Nottingham,I thought he was a very clever bloke,you could go in and tell him your ailment and he would mix something up for you .i used to buy a shampoo from him and I have never had one as good since.the shop was on Handel street.

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Anybody remember Famel (spelling) cough syrup? Maybe you can still get it. It wasn't too bad tasting and it really did seem to break up a cough. We are talking fifty years ago here. Never found anything better.

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Funny how something unleashes the memories, the mention of Wintergreen.

My dad used it all the time so as a kid I related that smell to him, he had back and neck problems most of his adult life so used copious amounts of the stuff, and mum was always rubbing it on for him.

I despise smoking, but when I get a certain wiff of it now and again I think back to my dad and brother who were a heavy Park Drive smokers. Same with pipe tobacco, makes me think of my great uncle Harry.

Pipe smoke always makes me think about my grandad

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Algipan.... Anyone remember it. I seem to think it was for back ache or lumbago or something similar.

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Remember the name, probably dad used it at some time for his aches and pains.

I've currently got tennis elbow, never played tennis so don't know how or why, but wife bought me some Deep Heat rub, sure it's wintergreen in a different pack ! everywhere I went I felt people were looking at me to see if it was me that stunk like a football team changing room.

Can't say it worked but the thought was there.

Anyone got any remedies ?

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I remember the brown paper laid over my father's bare back and my mother running a warm iron over the paper.

That was back in the early 50s, the iron was one of those you heated on the stove and my father swore by it for the relief to his back pain.

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Funny how something unleashes the memories, the mention of Wintergreen.

My dad used it all the time so as a kid I related that smell to him, he had back and neck problems most of his adult life so used copious amounts of the stuff, and mum was always rubbing it on for him.

I despise smoking, but when I get a certain wiff of it now and again I think back to my dad and brother who were a heavy Park Drive smokers. Same with pipe tobacco, makes me think of my great uncle Harry.

I remember going to Meadow Lane with my dad in the 50's to watch a Notts County reserves game and getting a strong waft of wintergreen as the players came out the tunnel.

When I worked at Boots in the late 60's there was a big bottle of it in the stores labelled with it's chemical name, methyl salicylate.

It's in Listerine mouthwash, Root beer (which MacDonalds used to sell) and Germoline of course.

For muscle aches and pains my dad used to swear by Goddards Embrocation which was a cream coloured oily concoction which smelled of turpentine.

I don't think anyone's mentioned Zam-Buk. It was a green ointment similar to Germoline.

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Yes flowers of arnica for bruises, used to use that and i did seem to be effective too ! you can still get it at herbalists.

I remember when I was little we always had Witch Hazel and Arnica in the medicine cupboard for bringing out bruises.

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#67 Yes Compo - I remember California Syrup of Figs. When he was about 4 or 5 my little brother got hold of a bottle and took several really big swigs. The results can be imagined! :sickly:

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Fennings, cured everything and was vile, revolting stuff - yuk !!!!!!! - MY MOTHER ONLY HAD TO GET THE BOTTLE OUT OF THE CUPBOARD AND I WAS INSTANTLY BETTER...........

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Trevor S. #66

When in my 20s I lived near an elderly lady who was an ex nurse.One day I told her I had a really painful shoulder,'come in ' she said ,sit down while I put the iron on.I thought Ey up,what's she up to.She put some thick brown paper over my shoulder and ironed it,and bugger me it worked.

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