Most minor ailments were taken care of with these three simple remedies. A Veganin and a bedtime story were guaranteed to cure a toothache, Vicks VopoRub applied to the chest cleared the nose and ensured a restful sleep, and a plaster applied with a 'kiss to make it better’ was all it took to sort out bumps and bruises.
Etsy.com
Elka Little Bear with Bandages
I only recall one occasion when something more than a
plaster was needed to sort my bumps and bruises. I was reminded of it recently when my little
granddaughter Lilly had an accident. Lilly fell onto a slate floor and ended up
having a two-hour operation to repair a really nasty gash to her forehead. I was luckier in that the gash to my forehead
required just a few stitches and a very large bandage.
Something like sixty years separates these two photographs.
The photograph on the left is of me (with bandage) my
brother Tony, my sister Sue and my mum. I
don’t recall the name of the lady I'm sitting with and can only assume she was
a family friend. The other photograph is
of Lilly with her 'bandaged bear' – if you look closely you will notice the
bear is wearing a bandage around his head and another around his arm.
I didn't experience many ailments as a child, but I did
suffer from motion sickness (strangely enough it has returned with a vengeance
as I've grown older). I've tried all kinds of remedies from pills to patches to
wrist bands, none of which really help. Maybe I should go back to my dads tried
and tested remedy. Imagine this
conversation on one of our frequent trips to Cornwall or on the way to
Buckinghamshire to visit relatives. "Dad
I feel sick". “Hold on, we are
almost at the shop”. "There you go
that will sort you out”. It took years for
me to realise a bar of chocolate would do one of two things; it would take my mind
of the motion sickness, or it would make me sick but either way I would feel better.
Simple! How did my dad get to be so wise?
This next image found in The Windsor Magazine has
nothing whatsoever to do with my childhood, although my nose might have benefited from a little reshaping.
So Easy to Shape Your Nose - corrects all ill-shaped noses quickly, painlessly and permanently. Over 100,000 satisfied users. Trados Model No. 25 (British Patent).
As the season of colds and flu is fast approaching I feel duty-bound
to share this public information film with you. Enjoy!
Now it's time to call in at Sepia Saturday to see what ails my fellow Sepians. Don't forget to take your handkerchief....
Oh my! I have Vicks in my medicine cabinet now all he time.
ReplyDeleteI was just thinking I should get some to add to our already bulging cabinet! Thanks so much for your comment, Barbara.
DeleteGreat memories, even though they are about being sick, and the video clip is amusing - it serves that man right for sneezing over everyone!
ReplyDeleteThanks Jo.
DeleteHi Barbara,
ReplyDeleteI remember having Vicks Vapour Rub in my storage room (in the medicine basket) when I was younger, but strangely we don't have it now. We do still fall ill but I suppose we go straight for the pills now. Also, we used to have Tiger Balm (an ointment which is a Singaporean product, and which I proudly saw the main character in WHITECHAPEL using in a few episodes!) but now hardly use it anymore.
Hi Claudine, thanks for coming to visit me here. I’m considering buying some Vicks because I’m sure the smell will invoke lots of memories. Those were the days when I went to bed with a vest and Liberty Bodice under my nightdress, a stone hot-water bottle (this was prior to the advent of the rubber ones) and an Enid Blyton book!
DeleteI’ve just Googled Tiger Balm the packaging is very colourful, and I like the fact that it ‘works where it hurts’.
Ah yes, Vicks. When I was little and sick, my mother would rub that on my chest and dress me in one of my dad's undershirts, I guess to protect my nightgown. The last jar I bought seems not to be as potent as it was many years ago.
ReplyDeleteHi Wendy,
DeleteI wonder if the manufacturers removed something thereby making it less potent. It could be they were using something that has subsequently been banned.
My mother was a great believer in Vicks VapoRub, but she mainly used it on herself before going to bed at night. She would put it on her chest under her nightgown and then put an old sweater over the nightgown..
ReplyDeleteMy mum swore by it too. Another of her favourites was to rinse my hair in vinegar – to make it shine, can you imagine how I smelt when I went to school. :-)
DeleteThat nose shaper!!! Very funny. We used Vick's too. What were the veganin tablets?
ReplyDeleteThe two photos comparing the bandages are just perfect.
Hi Helen, Veganin tablets are a mixture of Paracetamol, Caffeine and codeine. According to the internet you can still buy them although I don’t recall seeing them for sale at the chemist.
DeleteGlad you enjoyed the nose shaper!!
The photos of you and Lilly (and Little Bear) are great. I hope you showed her the photo of you when she was injured.
ReplyDeleteHi Lorraine, I did and when Lilly & the rest of the family come over from Australia in December we are going to compare our scars. :-)
DeleteWe had Vicks, but didn't have it rubbed on our chests. A little bit was melted in a pan on the stove & we hung over the pan with a cloth over our head & breathed in the vapor. Worked like a charm to clear up a stuffy nose.
ReplyDeleteSo did we, but I had forgotten all about it until reading you comment.
DeleteI had motion sickness as a child, but no candy bars. If we were on the bus, we'd get off and walk. And we used vics vapor rub. Oh, and my motion sickness has returned with age too. Ugh.
ReplyDeleteHi Kristin, I wonder why motion sickness returns as we get older – perhaps it has something to do with balance – I fall over with very little provocation these days!
DeleteThose brought back a rush of memories - those Elastoplast tins, the Vicks Vapour Rub - but most of all that Coughs and Sneezes advert. Images and words inspiring memories - its what Sepia Saturday is all about.
ReplyDeleteHi Alan, your comment just made my day, thank you!
DeleteI never had motion sickness until after an accident when I suffered a severe whiplash. I'm fine if I'm driving, holding onto something, but bad as a passenger. For several years I'd wrap a scarf around my neck to try to ease up on the neck bobbling. That and a box of saltines.
ReplyDeleteAs to that nose thingee. Oh my.
It’s funny you should mention whiplash; I was involved in an accident some years ago that left me suffering the same thing. I was driving my mum home after a cataract operation when a young chap late for a business appointment slammed into the back of us at a T junction. By the time my car was towed away, and mum and I eventually got home I began to feel a bit odd, but it wasn't until a few days later that I got the diagnosis. I will have to look up the date of the accident and try to work out if that is when the sickness returned.
DeleteSorry only just had time to read your blog. We have Vicks vapour rub in the bathroom - really hate it, but when desperate with a bad cold will put a little on each nostril. Not sure it does anything really!
ReplyDeleteHello Sister Sue, I've not used it for years, but I must say I’m tempted to buy a pot just to see if I like the smell as much as I used to.
DeleteHaving only just moved house reading my blogs must be the last thing on your mind, but thank you anyway. xxxx