My mum Rene (Alice Irene Flitney née Harding) died in 1999. When my brother, sister and I went through her things we found an envelope full of old newspaper clippings and other bits and pieces. We looked through the papers and put the envelope away, but those yellowing pieces of paper keep whispering of half-forgotten times and places. Places like Butlers Cross, Stoke Mandeville, Aylesbury, West Wycombe, Little Kimble, Wendover, Ellesborough, Southcourt and Princes Risborough.

Thursday 1 October 2015

Coughs and Sneezes Spread Diseases

A quick check in our bathroom cabinet reveals thirteen cold & flu remedies, five different types of sticking plasters and numerous other pills and potions. When did it become necessary to have so many? When I was growing up just three things resided in the family medicine cabinet. The first was a large jar of Vicks VapoRub, the second a packet of Veganin tablets and the third a bright orange tin containing Elastoplast.




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

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. 


Elka Little Bear with Bandages


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....






24 comments:

  1. Oh my! I have Vicks in my medicine cabinet now all he time.

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    1. I was just thinking I should get some to add to our already bulging cabinet! Thanks so much for your comment, Barbara.

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  2. Great memories, even though they are about being sick, and the video clip is amusing - it serves that man right for sneezing over everyone!

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  3. Hi Barbara,

    I 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.

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    1. 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!
      I’ve just Googled Tiger Balm the packaging is very colourful, and I like the fact that it ‘works where it hurts’.

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  4. 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.

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    1. Hi Wendy,
      I wonder if the manufacturers removed something thereby making it less potent. It could be they were using something that has subsequently been banned.

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  5. 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..

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    1. My 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. :-)

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  6. That nose shaper!!! Very funny. We used Vick's too. What were the veganin tablets?
    The two photos comparing the bandages are just perfect.

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    1. 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.
      Glad you enjoyed the nose shaper!!

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  7. The photos of you and Lilly (and Little Bear) are great. I hope you showed her the photo of you when she was injured.

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    1. Hi Lorraine, I did and when Lilly & the rest of the family come over from Australia in December we are going to compare our scars. :-)

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  8. We 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.

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    1. So did we, but I had forgotten all about it until reading you comment.

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  9. I 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.

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    1. Hi 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!

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  10. Those 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.

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    1. Hi Alan, your comment just made my day, thank you!

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  11. I 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.

    As to that nose thingee. Oh my.

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    1. 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.

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  12. Sorry 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!

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    1. Hello 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.
      Having only just moved house reading my blogs must be the last thing on your mind, but thank you anyway. xxxx

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I really appreciate your comment. Thank you!
Barbara x

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