Home Remedies 1990

In earlier days people here on Sand Mountain seldom went to the doctor and almost never  to the hospital.  Home remedies were used for every ailment under the sun, but my folks thought a purgative was the cure for it all.  There was a little pink pill they gave to me – one winter night Daddy was giving me such and as he turned to get the glass of water I thumped the pill in the fireplace.   Had he known that I might not be here today.

WARNING:  Try these at your own risk.

Homemade cough syrup was one of the biggies.  My sister swore by it saying it was the very best.  John has  shared it this year and we’re told it works.  The recipe is equal parts white lightning, honey and lemon juice.  Some think it would be advisable to take this as a preventive. LoL  Along these lines,  for a cold a poultice (pronounced po’lice here on the mountain)was penned to your pajamas for the night.  It was made with Vicks Salve, camphorated oil and whatever else was available.   It smelled awful and we all hated to wear one.

In my growing-up years, in the summer children went barefoot and often times  stepped on a nail, be it rusty or whatever.  The remedy was to pour kerosene over the wound and tie it up with a white cloth – probably a piece of guano sack.  Big toes were often stubbed (we called it stumped) and a stall was made of fabric attached to a string that was tied around the ankle to hold the stall on the toe.

To bring a boil or rising (around here it was pronounced risin’) to a head an Irish potato was scrapped and put on the problem.  When this came to a head it was important to get the “core” out and this was done by holding a string (bigger than a thread) down close to the opening and twist it repeatedly with the hope of snagging the “core” and bringing it out.

For the baby there was a world of remedies – catnip tea was a must for a young crying baby.   To help  cut a tooth – the sore gum was rubbed with a thimble.  An asafetida bag was worn around the baby’s neck to help with teething, too.  A protruding navel was pushed in by a half dollar being taped to it.

It was said that the pain of child birth could be cut by placing a knife under the bed.  Ugh!!  The tooth ache could be helped by rinsing the mouth out with whiskey.  Swallow it?  Guess it’s up to the patient.

To help one get to sleep, count backwards from 100.  I still do that today.

It’s a few of the memories of another kind of country living.