While sett'n around last evening, watchin preach'n on t.v., I was drawn back to the time of my younger days. Seemed to remember the old time remedies for ailments we'd encountered. I remember the "Spring Itch" that somebody else had mentioned on a thread elsewhere on the forum. The cure? Powdered sulphur mixed with water into a paste and plastered over the affected area. Boy! I HATED that cure. I think it was worse than the "spring itch" which was nothing more than dry skin. After a cold winter and liv'n in long handles, hot old farm house with wood heat-no wonder we had "spring itch". Still it was so good to have warm weather and we could shed those awkward long handles! City kids would make fun of the country kids. They didn't have to wear'm. All the farm kids were embarrassed to the point of pull'n up the sleeves of the long johns past the elbow just so's people couldn't look in that little hole on the side of the long sleeve flannel shirts we wore. Time has surely changed--now it's an honor to wear long handles with the "trap door"! To not wear'm is to be deprived of something that no worthy country boy or girl wants to endure.

I also remember cures for boils! Not a very nice subject to explore but just the same---people had boiles back then and even now. When that raskel was get'n ready to "make a core" or "comin to a head" you could hurry it up by put'n on a "potice" to helpit along just a mite. Seems that one way was an "onion potice". Take a slab of white onion [had to be white and I don't know why] and slap it on the affected area and then wrap in a clean white rag. Again the rag had to be white---I don't know why unless the colored ones had a dye that wasn't proper. When the old boil was "comin to head" and you wanted to get it over with quicker--take a small mouthed glass bottle, heat it up in a pan of hot water and plunk'r down over the core. As the bottle cooled it would start draw'n rite smart. The more it cooled the more it drew. If the boil was along like it should be, this would pull the core out into the bottle. YUCK! Bloody and sickn'n to think about but in those days it was necessary to do so you could get healed up quicker. Now there is all kinds of over the counter medicines that have replace those old ways of treat'n stuff. Many other cures exist but it would take too long to list'm on here. Maybe I orta put'm down just in case folks are more interested in'm than the modern drug store cures. These are a whole lot cheaper and in most cases more handy than run'n to town.

How about fresh pick'd dandy-lion greens--? Dock leaves was also used too. Wilt'd with bacon grease and add'm to you'rn breakfast of bacon and eggs. Hey, don't knock it if you ain't try'd it. Matt.24:44

-- hoot (hoot@pcinetwork.com), March 12, 2001

Answers

Hoot, I use the onion poltice on fresh bee stings. My daddy taught me to put a freshly sliced onion on a bee sting and it makes stop hurting. Works, and the little kids don't mind it. My oldest step daughter had a big ol boil under her arm last summer. One of my "experienced" nurse friends said to put a glass pop bottle over it, hold some fire to the bottom of the bottle, and it would drain. She wanted no part of it. Went to the doctor, he lanced it and drained it, stitches, back to the doctor. Guess what he told her- PUT A POP BOTTLE ON IT AND AD HEAT TO THE BOTTOM OF THE BOTTLE> IT WON'T HURT SO BAD AND YOU WON'T NEED STITCES. LOL

-- Terri Perry (teperry@stargate.net), March 12, 2001.

Hoot,

Even rough cut pine and baling twine would taste good with bacon grease dripped over them.

-- charles (clb@watervalley.net), March 12, 2001.

I was painted up with liquid blueing for bee stings, I don't know why it works but it does. Baking soda paste for wasp'bites' or mud for mud dauber stings, Soaked in Kerosine for stepping on nails, thick cream for sun burn, Smoke from a pipe,hand cupped over the bowl, blown backward out of the mouth piece, for ear ache, I've been told fresh (warm)urine works too. I settled for the smoke.

My grandpa talked about lancing boils,bend over get the skin tight brace your self,and he would slice it off with a good sharp pocket knife for ya. We did not like to let grandpa know about stickers or splinters, or blisters, his knife was sharp and ever ready for action!

-- Thumper (slrldr@aol.com), March 12, 2001.

Talked to mom today. Told'r about the "itch" med and she said you could also use lard instead of water. Some people did as it seemed to help hold the junk on the old bod a little better than water. She also told me about the cure for "Quence". Now, I'm an old hillbilly from long ago but I had never heard of Quence. Seems it was some kinda ailment where the neck/throat would swell and get red and sore. Not much was known why or how it occured or what caused it. There was a cure and it's so sickn'n that I hate to post it on here--but---for the sakes of the young whippersnappers read'n--i will. Take the fresh deposited poop from your hogs---while it's still warm. Make a potice using clean white rags and wrap that around the affected area. Yuck! Let it cool off naturally and it will draw the soreness and swelling outta the throat. I think I'd run quickly to the outside---if it was wintertime--and call it natural! No! On second thought--believe I'd rather have the sore throat!

Cure for intestional worms---2 tablespoons of kerosene in a glass of warm water. Sweeten with a little honey and flavor with 2 tablespoons of coffee.

Head lice---wash head real good with Kerosene or vinegar.

Ya'll enjoy! Matt.24:44

-- hoot (hoot@pcinetwork.com), March 12, 2001.

What about corns on the bottom of your feet, I think they call them seed corns, how do you get rid of them? No hog poop please!

-- Cindy in Ky (solidrockranch@hotmail.com), March 13, 2001.

Grandma Pearl had cajun upbringing and she would shave a bar of "Octagon" soap (still made today) till she got two heaping tablespoons. These she put in her warm left hand. To that she added 1/2 teaspoon sugar and dripped just enough water into her palm to work up the poltice with a butter knife. Mash, lift, turnover, mash again. Soon the poltice was warm, soft, smooth paste. She applied it thickly over the boil that was comin' to a head and tied a clean cloth over it. The poltice would dry and shrink. As it did it "drawed" or pulled the head out of the boil. Once it did, the infection could drain and it could heal. I have done this to mine many times and it works! No scaplels necesary! Thank the Lord for old wisdom.

-- Eve in FL (owenall@lwol.com), March 14, 2001.

Hoot, unfortunately so many old time cures have fallen on the wayside. Sounds like the "spring itch" was dry skin caused by dehydration. The dry air from the woodstove, being cooped up all winter wearing heavy clothing, not consuming enough water....

As for Dandelion greens--I still eat them. They are great for the digestion due to bitter actions. However, I'd cut out the bacon fat on a regular basis! The liver doesn't need to deal with all that fat. Just eat them in a salad! Dandelion wine is another old time recipe.

A book you may like is "Back to Eden" By Jethro Kloss. It's an early 20th century herbal, still published today. The writer was a religious man with lots of old time healing wisdom.

Amy

-- amy (acook@in4web.com), March 14, 2001.

My Granny (who lived to be in her late 90's and died in 1987) raised seven kids (had her first one at age 14) and my mama and her brothers and sisters used to talk of having any infecton, boil etc. and how Granny would go out in the barnyard and find a nice fresh warm cow patty...place it on the infected area (tied around with a rag) and soon it would draw the "poison" (infection)out. Since all the kids lived and grew up it must not have hurt anything.

For any wasp sting or bee sting they always put a big blob of Bruton Sweet Snuff on my sting....and it ALWAYS made it feel better!!!

-- Suzy in 'Bama (slgt@yahoo.com), March 14, 2001.

white onion humm? an older black laborer on one of my construction jobs said a cold cure was purple onions baked in the oven till they get carmalized and surypy he said it had to be a purple onion(red) i have used yellow just as sucessfully taste good enough even if you dont have a cold ,he saw a grocery bag of polk i had gathered on another construction site that morning he was like a kid seeing a bag of candyi gave it to him and gathered some more that evening.he said his father came from the city and didnt know what it was when they visited his mothers family in the country ,that night when they were ready for the long drive home dad was hunting with a flashlight for more polk to take home.

-- george darby (windwillow@fuse.net), March 15, 2001.

Sulfer is great for many skin conditions,Used externally mixed with petroleum jelly as a salve,or internally

-- blue eggs (blueeggs@united.net), March 16, 2001.

Have you ever had your granny put a mustard plaster on you when you had a bad chest cold? Gosh, talk about heat! My granny would take a clean rag, like a sheet cut into a 12 inch square, and plaster yellow mustard on it and then heat it up and put it on our chests when we had bad colds. I don't know if the heat from the mustard or the warmth from the heating of the cloth did it, but in the morning when we woke up the congestion was gone. She was also a big believer in using kerosene for lice. That meant people and animals! And I dreaded the first of the month as that was Castor oil time when my Mom and I lived with her while my Dad was in Vietnam. For two years I had to have castor oil "treatments" to keep the digestion "right"! Another remedy was corn liquor. Just a touch for medicinal purposes. She'd mix a tablespoon of honey with about a 1/2 oz of corn liquor and give it to us kids as a cough remedy. There was something else that she did with corn liquor, but I can't remember exactly what it was, she would put some sort of ingredient in it and let it sit (an herb? Hoot do you know?) and it may have been peppermint, then take a teaspoon now and then when her asthma would act up. That's all I can think of right now...this is a great thread!

-- Cindy (colawson@mindspring.com), March 17, 2001.

Hoot,,you keep me smiling,,:-)...and Cindy,,I about rolled on the floor laughing at your comment,,LOL but I guess some people used "hog PooP" as a cure,,since you mentioned it,,haha..I see from one post that Cow patties are used also..Anyway...I read in Prevention many years ago (I was an advid reader of Prevention and still enjoy it) about vitamin E and pain from stings..just prick a hole in a vitamin E capsule, squeeze some on the sting,,the pain leaves immediately,,so fast you almost forget that you were just stung,,at least it always worked that way for me and my kids. ***used baking soda paste for bites and stings and itching also.****A cure for "boils" used by a friend of mine who used to get them often was to put a big pinch of salt in water and drink it..I think it is a "prevention" method also for someone who is prone to "boils".***Do you get poison oak and ivy? Find some Jewel Weed, take the leaves, and crush them to get the juices to flow..rub on exposed areas of skin,,keeps you from getting the P. oak and ivy. It works! Jewel weed grows profusely in WV (where I am from) I haven't seen it out here in Montana. but they do have the poison weeds..of course...Take care and keep smiling,,

-- Patsy, MT (cozyhollow-gal@care2.com), March 17, 2001.