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bags of 100 Aspirin

(106 Posts)
SORES Sat 05-Apr-25 15:32:04

Buying Paracetamol in a pack of 16, bought 2, remarked to daughter that we could buy a box of 100 Aspirin or a bag of loose 100, you know, when I was a girl.
Daughter was convinced this was not possible, I’m sure it
wasn’t a false memory.
I also remember the magic of Beechams Powders in their
separate paper packets, in a blue box, kept in a tin with plasters
and other mysterious distinctive smelling articles, in a long
blue tin with a picture of a young QEII on the front, in a sideboard drawer.

Do households still keep First Aid boxes at home?
What are the contents, are they ever applied?

Grannynannywanny Sat 05-Apr-25 20:05:22

nanaK54
My Auntie used to take something called (I think) 'Andrews Liver Salts' daily, not sure what that was all about

That was a favourite of my Mum’s. A spoonful of the powder in a glass of water to make an effervescent drink. It was used as an antacid and was also a mild laxative.

My Mum used to buy several tins while we were on holiday in Ireland in the summer as it was cheaper there. She was like an Andrews liver salts drug mule passing through customs at the ferry terminal hoping they wouldn’t confiscate her stash 😆

Astitchintime Sat 05-Apr-25 20:23:58

I remember junior aspirin - its was either orange or raspberry flavoured.

Luminance Sat 05-Apr-25 20:34:02

Oh yes, I remember this too, now they are limited. This is so that a person suffering mentally cannot make a quick decision to harm themselves. Rather sensible really.

BlueBelle Sat 05-Apr-25 20:45:01

I have a first aid drawer in the kitchen
I used to give the kids gripe water especially my eldest who had colic really badly
I still buy germalene
Do you remember calamine lotion for sunburn or chicken pox spots
My kids laugh at me and say their memory of being ill was lucozade and chicken noodle soup
I used to use arrow root for the trots
Vicks in those days was Vick and much much stronger than it is now

BlueBelle Sat 05-Apr-25 20:46:49

Luminance it’s not sensible as you can walk round a pharmacy and buy your two packets walk round again and buy two more then walk into the next pharmacy and buy more

nanaK54 Sat 05-Apr-25 20:50:43

Grannynannywanny

nanaK54
My Auntie used to take something called (I think) 'Andrews Liver Salts' daily, not sure what that was all about

That was a favourite of my Mum’s. A spoonful of the powder in a glass of water to make an effervescent drink. It was used as an antacid and was also a mild laxative.

My Mum used to buy several tins while we were on holiday in Ireland in the summer as it was cheaper there. She was like an Andrews liver salts drug mule passing through customs at the ferry terminal hoping they wouldn’t confiscate her stash 😆

Thank you.
When I mentioned to my DH he said "we used to mix that into orange squash to make it fizzy" - not sure that is sensible use of a medicine grin

62Granny Sat 05-Apr-25 21:12:44

Yes I have a box with plasters & dressings at least you know where everything is when you need them, although plasters definitely don't have the staying power that they used to have, they come off after an hour or so. Remember when they were so sticky you were left with the adhesive on your finger or knee many days after the plaster , which had to soaked off, had been removed. The paper packet they come in is sometimes so hard to open you could bleed to death first🙄. Andrews liver salts were always given for a variety of complaints from an upset stomach to constipation. Does my memory serves me right in saying Beechams used to smell funny?

Granmarderby10 Sat 05-Apr-25 21:13:37

My mum made her own version of “Andrew’s Liver Salts” with two other ingredients in tubs (bicarbonate?) and something else . She’d send me to the chemist to buy it…no restrictions in those good old days, I used to collect all sorts of meds"
Any way Mums version had a touch of sugar and was very sparkly and refreshing. It also produced a very satisfying BURP!! 🤦‍♀️

62Granny Sat 05-Apr-25 21:14:05

Also Germolene isn't like it once was, it used to very thick and pink , but is now white and more like savlon.

Granmarderby10 Sat 05-Apr-25 21:27:51

Germolene was definitely an ointment and sticky and pink with an intriguing smell.
At school a grazed knee from those lovely gravelly playgrounds never impressed the school nurse.
It was a dab of some ‘orrible brown stuff and those words uttered since time immemorial “you’re not dead yet.
Plasters were used sparingly and only for the most severe of accidents.

Dee1012 Sat 05-Apr-25 21:58:42

62Granny

Also Germolene isn't like it once was, it used to very thick and pink , but is now white and more like savlon.

My grandmother always had a little round tin of Germolene in the cupboard and used it at every opportunity.
I can remember having a pretty dreadful fall of my bike which resulted in broken glass being stuck in my leg....I was lifted up to sit on the cupboard and while my grandfather distracted me, she removed the glass, anointed me with Germolene and bandaged my leg. The whole procedure was followed by a huge dish of homemade rice pudding.
I'm fairly convinced that a compound fracture would have been treated with the same ointment!

Allira Sat 05-Apr-25 22:05:14

62Granny

Also Germolene isn't like it once was, it used to very thick and pink , but is now white and more like savlon.

Yes, it is, much easier to use, but, unlike Savlon, it contains a local anaesthetic which alleviates itching from bites or irritation from grazes etc.

Hellogirl1 Sat 05-Apr-25 22:06:06

I used to sneak into our pantry and help myself to Andrews liver salts.................licking it off a spoon! Does it still exist?

Allira Sat 05-Apr-25 22:09:03

AskAlice

My First Aid box is the beige plastic Mothercare baby box that one of our friends bought us for when we had our first DD - that was 42 years ago! Large cantilevered with a shallow tray on the top. Anyone else remember them?!

Yes, I have cotton reels, needles, tapestry wools etc in mine 🙂
I have a beige one for DD1 and DS which I gave away when we moved, then a cream one for DC3.

CanadianGran Sat 05-Apr-25 22:09:05

We have a first aid kit in the car and a shelf in the linen closet for all manners of first aid and aches/pains, including for the dog.

Here we can buy aspirin in bottles of 100, as well as paracetemetol (here called acetaminophen). I wonder if you can bring it home with you if you travel here?

Mt61 Sat 05-Apr-25 22:39:54

I remember my grandad having a bottle of Valium containing a hundred Valium- just wouldn’t happen today.

Calendargirl Sun 06-Apr-25 08:08:24

I loved Angiers Junior Aspirin, orange flavour.

Now of course children can’t have aspirin.

Dettol in warm water was always used to bathe grazed knees after a fall. A lovely comforting smell.

Can remember after giving birth to my first child, the nurse bathing my sore parts ‘down below’ with Savlon, I think. I thought it would ‘smart’, but was incredibly soothing.

Cannot imagine such care exists nowadays, 50 odd years later.

Progress.

HowVeryDareYou2 Sun 06-Apr-25 08:24:08

Let's not forget Kaolin and Morphine grin

Coconutty Sun 06-Apr-25 08:36:21

We have a fully stocked first aid box, I love it. It’s morphed from a quality street tin to its own full sized drawer. I feel like a nurse when someone needs a plaster grin

annodomini Sun 06-Apr-25 08:41:56

We used to buy 'sherbet' in paper cones from the corner shop. On more than one occasion when we ran out of pennies, we went home and made our own 'sherbet ' from Andrews Liver Salts' which tasted much the same. I can't remember what the after-effects were - if any.

grandMattie Sun 06-Apr-25 08:44:05

The packets of 16 paracetamo;/aspirin were brought in when it became obvious that some suicided were from overdosing on Paracetamol. Even if the person was revived, paracetamol causes serious liver problems...
Sadly, the few are being proteected - although, if really serious, anyone can go into 6 shops and buy 12 packets and do the deed.
It is the irregular users who suffer now, especially if having had an operation or a bad back or whatever needing the analgesic having to buy some every other day or so!

Dibbydod Sun 06-Apr-25 09:07:33

I have two large boxes of paracetamol on doctors prescription every month as I need to take them regularly every day , along with another painkiller , for chronic pain .
I recently had full blood tests to make sure all were ok with all my medications and everything came back normal . Previously to the blood tests I were concerned about the amount of paracetamols I take but needn’t have worried .

Lahlah65 Tue 08-Apr-25 13:49:45

Still have a sizeable plastic box with all the over-the-counter meds that we (or visitors might need). AC treat it like a pharmacy! Quite often when I need something I find it is missing.....Separate box for dressings, plasters and creams.

Colls Tue 08-Apr-25 13:53:47

Sadly Andrews Liver Salt stopped being made last year. shock

I used to love those tiny, orange Haliborange 'sweets'.
Used to sneak behind the clock where they were hidden - and presumably have a BIG dose of vitamin C!

Susieq62 Tue 08-Apr-25 13:56:55

You can buy a box of 100 paracetamol in Australia! The girl at the counter thought I was strange when I said we only had boxes of 16 in Uk and limited to two boxes! I explained the thinking behind it