Tar in a jar

Didn't matter what ailed you in our house it was always down to constipation !!
Andrews Liver Salts were the go to remedy.

I remember the horrible sticky brown stuff. For some reason in our house it was called MOP.

Andrew’s liver salts. Nasty. Friar’s balsam for rheumatism, to inhale if you had a bad chest. I never got cod liver oil thanks goodness but I do remember milk of magnesia in a blue bottle and California syrup of figs if you were constipated. I remember the obsession my Mum and aunties had with having a daily bowel movement. I can’t remember ever worrying about any of my children as regards that.

The old fashioned Germolene in a tin. It was pink and had a very distinctive smell. The new stuff isn't the same.

I also loved Virol. Is there anything similar for sale now? I would definitely buy it.

Also rose hip syrup. My friend (when I was about three) had a dummy which was more like a teat with a tiny plastic bottle attached. I don't know the proper name. Her mum used to put rose hip syrup in it. I would have held about two tablespoonfuls. It's a wonder she had any teeth.

Lexisgranny, I forgot about the Senna Pod tea. Every Saturday morning in a little glass.
Still had constipation though, because I was frightened of the dark and spiders, so seldom ventured out to the loo in the garden. Had pots under the bed at night.

Certainly recall Gees Linctus, always has bronchitis or similar. Also Malt in a jar, bleurgh……

Loved Virol but my children retch even now at the thought.
I was given Scott’s Emulsion as a child. White, gloopy and fishy. It was awful.

Scott's Emulsion was beyond horrible; I remember throwing a cupful of senna pods out of my bedroom window. Wrights Vaporisers saved me hours of sleep when my children were small, and they all remember feeling comforted by the patterns on the ceiling made by the tiny candle flame. What I'm missing at the moment is Friars Balsam. They say it's not made any more. I have my grandmother's inhaler, which with Friars Balsam was magic for colds and coughs.

JackyB...your mention of Chickenpox reminded me of when youngest son had it. I'd put him in bed for a sleep and when I went to check on him he'd picked all his scabs off and lined them up in neat rows on the sheet!!

vampirequeen

We don't think it was Virol because it wasn't sweet. We think it was more to do with malt. We had it separate to our cold liver oil and orange juice.

Thinking back winter mornings were a nightmare. Spoonfuls of foul tasting concoctions

I too used to have malt, cod liver oil, yuk! The only one that tasted nice was Rosehip syrup, but that rotted the teeth! I did like Haliborange though

Dr Collis Brown, Kaolin and Morphine (or were they the same thing under a brand name), Vick vapour rub. disprin in a small bottle with a toggle of cotton wool in the top. Acriflex, and a cough mixture called something like ipeccciana (?). We had an ancient tube of Acriflex, it was yellow and used for open wounds. In my early years in Scotland, there was something called Askit powders in folded greaseproof paper. Used frequently by several of my aunties as a cure all for what would now be diagnosed as stress and anxiety, but was then known as 'bad nerves'.

We had to have a spoonful of Virol every morning and I hated it. Also California Syrup of Figs once a week! Yuk!

"HPQ" ipecacuanha is still used in soma cough remedies. I'm sure I've read it on a bottle in Wilko's

Cressida

"HPQ" ipecacuanha is still used in soma cough remedies. I'm sure I've read it on a bottle in Wilko's

Ah, thanks. Good to know I had remembered it correctly!

The dummy with the little bottle was called a dinky feeder.

I think the brand name for rose hip syrup was Delrosa

I also remember Fennings Cooling Powders. They were in a folded paper. I'm not sure what was in them but my mum sometimes used to give them to the dog if it was off colour

Grandma70s my Mother used to give my sister and I Bengers Food whenever we were unwell. We loved it. Less popular was her use of Vick. Whenever she considered we were chesty she would run out chests with it vigorously. She would then point to the red area and claim that she had brought the cold out!

Indian brandy when my stomach was upset

I've just found a site selling Friar's Balsam, so may buy some. My DM always used it for catarrh. (George Crick's Friar's Balsam, if anyone is interested!)

Oh yes, Friar's Balsam steam inhalations with a towel over my head. I remember them well.

Gripe water for babies.I used to dip a dummy in it to keep them quiet for a bit.Later there were colic drops.

Yes I too had cod liver oil and malt, though can't remember what it tasted like.
I'd love a jar of road tar as I love the smell. I couldn't get enough of it when I was pregnant.

Bathroom cabinets had a distinctive aroma, didn’t they, with all the concoctions in them. There was always a bandage, Vicks, Germolene, gripe water and Andrew’s Liver Salts.

I was given malt from a jar as a child, it was thick and sludgy and not my favourite taste. Rose hip was another, loved it and for some reason when we were ill the only sweets we were allowed were a packet of Horlick tablets. Full of goodness I was told and loved them

I remember my mother dosing us every Sunday night with something called Cream of Nujol.It was thick white stuff, probably liquid parifine but it tasted lovely.
I can remember Minadex and Milk of Magnesia.Both foul tasting stuff.I hated Milk of Magnesia so much I run
and hide as soon as I saw my mother get the bottle out.
Gripe water for wind in babies.I loved the smell of it.
In my student nurse days in the early 60s Kaolin and Morphine poultices were often applied to patient's ribs to relieve the pain of pleurisy. It was a pink paste sandwiched between two pieces of white lint then placed on a plate above a pan of simmering water to warm it, then applied to the chest.When I was doing midwifery training it was used in the same way to relieve engorged breasts

When I was doing midwifery training it was used in the same way to relieve engorged breasts

That's interesting pinkprincess. When I had my first baby, the midwife gave all of us a paste made of (I think) Friar's Balsam for engorged breasts - it was cafe au lait colour - and we had to apply it straight to the skin.