how sick were you when you were growing up?

[talentedbutslow]

Originally Posted by Ianto.W.

Talentedbutsllow, m-------m at least i didnt get transported for it chin chin.

I.ll have you know I had to pay to get here........it was ten pounds....

[shillelagh]

In our house if u had a cold you got vicks rubbed under your nose and on your chest. If you had a cough or sore throat you got buttercup syrup - i loved that still take it now! Worst of all though was milk of magnesia - i will not wish that on my worst enemy!! Hated that and still do today. I never had cod liver oil probably because my mum hated it and so wouldnt give it to us lot! Once i was over 12 though mum used to let me have lemsips if i had a cold. Now though instead of vicks vaporub i use olbas oil - its a nicer smell! and works better! lol

[SPUGGIE J]

Originally Posted by talentedbutslow

not content with giving me fennings.........mum used to rub vicks all over my chest...........and if that didn,t work........the dreaded goose grease came out and was rubbed all over you........gawd it stunk..........

Are you sure the goose greese was not a cre you or kill you last resort? Like the smell of vicks though.

[jambutty]

I suffered from all the usual children’s ailments like chicken pox, measles etc but also suffered a lot with tonsillitis. Before antibiotics my mum’s cure was a bandage soaked in vinegar or meths wrapped around the throat. The stink! Fennings Fever Powders or half an Aspirin crushed in a tablespoon of milk helped to keep the fever down. I remember my doctor telling my mum that children’s medicines should be taken in milk and never on an empty stomach. Eventually I lost my tonsils at Accy Vic. In those days they didn’t realise that the tonsils were the body’s second line of defence against oral germs so infected tonsils were whipped out.

For severe colds and flu Vicks or Camphorated oil was rubbed into the chest and back to help clear a bunged up nose whilst sleeping.

During the war I lived in Blackpool after being bombed out of Manchester and I got cod liver oil on a spoon followed by a sweet which made it worth having. We suffered the cod liver oil because of the sweet. We also got calcium tablets, about 500 in a round tin box, to be taken one a day. They had a hint of sweetness about them so we liked them. Once a week we were taken to a special room, stripped down to underpants, told to put on very dark goggles and had to walk around a room that was bathed in UV light for a while. It was supposed to encourage the body to produce vitamin D because fruit like oranges, tangerines and grapefruit just were not available. Yet somehow they appeared at Xmas because our Xmas presents were an apple, an orange, a few sweets and a small toy or some sort.

At school we got half a pint of milk every day at dinnertime. The bottles had a thick neck into which was the cardboard top with a centre hole partially punched out where we could insert a straw. Sometimes the hole had not been punched out enough and instead of a hole appearing when pushed, the whole top got punched in spraying milk far and wide.

I also remember that thick black malt stuff. Not bad really.

[lettie]

I adored cod liver oil and still do. I absolutely hated the powdery raspberry flavoured stuff which my parents gave us for threadworms. If one member of the family got them they used to treat everyone... Gawd!! That stuff made me gip. I remember my Nan giving me syrup of figs, I didn't think it was too bad and it did have the desired effect. I also hated Dispirin as a kid but loved Gripe Water. I used to fake tummy ache so that I could have a spoonful of Gripe Water before bed. They used to make it with alcohol back then, the alcohol has only recently been taken out... No bloody wonder I turned out like I did..

[Gayle]

No one's mentioned Sandersons Throat Specific yet - I think I'm the only person I know who likes the stuff - oh, apart from my Dad who used to feed it to me when I had a sore throat. It doesn't so much soothe a sore throat as rip it out.

As an addition to that, I used to work for Cupal who made Gripe Water. Even though they took the alcohol out of the UK version some time ago they did still make a version with alcohol in - believe it or not it was very popular in some Arab states where alcohol is banned.

[JohnW]

Fennings Fever Cure. Now, was that the very 'dry' tasting stuff? If so, it was bloody disgusting. Also, the Malt and Whatever mentioned by someone was a little nauseating. If I had a cough I was given Liquafruita. This had garlic in it and I absolutely loved it, although, at that time, my mother NEVER cooked anything with garlic. Cinnamon reminds me of Beachams Powders and I don't like it in anything. The powders weren't THAT bad, but they have put me off the taste of cinnamon, in any kind of food, for life. Being a singer, Sanderson's Throat Specific is part and parcel of the job and works pretty good really.

[yone]

I used to get Dr Thompson's ( I think they were called ) really strong cough drops.... used to eat them like toffees.... and Tic used to put the whole tin full in at once and then drink water.... ouch:
I also used to love the tast of junior disprin ( little organge ones )

strange but true ....... Yone

[LancYorkYankee]

We (2 bros and 2 sis) had the vick's rub (or in a humidifyer) for coughs and a teaspoon of Cod Liver Oil everynight before dinner for most of the young years. My mom would get SO mad at my dad when he spilled it on our clothes. The whole wash would stink for a while!

Also, my mom had the following remedy for sore-throats: a mix of whiskey, honey and lemon juice. Stills works really well (or ya double the whiskey so ya just don't care!)

BEA

[steeljack]

Grannyclaret wrote.........we also had olive oil and raspberry vinnigar

little did we know then that 50 years later we would be using the stuff as a healthy salad dressing

[West Ender]

I still use Sanderson's Throat Specific, Gayle, if I have a sore throat. It's not bad if you like pepper and vinegar and it's very good for restoring a hoarse voice.

Does anyone remember Dr Collis Browne's mixture? I can remember having it for bad stomach upsets and I believe it contained morphine. It had rather a strange taste but you only needed a few drops to cure you so it came in a tiny bottle.

I was also given a "blood tonic" when I was about 14 and broke out in a crop of boils - other teenagers got spots, not me, just boils - 12 of them, one after the other. I don't think it was a proprietory brand, I have an idea it was made up by Snell's chemists in Church, but it tasted absolutely foul - like a mixture of dried blood and manure.

It cured the boils and, as I said, I never had a single spot!

[KAYJAY]

Does anyone remeber a vile concoction called Scotts Emulsion - came in a huge glass bottle which I always hoped would get knocked off the shelf where it was kept, but never did. In my life, I've never tasted anything quite like it - I never found out just what was in it - wondered if anyone knew.

[KAYJAY]

and another item I forgot to to mention - not many talk about - worm cakes - oh yes, Mum was a stickler - got them from Timothy Whites and Taylors chemist on Blackburn Road, they had a chocolatey top with those hundred and thousand things sprinkled to disguise them - the taste was sheer hell - what with that and Scotts Emulsion, how have I survived!!

[JohnW]

I think maybe you were supposed to paint the walls with that Scott's Emulsion KayJay, not drink it!

[Ianto.W.]

Now youve got round to the real tackle Tal,if the stinks gone ill send ya a
tenner to come back, but i must warn you they still havent found owt as
good as fennings.