# Retro Remedies **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [July 20, 2023, 1:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/retro-remedies/987277 "2023-07-20T01:08:03Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Tarataratara](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/f4b2a3/32.png) [@Tarataratara](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tarataratara)\ **Post date:** [July 20, 2023, 1:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/retro-remedies/987277/1 "2023-07-20T01:08:03Z")
A discussion of headache powders in the Tylenol thread lead me to think of old fashioned remedies which I think are more effective for me than modern counterparts: BC Powder, Alka Seltzer for stomach problems, Alka Seltzer cold, VIcks Vapo Rub, Throat Coat tea, Jello tea. Vaseline. Johnson’s Baby Shampoo or Baby Bath for a sty or eye irritation. Luden’s throat drops. Does anyone else have a medicine cabinet that looks like Grandma’s? ---
**Author:** ![Redcanoe](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/b487fb/32.png) [@Redcanoe](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Redcanoe)\ **Post date:** [July 20, 2023, 1:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/retro-remedies/987277/2 "2023-07-20T01:21:32Z")
Mercurochrome and then iodine. Is Bactine still around? Edit: Wikipedia says it’s still being made. ---
**Author:** ![BobLibDem](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/boblibdem/32/3149_2.png) [@BobLibDem](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BobLibDem)\ **Post date:** [July 20, 2023, 1:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/retro-remedies/987277/3 "2023-07-20T01:38:45Z")
Carter’s little pills. ---
**Author:** ![nearwildheaven](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/90db22/32.png) [@nearwildheaven](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/nearwildheaven)\ **Post date:** [July 20, 2023, 1:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/retro-remedies/987277/4 "2023-07-20T01:47:15Z")
Nowadays, Carter’s Little Pills are simply a laxative (bisacodyl) and of course can’t be advertised as a liver stimulant. The original formulation included podophyllin, which is still used - as a topical treatment for warts, usually of the genital variety! [Carter's Little Liver Pills • Museum of Health Care at Kingston](https://mhc.andornot.com/en/permalink/artifact15192#:~:text=In%201911%2C%20the%20ingredients%20of,powdered%20licorice%20root%2C%20wheat%20starch). Back in my grocery store pharmacy days, I had a customer who regularly ordered a bottle of Lydia Pinkham’s, which was legal to sell during Prohibition because it had medicinal value along with that alcoholic content, and nowadays, it’s just a vitamin supplement with some homeopathic herbs included. ---
**Author:** ![needscoffee](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/needscoffee/32/1076_2.png) [@needscoffee](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/needscoffee)\ **Post date:** [July 20, 2023, 1:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/retro-remedies/987277/5 "2023-07-20T01:51:24Z")
I have a first-aid kit with smelling salts in it. ---
**Author:** ![JohnGalt](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johngalt/32/184_2.png) [@JohnGalt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JohnGalt)\ **Post date:** [July 20, 2023, 2:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/retro-remedies/987277/6 "2023-07-20T02:24:37Z")
Green creme de mint, given to a five year old, calms a rumbly tummy. Or at least makes them go to sleep. ---
**Author:** ![Saint\_Cad](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/saint_cad/32/18907_2.png) [@Saint\_Cad](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Saint_Cad)\ **Post date:** [July 20, 2023, 3:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/retro-remedies/987277/7 "2023-07-20T03:47:19Z")
Coca-Cola (Medicinal) syrup for upset tumtums. Watkins Petro-Carbo salve aka “black salve” that is neither black not the black salve that eats away at your skin. ---
**Author:** ![Gatopescado](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gatopescado/32/5711_2.png) [@Gatopescado](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gatopescado)\ **Post date:** [July 20, 2023, 4:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/retro-remedies/987277/8 "2023-07-20T04:27:53Z")
Balsom Specific **The Draminsky Device**. This is a real thing. Just makes me laugh! Not really a remedy, but thought I’d share. I swear, it came in a blue box and was labeled exactly that. ---
**Author:** ![Beckdawrek](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/beckdawrek/32/3647_2.png) [@Beckdawrek](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Beckdawrek)\ **Post date:** [July 20, 2023, 4:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/retro-remedies/987277/9 "2023-07-20T04:51:51Z")
My Daddy used to say “More (plentiful items) than Carter’s little pills” Apparently they were widely used. ---
**Author:** ![alovem](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/b38774/32.png) [@alovem](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/alovem)\ **Post date:** [July 20, 2023, 7:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/retro-remedies/987277/10 "2023-07-20T07:58:19Z")
Glycerine for constipation. And what the hell was witch hazel and what was it used for? 🤨 Okay, I see [online](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Witch-hazel) that it is/was used for skin problems, but I just felt like expressing my confoundedness. The oldest thing in my bathroom, besides me, is a styptic pencil, A few times a year, the subject of shaving cuts will come up, and my friends are invariably surprised to hear about styptic pencils. ---
**Author:** ![DPRK](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/4491bb/32.png) [@DPRK](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DPRK)\ **Post date:** [July 20, 2023, 10:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/retro-remedies/987277/11 "2023-07-20T10:57:14Z")
I did recently get around to tossing some leftover Vapo Rub that expired in the 1980s… I still have plenty of Mercurochrome (that one surely counts as retro as it’s simply no longer sold in many countries), and stuff like real iodine, povidone-iodine, gentian violet, alum, Tiger Balm, isopropyl alcohol, propolis, aspirin, gauze bandages, tea tree oil, manuka honey, …, I should really check what else. Aspirin, e.g., is as “retro” as anything except stuff like Calomel, but it also goes bad so you can’t just keep it indefinitely, whereas stuff like tincture of iodine (or iodine crystals) will not expire so quickly, as far as I know… ---
**Author:** ![Smapti](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/smapti/32/17938_2.png) [@Smapti](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Smapti)\ **Post date:** [July 20, 2023, 11:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/retro-remedies/987277/12 "2023-07-20T11:24:14Z")
[![](https://img.youtube.com/vi/CIfRPJtmHAM/maxresdefault.jpg "Bart Simpson Smeckler's Powder") ](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CIfRPJtmHAM) ---
**Author:** ![DPRK](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/4491bb/32.png) [@DPRK](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DPRK)\ **Post date:** [July 20, 2023, 12:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/retro-remedies/987277/13 "2023-07-20T12:14:31Z")
I appear to have a small amount of castor oil for some reason, don’t know how much of a “remedy” it would make if I ever drank any, though. No carbolic soap. ---
**Author:** ![BobLibDem](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/boblibdem/32/3149_2.png) [@BobLibDem](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BobLibDem)\ **Post date:** [July 20, 2023, 12:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/retro-remedies/987277/14 "2023-07-20T12:19:36Z")
Growing up, we always had Quret salve in the medicine cabinet. Bug bites, splinters, sores all got covered in Quret. ---
**Author:** ![DCnDC](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dcndc/32/2842_2.png) [@DCnDC](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DCnDC)\ **Post date:** [July 20, 2023, 12:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/retro-remedies/987277/15 "2023-07-20T12:32:18Z")
My parents seemed to think Robitussin cured just about everything. ---
**Author:** ![Jackmannii](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jackmannii/32/311_2.png) [@Jackmannii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jackmannii)\ **Post date:** [July 20, 2023, 1:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/retro-remedies/987277/16 "2023-07-20T13:34:45Z")
An old-time remedy for “female complaints” is still around today. Lydia Pinkham’s Vegetable Compound became popular after its introduction in the 1870s. It featured 20% alcohol content by volume. so decorous ladies could get quite a nice buzz on while relaxing in their porch rockers. Apparently it doesn’t pack quite the same punch these days. As for Robitussin, it also has a history of abuse, along with similar dextromethorphan-containing cough remedies like [Romilar D](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rs8GW_Q_eF8). ---
**Author:** ![thorny\_locust](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/thorny_locust/32/431_2.png) [@thorny\_locust](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/thorny_locust)\ **Post date:** [July 20, 2023, 1:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/retro-remedies/987277/17 "2023-07-20T13:42:39Z")
> [@DPRK](#): > > Aspirin, e.g., is as “retro” as anything except stuff like Calomel, but it also goes bad so you can’t just keep it indefinitely, It doesn’t go bad anywhere near as fast as the label says, though. I have Throat Coat tea. I don’t know that it actually works better than any hot liquid, but I like the flavor. I’ll add Fisherman’s Friend throat lozenges (cough suppressant). They taste awful, but they often work when nothing else does; or at least nothing else I can in practice get my hands on (they don’t work as well as codeine.) ---
**Author:** ![AHunter3](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ahunter3/32/368_2.png) [@AHunter3](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AHunter3)\ **Post date:** [July 20, 2023, 1:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/retro-remedies/987277/18 "2023-07-20T13:46:42Z")
Turpin hydrate with codeine for a bad cough. Astyptodyne for painful little cuts and abrasions. (still extant) Collyrium when you get something in your eye, or had something and it still hurts. (unlike Visine which Gets the Red Out, Collyrium is all about making it stop hurting, but also good to rinse particles off, with that clever eye cup on the bottle lid). Gold Bond Medicated foot powder, and talcum powder in general. (I think gold bond is still around but it’s no longer based on talcum powder) Mercurochrome and Merthiolate (not fond of them myself, freaking OUCHH!), all that nice Mercury to fix up your cuts. Silver nitrate for nuking cold sores in your mouth. The version of NyQuil that has a shitload of alcohol in it. The nighttime sniffling, sneezing, coughing, aching, stuffy head, fever, so you can pass the fuck out and get some rest medicine. ---
**Author:** ![Dorjan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dorjan/32/12440_2.png) [@Dorjan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dorjan)\ **Post date:** [July 20, 2023, 1:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/retro-remedies/987277/19 "2023-07-20T13:52:54Z")
I have a bottle of Buckley’s. Just the sight of it is usually enough to drive a cold away, blehhhhch. ---
**Author:** ![Ulfreida](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ulfreida/32/8014_2.png) [@Ulfreida](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ulfreida)\ **Post date:** [July 20, 2023, 1:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/retro-remedies/987277/20 "2023-07-20T13:54:05Z")
> [@alovem](#): > > And what the hell was witch hazel and what was it used for? It’s an astringent derived from witch hazel bark (witch hazel is a large shrub often grown for its yellow ribbonlike spring flowers). Still widely used in cosmetics. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/retro-remedies/987277.md?page=2)