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| Found in our old barn's timbers |
We like to think that life was good in the "old days", when our grandparents were young and WW1 was on the horizon.
Telephones that hung on the wall? Water hand pumped in the kitchen? Wood burning stoves?
Some of those old days were good in the sense that social life was simpler. The old days were more community oriented.
But medical care? My mom once told me how Dr. Wells performed her appendectomy on the dining room table. House calls were the only time most people saw the doctor. Prescriptions? Home remedies and readily available self-medications for the most part, although the doctor had some legitimate prescriptions at his home.
At the farm, our barn had been built late 1800s, and was leaning by 1970s When the barn was torn down, an untold number of medicinal bottles were found, all of which were long empty and those few still had small amounts of amber liquid, sealed in by caps melded to the glass. (owner of our farm was a doctor and had the liquid analyzed. It was alcohol.)
Telephones that hung on the wall? Water hand pumped in the kitchen? Wood burning stoves?
Some of those old days were good in the sense that social life was simpler. The old days were more community oriented.
But medical care? My mom once told me how Dr. Wells performed her appendectomy on the dining room table. House calls were the only time most people saw the doctor. Prescriptions? Home remedies and readily available self-medications for the most part, although the doctor had some legitimate prescriptions at his home.
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| Order form $95 · A rare (Heroin) original 1915 government issued "Order Form for Opium, Etc". A similar form from the 1920s was recently shown on the History Channel during a program on illegal drugs. |
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| one dose should be enough |
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| Found treasure We look at the contents of these cures for common colds and we are horrified by its contents. "Good old days" take on a new view when we think of people of that era. They must have felt pretty good/well after a few doses Doctors had absolutely no control what his patients took for what ailed them. Did he have any idea about the contents? Did he even know the effects of the miracle tonics, elixirs? What about the prescription below? Did Dr. George Nichopolous realize the results of the prescribed meds he gave Elvis Presley? I am betting he did.
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Oh My Goodness. Choroform for my cough? Well it will knock me out and I bet I wouldn't cough. The other one had cannabis, chloroform, morphine and alcohol, what could go wrong here Susan? :-)
ReplyDeleteSounds like it would be a big seller if it were in this era.
DeleteAnd we wonder why life expectancy was lower then.
ReplyDeleteMinimal medical attention plus self-medicating would be enough to take a few out.
DeleteWho cared if there were surgeries on the dining room table when you could easily get high LEGALLY!!! Those WERE the good old days! This is a great post, Susan, and makes the opioid crisis seem benign.
ReplyDeleteOpioid addiction is not a new problem. With the availability of the above drugs in the late 1800s, anyone could be addicted and it did not seem important. FDA didn't step into monitoring until the 1920s.
DeleteFarmers tucked into a bottle hidden in the hay loft. Wives could nip now and then if she were hit with a migraine. Good ole days.
The good old days (like the present) were a very mixed bag. Good (mostly) for some. And decidedly hard work for others.
ReplyDeleteChloroform, morphine and opium were often readily available, and almost certainly did take the edge off...
Take the edge off indeed.
DeleteFrom my farming ancestry, the old days were hard work. But, because their entire community had the same struggles, it wasn't peculiar.
I don't trust doctors and what they prescribe. The ones today love to give you a pill to help solve your ailments. Not much different than the earlier times just different remedies.
ReplyDeleteWell, for me the doctor has given me exactly what my body needed. None are excessive or addictive. Just helpful.
DeleteHowever, none contain chloroform, cocaine, alcohol, morphine...That would be insane.
just FYI, if any contain codeine, that's derived from morphine/ heroin/opium, which are all from the same source I think. I could be wrong...
DeletePoor Elvis....what a hideous cocktail of drugs that was.
ReplyDeleteDoctors should be wise and take care of their patients. This doctor failed him badly. Criminal.
DeleteParticularly because there aren't any instructions on that script. no indication of how many or how often or even that some shouldn't be taken with others. Poor Elvis probably thought he should be taking all of them.
DeleteThe "good old days" are a myth. They always were. Things are better today than before, although, of course, not everything is perfect nor is everything completely better. But things seem simpler when you're a kid. Or at the time before. At least, the way the time before is portrayed by that which is left to us (not always that accurate).
ReplyDeleteWell said. Memories of the perfect 1950s are in my head and make me smile. They were simpler.
DeleteWe like to romanticize the past.
ReplyDeleteLike my great grandfather fought in World War 2
but he died in prison for murder.
I am so sad about his sad death. We do romanticize the past, the lives of our ancestors. I now know things about mine and it saddens me.
DeleteOh my gosh! An appendectomy on the dining room table! I'll try to focus on that, next time I feel anxiety for something simple, like a dentist appointment.
ReplyDeleteGlad it can help you. My mom remembered it well.
DeleteYikes that cough syrup might not cure your cough but it would make you not care if you still had it.
ReplyDeleteOh, that is true. The cough syrup sure would give one some relaxing.
DeleteA fascinating bunch of old artifacts. Medicine has indeed come a long way. Even in fiction, whenever a doctor is mentioned in a Nineteen Century book I cringe in sympathy for the ill character.
ReplyDeleteIn Downton Abbey, one main female character died after childbirth after the good ole doctor who said all was well, while the young doctor was frantic to be proactive in getting her to the hospital. too true.
Delete"Asthma cigarettes"??? There's one that should bring up a Sesame Street chorus of, "One of these things is not like the other..."
ReplyDeleteThat one just blew me away.
Delete"The Good Old Days?" You couldn't pay me enough to have lived back then. Or in any time other than my own, quite frankly.
ReplyDeleteI am with you!
DeleteWe can look back with 'rose tinted spectacles'. Of course many things back in the good old days were good but not all. I guess we can say the same about present times.
ReplyDeleteAll the best Jan
Will our times will be looked upon with such rose tinted glasses?
DeleteOh wow, so true. We often pine for the good old days but no thanks to going back to earlier medical practices! And those ingredients!!! Not to mention that Elvis prescription... good Lord.
ReplyDeleteThink of other celebrities who died in the past years from overdoses under doctor care! Who would have thought.
DeleteAs someone who nearly died from a ruptured appendix, I'm verrrrry glad the doctor didn't do the operation on our kitchen table.
ReplyDeleteMedical history is a fascinating topic, isn't it? It must've been exciting to find all of those old medicine bottles. Some of those old mixtures probably had a 50/50 shot at either curing you or killing ya. It's unbelievable to think that people once thought smoking tobacco was good for one's health. Or better yet, how about the good ol' smoke enemas?
Smoke enemas? Well, that's a new one for me. I've heard of coffee enemas, but smoke?
DeleteI first heard of them more than twenty years ago. The brother of a friend who had cancer was subjected to them. I really hope they are no longer used.
DeleteI'm as horrified as you are, but those were different times and many side effects weren't recognised as being caused by the "medicine". Asthma cigarettes? no wonder so many children smoked from an early age.
ReplyDeleteI'm glad that these days we know better than to dose everything with alcohol or morphine, but like you said, some doctors are in the pay of the 'rich and famous' and give them what they want regardless of anything else they are taking and how often.
Side-effects weren't big knowledge then.
DeleteI never thought of early cigarette addiction from the asthma product.
What a collection, some of which are a little creepy! That said, I have my great grandfather's recipe book. He was a confectioner and they also made medicinal remedies. I have his recipe for opium lozenges, which I think took 4 ounces of liquid opium. The asthma cigarettes here are pretty freaky!
ReplyDeleteOpium lozenges? Wow. Those would be fast sale at the open market!
DeleteRecipe book? That would make for some interesting recipes.
Yeah, really out there what some of those things had back in the day. Sadly, still pill popper Drs. who get a kickback from big pharma and just dish em out like candy.
ReplyDeleteThe worst Drs. do get a kickback and the pharm companies are sometimes pushing.
Deleteyou made great point here dear Susan that we have far better facilities of heath than past
ReplyDeletei too find that old days were more simple and happy by all means
but Health yes ,it was biggest problem when people died with minor cold that got dangerous because no medical help was provided at time ,this was sad certainly
The ole' days were simpler, no tech or cars, etc. But health care was uncertain.
DeleteThis is a VERY interesting. I just dug up a bottle that looks like one of those. Now, I am pretty old but I ain't never heard of an operation on a kitchen table! WOW!
ReplyDeleteThe script for Elvis is very sick and I would bet for sure the DR knew what he was giving, what a shame....
BUT all in all, I loved the post good history and information. THANKS
Sherry & jack
Grandma apparently couldn't stay in the DR, she was frightened. Grandpa was a WW1 veteran and he stayed.
DeleteFor the Elvis Dr., more $$ is better.
PS: In the military they issued APC's (All Purpose Capsules). We used to jike at the prescript: 2 at ten and ten at two, back to work.
ReplyDelete;-)
ALC--I will have to look that one up! Thanks for the info.
DeleteOops. Make that APC. It is a painkiller for lots of things. Better than aspirin, Not allowed in the US. But in military, it works for what ails you.
DeleteYeeikes to the operation on the table. We took a trip to St. Augustine, FL over the summer. One of the stops was an old pharmacy and they housed a lot of these bottles. I was surprised to learn how harsh the drugs were that they were using.
ReplyDeleteWhat a cool museum!
DeleteGahhh! The good old days indeed! Even toothpaste and so-called 'soft drinks' had their dose of cocaine. Yikes!
ReplyDeleteWhat we know now! My goodness!
Delete