how sick were you when you were growing up?
 

How sick were you growing up....what horrible foul tasting stuff where you given?


When I was a kid.....we were force fed things to keep us well.....like halibut liver oil capsules and olive oil and raspberry vinegar.......but the one thing I hated most when I did get sick was........FENNINGS FEVER CURE.....you could not drink this concoction but only sip it......and just as well........dad would say.....get tha down thee lad ,tha,ll feel much better......as I attempted to sip the evil stuff through a screwed up face...has it been banned yet?.....:)

Yep , have to agree the stuff tasted foul , but it worked ......... the other stuff was Beechams powders, remember gagging everytime I had one tipped down my throat , for some unknown reason they were allways taken "dry" in our house followed by a swig of water, never mixed with water .

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CAught all the usual stuff and suffered the cures but one side effect of all them bugs is as I got older I was never really ill apart from the odd sniffle. Still if I have a sniffle take dry beechems or Askit powders just find it easier.

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I'm one of those weird people who like cod liver oil. We were forced-fed with a spoonful every day when I was in the nursery class at school, circa 1947, and I loved it. I also loved cod liver oil and malt, thick gloopy stuff that my mother used to shove down me in the hope of "building me up".

Being a small, skinny child I was referred to the clinic at age 4 as I was considered "underweight" (plump children were thought to be desirable in those early-NHS days). Having established that I wasn't being systematically starved by my parents the medics put me on iron tablets, which was crazy as I was as fit as a flea, so I learned at a very early age to swallow pills whole. I can still down anything up to the size of a marble, 2 at once, without gagging.

I regarded the odd dose of Syrup of Figs as a treat but I agree Fennings Fever Cure was nauseating. It wasn't given to me often, I'm happy to say.

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My mum was obviously kind then, put on a spoon mixed with raspberry jam and helped 'make the medicine go down' tral la la.

Cod liver oil tablets West Ender, yes, I loved them too, used to bite into them... yummy .. now reports conflicting, but last was good.

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We used to get fennings for misbehaveing,wonder if it would work on today
kids?

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I dont know why ,but i loved fenninngs fever cure,, we also had olive oil and raspberry vinnigar,,,,,,and syrup mixed with butter for colds,, oh and dont forget the champhorated oil...rubbed on your chest for bed,,,

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we were also given sulpher tablets,,, i think that was for scratching,,,

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

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Apparently I used to swig cod liver oil out of the bottle. Mum's friend told her that it's no wonder I was fat.
Now just the thought makes me shudder. Ewww Yuk!

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Nope they would scream its parental cruelty.

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agree westender you liked codliver oil= your wierd lol hated the stuff but the thing i hated most was meths had to try it,just to see what it was like! it was the most disgusting/nauseating thing i ever had, now that did make me sick.:cool:

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Meths crickey Cashy that could go down as torture. If you wanted to be sick sour milk would have been better.

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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

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

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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.

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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..;) :D

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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.

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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.

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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

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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

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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

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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! :D

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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.

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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!!

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

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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.

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I remember some black stuff in a little tin ,it was called curumquick,it nearly blew your socks off,but on a cold day it kept your throat warm,something like fishermans friends do today..
And does anyone remember zambuck ointment,,,,,,,and gibbs toothpaste in a tin,,,red ,blue or green,so we all knew our own tin,,We thought we were posh when we upgraded to S,R in a tube:eek:

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My nan used to rub Zambuk on every ache and pain, she swore by it. My dad also used to put TCP on every spot, cut, wound and splinter. He used to make us gargle with it for sore throats sometimes, it tasted disgusting. We always smelled of TCP when we were kids, it was like the family perfume. :D

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My gran allways made us drink a glass of PLJ very very strong lemon drink i used to hate the stuff.
but i used to love that orange drink you got off the nhs

Yes as a kid i got everything going too and it seamed like i got them one after another .
But when i got tonsillitis i got it very bad and needed to have them taken out quick i ended up having it done privately at mount st hospital preston thanks to my aunty who paid to have it done all i remember was i was in hospital for three days and having loads of ice cream after the op i was only about 6 at the time

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Does no-one remember Rosehip Syrup? I wonder if they still make the stuff.

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Ohh yes i loved it,we had it on semmolina pudding at school.....yummy

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My mum used to give me Milk of Amnesia........but I forget how it tasted :o

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like chalk....yuk

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Aww come on GC, I use my best bad joke and you don't even get it. (Shady weeps quietly) :(

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I'm going to have a go at making some myself. I have a rose hedge full of hips - and a recipe! :)

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My Gran used bottles and bolttles of Radian B on her rheumatic old legs and that really stank! No matter what your ailment in our home;you got "pobs" to eat to make you feel better,anyone else know what I am talking about?

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I too remember the Cod Liver Oil and the vick rubbed on the chest, vaseline under the nose, and the Suleo for the nits. Remember being clamped between my Mums knees while she dragged the fine tooth metal comb through my curly hair. But the worst thing I had to suffer was an old fashioned ENEMA!! That was the worst experience of my childhood!

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such a waste you could make some wine with them :-) hic yone

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I was a severe asthmatic when i was a child and was forced to wear a Libby body (a thermal lined/fleecy sleeveless vest) to keep the chills of me when i was a child. I also had to sleep at night with a nightlight candle on that burned away some smelly stuff to clear my chest. Smelled liked Vicks. Think it was called a ventilator or something like that.

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I do..they were made with milk or oxo,s,,,and the bread which was going a bit stale....every now and then my hubby fancies the oxo ones for a snack...yuk

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Ewwwwwwwwww and where did you find him then :D
Can remember once my late great aunt cooking an eel in milk in the oven :eek: , was forced to taste it ....... puke !

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I kept getting tonsilitis when i was a kid. I'd just get rid of it and 2 weeks later i'd get it again. Doc said next time she gets it we'll sort out about her having them out. Funny thing that - never got tonsilitis again! lol Maybe the threat of going into hospital and having an operation scared me! lol

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Never thought of that. I've made wine with just about everything else (even cold tea, it tastes like champagne). Maybe a change of plan............ :D

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Apart from Chronic Bronchitis and numerous colds the only other illness I had was Measles.
I was forced to wear a liberty bodice. Used to hate the dam thing.
I was smothered in goose grease, my how that stank. If no goose grease then it was vinegar n brown paper.
My nan would shove a peeled raw onion under my bed.
When I got a bit older it was was Vick an vaseline under the nose. I love the smell but Mick hates it.
For sprain es it would be brewed comfrey leaves.
The magic ointment was germaline.

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i once had to miss doing my paper round because i was sick and the owner of teh newsagents asked how sick was i..

i replied well ime in bed with my sister ;)

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I loved the smell of TCP - still do. Anyone remember that if they were tarmacking the streets (over the old cobbles) and you had a bad chest, they used to drag you out and stand you over the tar boiler to breathe in the fumes. All those lovely cancer-producing fumes - it's a wonder we lived. I can also remember being taken to Blackpool out of season, and being dragged along the pier and made to stand on the end breathing the ozone for my bad chest. Also had tonsillitis on a regular basis, but have never had them out - been threatened with it loads of times, but hung on to them.

And what about Fennings Little Lung Healers - tiny round things, so small that it's difficult to see what good they could do.

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not so much sick but really accident prone, almost got my own bed in harrogate casualty!!! :o