I saw it in a magazine and was reminded of the bacon cure. Well it was Reminesce magazine, so. It took a little while to dislodge that memory but there it was. Now the thing being cured in that article was a splinter. If you have a splinter that you just can't pull out because it is under the skin too far wrap a piece of bacon around it. Fasten the bacon with a piece of cloth or something like that. Leave it overnight. When you get up in the morning unwrap that and the splinter will have been drawn to the surface. I can't say from personal experience that it works but I can see that. When I was little Dad used bacon to cure me. I had a bit if a boil developing on my arm. It was wrapped with a piece of bacon and the next day that boil was drawn to a head. I'll spare you the details but suffice to say, it was " exercised " from my arm. A strip of bacon was also used to draw out poison. If you stepped on a nail or a piece of glass, after cleaning the wound up, wrap it with bacon. Works like a charm.
Have you ever heard of such a thing? It is one of those old folk cures. Honestly I had forgotten about that until I read that story in a magazine. I don't recall any other cures like that from my childhood. Mostly it was mercurochrome and iodine. Ginger ale and crackers worked wonders too. Vicks vapo rub was employed on occasion. A visit to the doctor was a rare, and generally serious thing. You had to be pretty sick or hurt real bad. We never heard of anything like a wellness visit, why would you visit a doctor if you are well? I recall Dr. Zenger, a lady doctor, coming to the house when I had scarlet fever. Another time I got hit in the head with a clam, required a few staples, Dr. Abel, aka the slasher, fixed me up that time. And I did have to get a physical to obtain working papers. That was about the extent of my experience with doctors until I joined the Navy.
I was raised in the fifties and sixties. We didn't go to the doctors very much in those days. There also wasn't a doctor for every ailment you had. You had your family doctor. If you needed a surgeon you'd get one at the hospital. Well, that's where they were. The idea of going to a doctor when there was nothing wrong with you seemed like a silly thing, at least in my house it was. Why waste money on that? You already knew you were feeling alright, don't need a doctor to tell me. What I needed the doctor for was to fix whatever was wrong.
I am aware that I grew up in a rural area and the population wasn't all that great. But it doesn't seem like that many people were sick and going to the doctors. What I mean is, there wasn't a big waiting list or anything. I was young and so not aware of a lot of things, still, I never heard about folks abusing prescription drugs that much. I did hear a murmur or two about certain individuals that liked to stay a little spacey. It was a good thing though if you knew those people. When they weren't spacey, they could be a handful. I don't remember the year but remember getting the polio vaccine on a sugar cube. It was big deal. I don't know if the government mandated every child to be vaccinated but I believe everyone was. I figure it must have been free. I don't know if I ever got the TB vaccine as I don't have that round scar on my arm associated with that. I'm guessing I did at some point, the Navy sure gave me plenty of shots! I had measles and mumps I think, all the childhood diseases. That sort of stuff wasn't talked about a lot, it was no big deal. Scarlet fever was a big deal though, for some reason. I was just told, you'll be alright. That was always the final answer, you'll be fine. Something I thought about after saying my bedtime prayer, if I should die before I wake. I always figured I would die in my sleep if I didn't get killed somehow. Seemed like breaking your neck was a common way to go, Mom was always saying that, you'll break your fool neck! No cure for that.
Well, Mom and Dad had the remedy for most things. The bacon trick was one of them. Graveyard stew was good for an upset stomach. Some people call that milk toast. As I said most times it was ginger ale and crackers. Band-Aids and iodine. Wrap it up, put ice on it. Wrap it up, put heat on it. Generally the diagnosis was, you're alright, go outside and play. Rarely was I ordered to bed for rest. No, the thing was to walk it off or just ignore it. Staying home from school sick? I don't think so. It must have happened at some time but not to my recollection. And I had a neighbor that made her own dandelion wine. She gave my sister and I a glass of it once saying, it's good for what ails you. It was better than the bacon. LOL.
Have you ever heard of such a thing? It is one of those old folk cures. Honestly I had forgotten about that until I read that story in a magazine. I don't recall any other cures like that from my childhood. Mostly it was mercurochrome and iodine. Ginger ale and crackers worked wonders too. Vicks vapo rub was employed on occasion. A visit to the doctor was a rare, and generally serious thing. You had to be pretty sick or hurt real bad. We never heard of anything like a wellness visit, why would you visit a doctor if you are well? I recall Dr. Zenger, a lady doctor, coming to the house when I had scarlet fever. Another time I got hit in the head with a clam, required a few staples, Dr. Abel, aka the slasher, fixed me up that time. And I did have to get a physical to obtain working papers. That was about the extent of my experience with doctors until I joined the Navy.
I was raised in the fifties and sixties. We didn't go to the doctors very much in those days. There also wasn't a doctor for every ailment you had. You had your family doctor. If you needed a surgeon you'd get one at the hospital. Well, that's where they were. The idea of going to a doctor when there was nothing wrong with you seemed like a silly thing, at least in my house it was. Why waste money on that? You already knew you were feeling alright, don't need a doctor to tell me. What I needed the doctor for was to fix whatever was wrong.
I am aware that I grew up in a rural area and the population wasn't all that great. But it doesn't seem like that many people were sick and going to the doctors. What I mean is, there wasn't a big waiting list or anything. I was young and so not aware of a lot of things, still, I never heard about folks abusing prescription drugs that much. I did hear a murmur or two about certain individuals that liked to stay a little spacey. It was a good thing though if you knew those people. When they weren't spacey, they could be a handful. I don't remember the year but remember getting the polio vaccine on a sugar cube. It was big deal. I don't know if the government mandated every child to be vaccinated but I believe everyone was. I figure it must have been free. I don't know if I ever got the TB vaccine as I don't have that round scar on my arm associated with that. I'm guessing I did at some point, the Navy sure gave me plenty of shots! I had measles and mumps I think, all the childhood diseases. That sort of stuff wasn't talked about a lot, it was no big deal. Scarlet fever was a big deal though, for some reason. I was just told, you'll be alright. That was always the final answer, you'll be fine. Something I thought about after saying my bedtime prayer, if I should die before I wake. I always figured I would die in my sleep if I didn't get killed somehow. Seemed like breaking your neck was a common way to go, Mom was always saying that, you'll break your fool neck! No cure for that.
Well, Mom and Dad had the remedy for most things. The bacon trick was one of them. Graveyard stew was good for an upset stomach. Some people call that milk toast. As I said most times it was ginger ale and crackers. Band-Aids and iodine. Wrap it up, put ice on it. Wrap it up, put heat on it. Generally the diagnosis was, you're alright, go outside and play. Rarely was I ordered to bed for rest. No, the thing was to walk it off or just ignore it. Staying home from school sick? I don't think so. It must have happened at some time but not to my recollection. And I had a neighbor that made her own dandelion wine. She gave my sister and I a glass of it once saying, it's good for what ails you. It was better than the bacon. LOL.
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