They were called the good ol' days for a reason.

[Amelia]

A bottle of Bayer's heroin. Between 1890 and 1910 heroin was sold as a non-addictive substitute for morphine. It was also used to treat children with strong cough.

Metcalf Coca Wine was one of a huge variety of wines with cocaine on the market. Everybody used to say that it would make you happy. And it would also work as a medicinal treatment.

Mariani wine (1875) was the most famous Coca wine of it's time. Pope Leo XIII used to carry one bottle with him all the time. He awarded Angelo Mariani (the producer) with a Vatican gold medal.

Opium for Asthma

All stage actors, singers teachers and preachers had to have these for a maximum performance. Great to "smooth" the voice.

Very popular for children in 1885. Not only did they relieve the pain, they made the children happy!

Opium for new-borns

I'm sure this would make them sleep well (not only the Opium, but 46% alcohol!)

[carolaa]

Don't see that stuff around any more. Hmmm, must be all that nasty government regulation.

[Neil D]

and those nasty civil rights groups who were into a non-alcoholic and non-happy neighborhoods

[SivartM]

I'm glad to live in the 21st century, even if the pharmaceuticals aren't as interesting.

[Liz]

My grandmother was 103 when she died 8 years ago. Anyways, when she was 19 she got a toothache and was prescribed dipping snuff (tobacco). She got hooked and dipped that nasty stuff till the day she died.

Quote:

I'm glad to live in the 21st century, even if the pharmaceuticals aren't as interesting.

They may not be as "interesting" but some of them are just as bad.

[oldsailor29]

My grandmother was 103 when she died 8 years ago. Anyways, when she was 19 she got a toothache and was prescribed dipping snuff (tobacco). She got hooked and dipped that nasty stuff till the day she died.

Obviously, the secret to long life is snuff.

[phkrause]

Sounds like some good stuff, are they coming back on the market? hahahahaha hehehehehe hohohohoho

pk

[aldona]

It certainly explains the views that EG White and other Adventist pioneers had about drugs at the time.

To take their statements and apply them to modern day pharmaceuticals such as blood pressure pills makes no sense and fails to take the historical context into account.

aldona

[Amelia]

I forgot to add Laudanum; tincture of opium. It was used as an analgesic. Discovered in the 16th century it is still available today by Rx. But at about $25 a teaspoon, you had better really, really, really need it.

[carolaa]

Would you rather have no pain killer?

[Dr. Rich]

Not sure if this was the 'good old days' but at 64 I still remember when I grew up in Colorado, my Dad was an outdoorsman who hunted and fished for food. We had a couple of freezers and never lacked of good and great tasting food right from the storehouse of nature. We also had a large garden where we grew so many veggies that we even supplied the neighborhood. Our fruit trees provided many types of fruit and these we canned or juiced for the winter. Our neighbors had many nut trees and they never seemed to mind that we picked up several sacks to use during the fall and winter. Dad built a large 'grape barber'(sp) where he kept tools inside and grew grapes all around and over the fences so we never lacked for grape juice and jam. He also had about a half a dozen beehives that supplied us and everyone in the church with lots of honey. I learned early how to become a beekeeper.

We also had friends who had a dairy a few miles from us so we also had all the milk products you could ask for. I even remember feeding the cat the left over cottage cheese and cream so thick a spoon left in it would not sink. Seldom a day went by without eating some type of ice cream made fresh or purchased from the dairy.

Wheat, oat and bean farms were just east of us so each year we bought 50 pound sacks to last the year. Cornfields were also just east of us and we shucked and cut up corn in bags for the freezer. Wild asparagus and rhubarb came up all over the countryside in the spring and summer and we made many weekend jaunts reminding me of Easter egg hunts where we cut off the fresh tops of the asparagus and even ate them raw. They never seemed to last long after Mom cooked them up or used them in a salad. Rhubarb and cherry pies were always in the fridge.

In the early fall Dad took me high up in the mountains to look for fresh mushrooms and scout for deer and elk. I can still smell (in my mind) the aroma of fresh wild mushrooms drying in the oven since the door was left open an inch to let the moisture out while they dried. Emmm! Many times we returned with a couple of blue grouse or a fresh catch of brook trout. Sometimes we even brought home sacks of choke cherries and goose berries to make jam. Our wood stove was fueled by all of the many trees found on our land and in the forest near by. Even when it was below zero outside, we were always warm and toasty inside. Our veggie and fruit products were kept in a dugout cellar we all called 'our bomb shelter'. The cellar also held pumpkins and squash and smoked fish and dried/smoked venison. On the South side of the house was a small greenhouse with the house wall being part of the house. A window from the basement was left open for fresh warm air. We grew tomatoes and leafy veggies all winter long.

No, this was not that long ago--it was in the 50’s through the 70’s. As time goes by, I wonder if we will ever get to the place where we will have to live like this again. If so, it really isn't a bad way to live. In fact, being self-sufficient just might be the only way to survive what is coming in the near future.

Dr. Rich

[Dottie]

Amelia - -

First, aren't morphine and heroin refined opium?

Second, my grandfather had a woman come in to help my grandmother when my uncle was born, as there were already four older children in the home. That was the quietest baby my grandmother had, until the lady left. The boy just slept and slept and slept. But, when the help left, he just cried and cried and cried. Come to find out, she had been giving him laudanum, and he was going through withdrawal!

[GreatLakesGramma]

Dr. Rich, I'd rather live that way.