I could have used this a few weeks back. Ayer's Cherry Pectoral was a popular cold and flu remedy in the 1890s. While many "cures" from this era didn't contain any effective ingredients, this one did. It contained alcohol and an opium derivative (morphine or heroin), both of which have the effect of suppressing coughs and helping a patient rest more comfortably. I think we can all imagine what this tasted like.
Category: [Downtown Hood River]
I would imagine that with the alcohol content that it probably would have tasted like booze. I don't know about effective ingredients but most of those elixers that were supposedly cure alls had an alcohol base to them. Yes, I could have used some of this Christmas instead of ending up in the hospital like I did.....
charlott on 6th January 2017 @ 7:11am
Sorry to both Arthur and Charlott for suffering "LaGrippe". When you are that sick, a concoction with alcohol and and opiate is welcome. Oregon has been hit hard by the flu.
I wondered where you were Charlott. Thought you were on a Christmas vacation.
My grandmother told me that when my mother was a baby she cried and cried. After a couple of days my great grandmother, gave her some laudanum. Then she slept for a couple of days. My grandmother thought her baby was in a coma and was furious with my great grandmother when she found out what she had given her.
Great Grandma had raised 12 children, so I suspect she knew what she was doing. Everyone had to get some sleep.
My mother is deaf in one ear, and the family figured she must have had an ear infection.
L.E. on 6th January 2017 @ 7:28am