Pfreddee
Well-known
Those of us who are of a certain age can remember any number of home remedies and patent medicines from our childhoods. The one I have in mind was to be found in every medicine chest in any household that had kids in it. It was Tincture of Merthiolate, or alternatively, Tincture of Iodine. The stuff came in a little square, red glass bottle with a red rubber stopper. Attached to the stopper was a fine glass wand with a bulbous tip: the applicator. It had a paper label which, along with the bottle, became stained with the contents after a couple of uses. It took on a poisonous reddish tint, with iridescent highlights.
This was the first aid of the day back then, when you skinned your knees or elbows, or God forbid, both knees and elbows. If I or my brother showed up with any kind of flesh wound, Mom promptly got out the Merthiolate and dabbed it on the owie. Of course, then it really became an owie. We kids would go to any lengths to cover up a cut or scrape or even a partial amputation, anything to avoid having to undergo the Trial By Merthiolate. You could tell who had suffered an injury by the wails, protests and loud screams which floated on the air of a summer evening.
Why was this? Because the stuff hurt like blazes. I'm not sure when less painful home remedies came on the market, but it wasn't during my childhood, I can assure you. There was something called Mercurochrome which didn't sting, but no self-respecting mom would use it: didn't hurt, so it could be any good at sterilizing the wound. No, the virtue of Merthiolate (assuming it had any) was the pain factor. On a pain scale of 1 to 10, with 10 being the highest, I would reckon it to be somewhere around 30 to 45, especially on an abraded elbow or knee.
After careful research, I can confidently report that I have figured out the ingredients. It was made up with a base of 90% isopropyl alcohol, food coloring, nitric acid and hornet venom. Had to. I've never run across anything that even came within shouting distance of this stuff for sheer pain and burning. I'm not sure what it was called (or even if it was used at all) in the U.K. or continental Europe, but anyone who tangled with it is a member of a Band of Brothers and Sisters.
Anybody else remember with this stuff?
With best regards,
Pfreddee(Stephen)
This was the first aid of the day back then, when you skinned your knees or elbows, or God forbid, both knees and elbows. If I or my brother showed up with any kind of flesh wound, Mom promptly got out the Merthiolate and dabbed it on the owie. Of course, then it really became an owie. We kids would go to any lengths to cover up a cut or scrape or even a partial amputation, anything to avoid having to undergo the Trial By Merthiolate. You could tell who had suffered an injury by the wails, protests and loud screams which floated on the air of a summer evening.
Why was this? Because the stuff hurt like blazes. I'm not sure when less painful home remedies came on the market, but it wasn't during my childhood, I can assure you. There was something called Mercurochrome which didn't sting, but no self-respecting mom would use it: didn't hurt, so it could be any good at sterilizing the wound. No, the virtue of Merthiolate (assuming it had any) was the pain factor. On a pain scale of 1 to 10, with 10 being the highest, I would reckon it to be somewhere around 30 to 45, especially on an abraded elbow or knee.
After careful research, I can confidently report that I have figured out the ingredients. It was made up with a base of 90% isopropyl alcohol, food coloring, nitric acid and hornet venom. Had to. I've never run across anything that even came within shouting distance of this stuff for sheer pain and burning. I'm not sure what it was called (or even if it was used at all) in the U.K. or continental Europe, but anyone who tangled with it is a member of a Band of Brothers and Sisters.
Anybody else remember with this stuff?
With best regards,
Pfreddee(Stephen)
robklurfield
eclipse
Mercurochrome. Yup, we had that. Didn't sting. Probably didn't do anything but make you look as if you'd survived a worse scrape than you actually had. Left lots of skin from my knees and elbows on the blacktop.