Do you recall the last time you had a mustard plaster? Do you even know what a mustard plaster is? My mother was of the old school and based on her mother’s health procedures, she would use a mustard plaster at the drop of a slight cold on my poor innocent child body. A mustard plaster for the unknowing was made by mixing dry mustard, flour and boiling water to make a paste. The paste was then spread on cheese cloth or something similar and then wrapped around your chest.
The idea was that the mustard would stimulate tiny blood vessels in your lungs, loosening mucus and consequently make you feel all better. At least that was the idea. I do not know what it did to the tiny blood vessels but it certainly stimulated me to get well as quickly as I could. Many years later I can still feel that hot old plaster sticking to me. It was tough being a kid back then. We were people living in depressed Western Pennsylvania, and home remedies were used whenever possible. Now at this point many of my present friends will say “ahh, poor old guy”. Of course, they are probably in the group that doesn’t even know what a mustard plaster is, so I will ignore them.
I was happy when the cold was not too bad. Then my mother would spread Vick’s Vapo- rub on my chest and under my nose – not that it was something you craved, but it was better than the mustard plaster! That stuff did unclog your nose – as well as anything else that got in the way. You did not want to visit friends until you made certain that all the Vick’s was gone or everyone would beat a path the other way. You can still buy that product to this very day. It is still possible that kids still get it spread on their chests and under their nose. If so, they have my condolences.
I guess that home remedies are still around and used in some quarters. One thing that I do not recall taking that some of my friends had to endure was cod liver oil. That product has been around for a long, long time. It is purportedly good for all sorts of things and is a nutritional marvel. I am not certain why things that are good for you were made so that they taste awful. If cod liver oil tasted like a strawberry milkshake, just think how healthy the world would be. Kids would be begging for their daily dose.
Also way back in my young life, when you had a cut somewhere, the first product which would be sought before the band aid was placed over it was the bottle of iodine. It was placed on the cut and stung like heck. I used to try and have my mother use mercurochrome instead of the iodine. It did not sting as much, but I was always informed that it was not as potent as iodine. In other words, I had to live with the iodine. I guess that I did since I am still around, but at the time I was not certain that would be the case. This was particularly true when I had a cold and a cut at the same time.
Then, I would have the mustard plaster on my chest and a band aid covering the iodine on my elbow or whatever. What a horror! Our kids were lucky as The Blonde in the house did not use mustard plasters or iodine. She did put Vicks in their humidifiers when they had a cold. However, that is better than under the nose.
As for me the only mustard that is plastered now is on a hot dog or brat. Much better that way!
Barry Evans writes about Life in The Villages for Villages-News.com
