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Related: Culture Forums, Support ForumsVintage advertisements with children (creepy)
More: http://theskunkpot.com/index.php/creepy-vintage-ads-featuring-children/
dixiegrrrrl
(60,010 posts)Apparently it was common back in my G'Mother's day to use drugs and/or whiskey to put colicky or teething kids to sleep.
The phrase "sugar tit" ..." was made by placing a spoonful of sugar, or honey, in a small patch of clean cloth, then gathering the cloth around the sugar and twisting it to form a bulb. The bulb was then secured by twine or a rubber band. The baby's saliva would slowly dissolve the sugar in the bulb"
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sugar_tit
but the kicker was some parents would add whiskey or over the counter drugs to the mix of sugar, so that the infant or toddler would fall asleep.
"Pacify" indeed.
pipi_k
(21,020 posts)my father would make up a mixture of water, sugar, and paregoric to put us to sleep. Well, usually me, because I always had trouble sleeping, even as a kid.
Tincture of opium. I loved the taste of it...
progressoid
(49,990 posts)I could use those cocaine drops!
Indpndnt
(2,391 posts)Believe me, it works! One or two drops and the toothache is gone.
The Velveteen Ocelot
(115,693 posts)This was a pretty common remedy for colicky babies at the time.
femmocrat
(28,394 posts)Colds, cramps, sore throat, whatever ailed us.
My aunt was born a preemie, about 3 lbs. in the middle of the Depression. My grandmother placed her in the oven on low heat (with the door open) and fed her whiskey. I always wondered how they had whiskey but no food ... but my grandfather was an alcoholic so I know the answer.
Lydia Leftcoast
(48,217 posts)It had to be blackberry. I'm not sure why.
Later, when she started working for an old-fashioned doctor, she switched to recommending paregoric and milk of bismuth instead. That is the most vile tasting stuff...
The Velveteen Ocelot
(115,693 posts)but paregoric actually works. We got that, too once in awhile. It's got opium in it. Woo hoo!
TwilightGardener
(46,416 posts)They speak of a different world, different sensibilities, different concerns. There was a time when we weren't hyper-concerned over a child's physical safety, for example. People certainly weren't worried about sugar, or gun violence. Infectious disease and malnutrition were the big worries--now, not so much.
NoPasaran
(17,291 posts)Like giving your little daughter her own revolver to sleep with.
TwilightGardener
(46,416 posts)encouraging children to play with guns, imitate war, etc. I think we worry more about glorifying guns and violence now, in regard to children. Back then, maybe not so much?
Odin2005
(53,521 posts)dixiegrrrrl
(60,010 posts)Camel had a lot of the "dr. recommends" ads.
They were all over the place in the mid-late 50's.
Odin2005
(53,521 posts)dixiegrrrrl
(60,010 posts)the commercials are a hoot.
Cigarette and car ads prevailed.
Acutally, many cigarette ads pointed to the health of smoking, even back in the late 30's in print ads.
A common recommended Christmas gift was "a carton of Chesterfileds".
OriginalGeek
(12,132 posts)from the 40s or 50s - I forget exactly - with a cigarette ad that had a popular Olympic marathon runner as the pitch man. We thought it was pretty funny...The tag line said something about the cigs giving him the boost he needed to finish the race...
OriginalGeek
(12,132 posts)lol!
dixiegrrrrl
(60,010 posts)The cig line was "Gentle on the throat".
Wasn't quite as bad as the 1930's beauty products that bragged on the power of the radium in the product!
Google that for laffs....can you imagine?
OriginalGeek
(12,132 posts)LiveNudePolitics
(285 posts)Holy Moly, you weren't kidding.
aint_no_life_nowhere
(21,925 posts)I don't see what's creepy about the 7-up ad or the M-16 ad. When I was a young kid of maybe three, my mom (who is French) would give me a little French limonade (similar to 7-up) mixed with a little red wine. At about the same age, my dad who was American gave me a little taste of beer because I asked for some. It wasn't enough to get drunk or even close to it. And when I was a kid, I had all sorts of toy guns. I loved war movies and playing soldier. It didn't make me become a gun nut as an adult; I've never owned a real gun in my entire life. The coffee ad, I must admit however, is pretty outrageous.
shadowrider
(4,941 posts)you could go to the store and buy an "Army" kit.
It included a plastic helmet, tommy gun, hand grenade and canteen.
Tabasco_Dave
(1,259 posts)Truth is, modern video games are 100 times more violent and realistic, than the army and cops and robbers games we used to play.
WolverineDG
(22,298 posts)whenever we got sick & were throwing up our shoes.
The Velveteen Ocelot
(115,693 posts)I don't know if it actually worked or if was just the placebo effect, but it seemed to work. Also, we got slathered with Vicks Vap-O-Rub when we had bad colds. I hated that stuff.
Brickbat
(19,339 posts)comforting to them!
Indpndnt
(2,391 posts)Certainly wasn't about to turn it down. Soda when sick! It was only years later I learned about what ginger does for nausea. My parents had no idea why the ginger ale worked, only that it did. Learning the ginger did it surprised them a bit. They gave it to me because their parents gave it to them.
TwilightGardener
(46,416 posts)Lydia Leftcoast
(48,217 posts)When my mother had morning sickness while pregnant, the doctor told her to get cola syrup from a soda fountain and dose herself with it. Apparently it worked. From then on, Coca Cola was the preferred remedy for car sickness. We had to have Coke or Seven-Up with our meals when on road trips, not milk, which my parents believed caused car sickness.
WolverineDG
(22,298 posts)Not sure how the switch from that to 7Up/Sprite came about. Probably from the belief that it was easier to keep down clear liquids when you had a 24 hour bug. Also helped with electrolytes & keeping kids hydrated (there was a time when there was no such thing as Pedialyte).
yellowcanine
(35,699 posts)My mom was big on that. Also for colds, ginger ale with a dash of whiskey.
geardaddy
(24,931 posts)Ginger is actually an anti-nauseant.
Nye Bevan
(25,406 posts)I think it contained whisky, hot water, honey and lemon.
blogslut
(38,000 posts)geardaddy
(24,931 posts)Corgigal
(9,291 posts)when I was 3 years old. Scared the hell out of me, still does. Why would anyone buy this for a small little girl?