Sunday, July 08, 2007

The Whiskey, The Pistol and The Bible

A comment by a friend led me to thinking about my grandfather and the demon booze.

My grandparents were tee-totalers but......................Grandpa kept a pint of whiskey in the house for medicinal purposes. It was used to treat a sore throat and sometimes the flu. He would pour a teaspoonful and we had to take it down neat! Small children do not like the taste of alcohol! We would try very hard to get well again, and if we were faking, you could bet we had a miraculous recovery! He would have it with a little warm water and sugar and sip it for whatever ailed him.

We also had Gentian Violet, sulfur and molasses, Absorbine Senior (for horses) and cod liver oil. Once a year we were given a dose of gentian violet, which came as a powder folded in single dose papers, as a cure for any parasites we may have picked up. This stained everything expelled a rich deep shade of purple. The sulfur and black strap molasses was given to us as well as the horse and cow as a spring tonic, The cod liver oil capsules were given all winter long to ward off winter colds, flu's and such. We burped fish oil for hours afterward. The Absorbine Senior was a topical treatment for all bumps and bruises and swollen joints as well as any other skin affliction.

The other memory it triggered was the pistol and bible that he kept under his pillow...just in case! Just in case of what? I could not figure out what the event would be that the bible and a gun would be appropriate tools for. In later years, I came to understand they were there as a comfort or as security for him. He felt safe because the gun was there if he needed it to stop intruders....this back in the day that most houses did not even have locks on the doors. The bible was there to promote good dreams and somehow educate him in the ways of the Lord. He could not read, but Grandma read to him from the bible regularly, as well as from the Family Herald.

4 comments:

Jim said...

Those old time remedies worked, I use some today, like the inner skin of an egg as surface antibiotic for cuts and such, stops the bleeding, speeds healing, and protects as well.

Asorbine is great, in small quantities, it is wormwood and as such, a powerful poison, but great for muscles.

Yes, all this is great stuff, Zareba, and thought provoking for any reader. Many have no idea where things and methods came from, many have been separated from their roots, from our roots, cut off by the exegensies of our busy hectic lives today.

Real stuff Zareba, keep it coming, I am enjoying it very much. See you later, got to get to the day's business, thanks and peace and love to you always Zareba.

Alexys Fairfield said...

Zareba,
That's such a heart-warming story I love the pistol and the bible. It has a raconteur richness.

Zareba said...

Thank you both so much for the kind words.

I have forgotten more than I remmber, but don't want to lose any more of it. Each time I write about a memory, it triggers more memories. I hope that is the case with my readers as well.

With love and companionship on the journey ...Z

Anonymous said...

Very interesting memories. The bible and gun sound funny in todays world.
Who knows the other thing back then people beleived in vampires and wearwolves which a gun would not stop, however a bible would surely keep away.