Early Prairie Remedies (Medicine from the 1850s!)

"Cash money was hard to come by at the turn of this century, especially for the newcomers ... homesteaders would often diagnose their own ailments."

A wonderful treasure from the 1980s, this book documents popular home remedies from the 1850s and onward! Although some remedies might seem silly, or even backwards by today's standards, but users swore by these methods, with some even owing their lives to it!

Here are a few of the more interesting remedies that I came across:

Menstruation: every wonder how women dealt with periods in the 1900s? Unfortunately, probably exactly how you imagined it to be!
"I was 12 ... [my mother] gave me some old clean flannel torn into strips and a couple of safety pins ... soak the strips and wash them out every night."

Sugar Tits: an interesting alternative to what are basically pacifiers.
"There were 12 kids in our family and never one baby bottle! ... a bit of bread and sugar in the centre of a clean rag and tie it up. ... given to the baby to suck and we called it a Sugar Tit."

Bronchitis: this is a remedy that our family has been using!
"Pour one quart of boiling water over one pound of freshly peeled and chopped garlic cloves. ... Strain and add enough sugar to make a syrup."

(We make ours with garlic, honey, and a tiny bit of vinegar)

Diphtheria: this is a deliberating bacterial infection that primarily affects the mucous membranes of the nose and throat. Some homesteaders would actually INHALE TAR FUMES to cure it!
"...make the room close ... pour into a cup a quantity of tar and turpentine. Then hold the cup over the fire so as to fill the room with fumes. The patient, on inhaling these fumes, will cough up the membranous matter."

Diabetes: this one got a chuckle out of me 😂 If one suspected they had diabetes, all they had to do was pee into a dish of yeast; if the yeast fermented, this was an indication of sugar in the urine!

Nosebleeds: this remedy certainly would have helped me out when I was a child 😅
"... a piece of brown paper folded and placed between the upper lip and the gum, is said will stop bleeding..."

Onions: this vegetable was a stable in households due to their healing properties. People reported putting chopped onions in their socks for colds, or using them as a plaster during pneumonia!
"She chopped and fried onions until they were soft ... on the front and back of the baby's chest as a plaster."

Flax Seed: I was surprised to learn that flax seeds have many beneficial purposes.
"... my eye was full of splinters. ... she put a flax seed in my eye ... it's slimy when it's wet and slides around collecting loose objects."

Bowl Remedy: if someone suffered from a terrible stomachache, they would place a large, warm bowl over their stomach.
"As the bowl cooled and the air inside the bowl cooled and contracted, his stomach was sucked up inside the bowl."

Egyptian Liniment: I have no idea of the contents, for research yielded limited results, but I was shocked to hear of how this remedy was utilized...
"Her arm was ripped upon [along the barbed wire]. We just poured Egyptian Liniment on it. It was awful stuff and burned like mad."

Urine: yes -- they really DID pee on some ailments.
"... sore and bleeding hands, rub urine and cover with soft cotton gloves ..."

Snow Remedy: another strange case where snow was very beneficial.
"... the chain pulled the muscle away from the bone of his leg. ... Sam put his leg in snow ... all night long with a blanket wrapped around him. ... the doctor stitched it up and the leg healed."

Thank you for checking out this week's post! 🙏 I just want to add a disclaimer that, while some of these remedies may have withstood the test of time, it is always best to consult your doctor for any of your medicinal needs. Take care, and happy reading! 📚