What grandma and grandpa believed — old-time remedies

It wasn’t all that long ago that insect bites were thought to be best treated with raw onions or mud.

So claims a 'sportsman’s encyclopedia' published 110 years ago as a guide for “anyone venturing into the woods or the backyard.”

The advice about using mud to cope with insect bites, suggested more than a century ago, seems quaint today; but not that long ago folks believed that in an emergency (no pharmacy nearby) one could get relief from insect bites by daubing them with mud.

The encyclopedia also claims that an effective treatment for a sore throat is bacon or pork, “tied on (the throat) with a dry stocking,” and treating inflamed eyes with raw meat (“bind on and leave overnight”).

I don’t recall hearing about odd treatments like this when I was growing up, but some hints in the encyclopedia for treating minor ailments seem familiar — blowing tobacco smoke in an ear when it’s aching, for example, is one treatment I saw being used.

Other first aid suggestions found in the old book truly seem strange — wrapping minor cuts with paper and a mixture of flour and salt, treating someone struck by lightning by immersing them in running water, making poultices for chest colds out of a mixture of “common soap and sugar,” and making poultices by mixing bread, flour, mustard and vinegar.

On the positive side, the encyclopedia mentions a common kitchen ingredient that’s noted today for having dozens of effective uses. Baking soda is touted in the book as a treatment for burns, when made into a paste by combining it with flour and fat or oil. Baking soda is also recommended for scalds, to relieve poison ivy and combining baking soda with water to ease sore and blistered feet.