A colt’s tongue cooked in cast iron to cure epilepsy; a potato carried in a pocket to ward off rheumatism. Lidy Strong is full of what people in the Ozark hills call “granny cures.” Which one did you find the most interesting or surprising? Can you share one from your own culture or upbringing?
I love granny cures! As a beekeeper I believe that a spoonful of honey either on the outside or inside can cure a great many things! I also believe that pressing an X with your fingernail on a mosquito bite stops the itch.
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I primarily grew up in the South, and therefore I not only heard these sayings but believed them. The one that I find myself saying concerns colds. Colds are 3 days coming, 3 days staying and 3 days going. I found myself saying it to my daughter. I think moms say it to have their child stop asking how long they will have a cold!
I live in the south and over the years have heard a lot of 'granny cures’. My sister in law still uses something called red oil to take care of everything from poison ivy to sore muscles.
A granny cure handed down from my Cajun grandmother: a scant teaspoon of baking soda in a cup of water or beverage every few days keeps your system in balance; claims the girls rarely had UTI’s.
I have lived all my life in the Ozarks and have grown up with a lot of these “granny Cures”…the one I think about the most was learning that when my dad, who was born in 1928 and had asthma, was a little boy, his mom and dad cut a lock of his hair and put it in the crook of a tree with the thought that when the tree grew around the lock of hair, his asthma would be cured. I don’t believe it worked!
My mom also put bleach on everything from mosquito bites to poison ivy when I was young, I remember her blowing on it to make it quit burning so much!
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Mom treated our sore throats with a spoonful of honey mixed with baking soda.
My grandpa’s recipe was better, @NanK - honey in a shot of whiskey. (Yes, my family had, uh, issues…) Gramps was only allowed to babysit on is own once…
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Growing up in South African Afrikaaner culture, there was always “granny cures”, or “boererate” (farmer’s advice). Some of these I grew up with were drinking Rooibos tea for a cold , onion soup for coughs, diluted apple cider vinegar for acne etc. My mom still will tell me to do some of these even know with her grandbabies.
I grew up in New England and my grandmother had some “granny cures” she passed on to us. A slice of cold bacon on a scrape or minor cut will draw any germs out so it won’t get infected. If you stew the first dandelion greens and eat them it’s a spring tonic that clears out any leftover winter germs.
White Oak for stomach problem, who would have thought bark from a tree would helpful. My grandmother strongly thought that any surgeries in summer should not happen since summer was usually hot and humid. This included tooth extractions and piercing of ears for earrings.
I never heard them called “granny cures” before this, but my mom had several of them from growing up with limited money and resources. But my favorite was from a childhood friend whose mom had a special homemade cough syrup that would help with sleep and reducing coughs. It was only years later that I found out it was moonshine that her father and grandfather before that made in their basement. Yikes of course you would sleep!
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