Childhood & Sentimental memories

Molly41

Ida_Notion wrote: »

I'm probably too young to remember Welfare Orange Juice (at 46 I don't get to say that kind of thing as much anymore!), but I am not without memories of the things we were given to keep us healthy as kids, which mostly tasted like they were designed to do us in instead. Worst of all were Fenning's Fever Cure and Scott's Emulsion. These were given to us as a prevention rather than a cure, and one of them (Fenning's Fever Cure, I think) tasted so foul that those who survived a dose were given a sweet straight after. Extreme indeed in a household so skint that it almost never saw sweets.

Fast-forward a couple of years to the mid seventies, and my parents had found a health food shop somewhere. It's no exaggeration to say that my mum seemed to be dusting Paprika and Cayenne pepper on everything, but this was the least of our worries compared to the new daily doses. The spoonful of Blackstrap Molasses wasn't too bad, but the Cider Vinegar was so revolting that in the end we developed a routine where one of us would distract the parent 'cruel' enough to give it to us while another would tip it into a houseplant or open the bedroom window and pour it slowly down the wall. When they eventually stopped giving us it a few months later I suspect it was because funds were being diverted into replacing dead houseplants.

Oh, the guilt...

Im 43 and I got the clinic orange juice!

Ida_Notion

Molly41 wrote: »

Im 43 and I got the clinic orange juice!

Great. Fennings Fever Cure sufferance and clinic orange juice deprivation!

JayJay14

When I wasn't well my Mum was a big fan of dosing me with Indian Brandee diluted in hot water - it came in a little medicine type bottle and I remember still being able to buy it in a local supermarket about 30 years ago.

I do remember my Aunt used to keep a huge jar of malt extract on the dressing table in my young cousins room - she dunked their dummies in it at bed time:eek:

Swan_2

Molly41 wrote: »

Im 43 and I got the clinic orange juice!

my oldest boy is 38 & I remember getting the concentrated orange for him from the baby clinic, it came in little squat brown bottles, he hated it so I used to drink it

they tried to give me National Dried Millk for him, but I wasn't having any of that

tanith

I remember it well , I used to babysit my sisters children and I would steal their orange juice... This the bottle I remember

http://www.1900s.org.uk/1940s-edgware-health.htm

Ida_Notion

I was only talking to my kids the other day about how Lucozade used to be marketed as something that got you better if you weren't well, rather than as an energy drink geared to appeal to sporty types. I've never seen a marketing campaign for Fenning's Fever Cure that attempted to appeal to anyone, so it's clearly not possible

I'm sure all these Old Style things had their uses, and I think a lot of the things we use today had their roots in the same stuff, but I wonder at the wisdom of some of them. I have distinctly dodgy memories of the bread poultice my dad advised husband MKI to apply after a nail punctured the sole of his foot one day, and which had us waking up in a bed full of damp breadcrumbs the next morning

whitewing

Don't remember Welfare Orange. I do remember having the Birds Appeal orange powder though to mix with water.

maman

I really loved that juice (and Virol too). When my DD1 was a toddler in the early 70s I used to be able to buy a Gerber orange juice that tasted very similar. I did look in the baby food aisles recently but there doesn't seem to be anything similar on the market.

Ida_Notion

tanith wrote: »

I remember it well , I used to babysit my sisters children and I would steal their orange juice... This the bottle I remember

http://www.1900s.org.uk/1940s-edgware-health.htm

What a brilliant site - there are some fascinating glimpses into the Old Style way of life there. Thanks for the link, tanith.

Molly41

It was yummy and sticky - probably contributed to rotting the nations teeth. Having said that though I wasnt allowed sweets apart from one pack of spangles a week (which I had to suck not crunch!) so that might explain why i only had my first filling two years ago at 41:T:T:T

For pure nostalgia visit the Robert Opie collection in London. He also does a whole series of books which are fabulous x
http://www.robertopiecollection.com/