MEDICINE CABINET

I was thinking the other day about the medicine that filled our medicine cabinet when I grew up a few years ago.  These were the staples.
 
Mercurochrome:  this was the great infection fighter.  I think it must have contained mercury from it's name.  We put this on all scrapes and cuts if we could stand the pain it caused.  Some time ago, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) removed it from the market.

Tincture of Iodine:  this is another great infection fighter.  It was so painful that it taught kids to hide their little scrapes and cuts.  I think this is still used in surgury preparation.

Hydrosol:  this was a salve.  Mom swore by it.  We put it on anything that hurt including burns. I think it morphed into hydrocortisone or the like. 

Campho-phenique:  a gel for sores that wouldn't go away. (No, I never used it)

Vicks Vapo Rub:  an aromatic gel that opened up your nasal passages, sinus and bronchial tubes.  It insured that you would have to take a bath before you went out of the house.  The odor is relentless.

We also had some brand of ear ache medicine; a small blue bottle with a dropper.  It may have been camphorated oil.  Mom heated the bottle before it was given.

When we needed a cough medicine, we went to the pharmacy and bought some Terpin Hydrate Elixer with Codiene.   You had to sign for it but it didn't require a prescription as far as I remember.  It was a lot like drinking the "white lightning" I tried in Tennessee many years ago.  I guarantee it worked.

That was about all we needed. 

:)