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Monday, July 14, 2008
Do you or do you not remember Mercurochrome and Methiolate?
When you had a bike wreck, scraped your knee and then showed your mama the damage, did you or did you not freak out when you saw her coming at you holding that bottle from the medicine cabinet with the red-stained label?
Also, while I'm thinking about it, did your bike have a banana seat and a sissy bar?
If you have no clue what I'm talking about, I assume you aren't as old as I am. I wonder how young you can be and still know about these things. You can't buy Merthiolate anymore, I think. It's been banned or something as being a hazard to your health. Hey! I got that stuff smeared on me all the time and I'm still PERFECTLY NORMAL (shut up).
I want to rub some of that stuff on my kids and watch them squirm. I want to give them the joy of walking around stained red-orange for weeks on end. My mama always said, "one day you'll be the mama and you can do (insert motherly activity)". But see....I can't. I AM the mama now, but I can't pass along the sting because I can't buy the stuff. No worries. I still have Dr. Tichenor's! My Daddy believed in that stuff and boy howdy, it made Merthiolate feel like a danged walk in the park.
I have a friend who has told her children NOT to show their grandmother any cuts, scrapes, bruises or interesting skin lesions because she doesn't want her mother putting BLEACH on them. Apparently, she believes it to be the cure all, above all. And then of course there's the father from "My Big Fat Greek Wedding" who squirted Windex on anything and everything. I haven't tried either of those things (yet).
I just think it's my turn and now all I need to do is pick my poison.
Beej
Posted at 3:39 pm by Beej
 | | | Two Dogs
July 14, 2008 07:39 PM PDT
If you want 'em to hurt, put uncut rubbing alcohol in their ears. By the capful. No, it won't do anything to 'em, but they will certainly know that you have been there.
I am glad to know that you are finally to the point of wanting to cause your kids pain. It's a turning point in the joys of parenting. Trust me, your ma wanted to hear you scream, just as I revel in Ben's cringing like a beaten puppy.
And I laugh. | |
| | | SUG
July 14, 2008 10:36 PM PDT
yes I remember it and we also had to drink "peraigoric"? that tasted like licorice in coke. IT was used for tummy aches. They really did ban it for public use. That probably explains a lot about me??? | |
| | | Herb
July 15, 2008 05:17 AM PDT
My mom used to use Hydrogen Peroxide on everything, and then my dad would put Watkins Salve and/or triple antibiotic salve on with a bandaid. My bike was cool, but my cousin added a roller skate to the back of his sissy bar so he could do wheelies and a parachute to help him brake because he rode so fast, like a drag racer, you know. | |
| | | Ute
July 15, 2008 06:26 AM PDT
yep, remember those bikes..mine had streamers on the handle bars, and those plastic clicker things you attached to the spokes..used to get them out of cornflake packets etc.. heh, brings back some memories.. =)
mercurochrome must just be an american form of child torture.. us kids used to get good ol' tea tree oil...but that used to sting like you wouldn't believe.
I recall as a kid up in Woomera, the american kids there used to get the mecurochrome treatment..they brought their own from home!!! =D
ahh, the 70s.. | |
| | | Tammy
July 15, 2008 09:52 AM PDT
Yes, yes, yes.... I do remember all those things! (Considering we're the same age, it can't be a coincidence... >.< )
I still have Mercurichrome in my cabinet at home, and you can bet my son knows what it is! ;D We've moved on to Decolorized Iodine. That works, too. You might consider that with the kiddies...
My mom had all these weird 'home remedies' when I was a kid. You can bet I didn't complain much!!! :D | |
| | | AbbyNormal
July 15, 2008 11:54 AM PDT
ACK! I remember that red-orange stuff, all over the OTHER kids and thinking how God-awful strange it looked! We never touched the stuff. My mom's Filipino - i.e. she puts Vick's VapoRub on everything from scrapes to mosquito bites. You can imagine my reluctance in clueing her into the fact that I'd "become a woman".
I miss my old high rise bike. *sniff*. By the way, Vick's is still available... just in case your kids need some. | |
| | | ollie dog
July 15, 2008 12:06 PM PDT
Miss Mattie called it Monkey Blood! It was an honor and a privilege to have it smeared on you! ... and, if it don't hurt, it ain't workin... | |
| | | Two Dogs
July 15, 2008 04:09 PM PDT
The comments wereclicking along just fine, all of us remembering those old days, then Abby had to screw it up.
And still I laughed. | |
| | | keithoe
July 16, 2008 10:42 AM PDT
They Might Be Giants has a song called "Wicked Little Critter." It's song in a Boston accent and goes:
"He's a wicked little critter with a sissy bah
and he lays a patch on the tahhh.." | |
| | | Coco
July 17, 2008 12:28 PM PDT
Mercurochrome was my grandmother's favorite. No I don't think you can buy that but they still sell iodine which would probably stain if not sting. | |
| | | Joe
July 17, 2008 03:15 PM PDT
I had that exact bike! OK, so maybe not that exact one. And maybe mine was blue instead of yellow.
And maybe I'm seriously contemplating putting rubbing alcohol in my kid's ears now out of morbid curiosity. | |
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 BeejMay 1966 (Age 42) Female Alabama
Here I am without you
Drink to all that we have lost
Mistakes we have made
Everything will change
But love remains the same
In Beej's world...
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