Being sick in the 1970s


I've just gone out to get some lucozade for the Prof
only to be disappointed not to find it presented 
in it's traditional glass bottle with the yellow cellophane

Memories of  my childhood sickness'
Include

Lucozade ( which was rationed)
Vicks rubbed on  my chest,
A washing up bowl complete with a splash of dettol  left by the bed,
Lying on the couch under an eiderdown watching schools programmes
( no proper tv was shown during the day)
Dry toast and clear soup
Sweaty pyjamas
Breathing menthol from a bowl of hot water with a towel over your head
Feeling special


BTW
Everything remains shitty here in Trelawnyd
Hey ho


65 comments:

  1. Oh all those 'old cures' for what ails you back in the day.
    And most worked too, eh John?
    Have a good night.

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  2. Exactly the same in County Antrim.

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  3. I remember vicks vaporub as a child, but none of the other things you mention.

    I am sorry the prof still has the "montezuma's revenge". :(

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  4. You just took me back in time there John........but we also had a hot water bottle now and then........and I am surprised that you as a nurse put any store in lucozade.....is it really any good??? I think we just had it as a sort of a treat....hope the prof gets better soon..x

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    1. Whenyou have the shitsa glucose drink is ideal.....only because it reminds you of your childhood and you drink it all.......its a way of getting fluids in you.
      Fluids, glucose and salts thats what you need......

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  5. I still use many of my childhood remedies.
    They work.
    Hope all well get better.

    cheers, parsnip

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    1. I just went to look up what Lucozade was. It comes up first in google search.
      It is UK's Gatorade !

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    2. Forgot, cut some fresh ginger seep in water and make a tea out of it good for tummies.
      Also see if he can eat some cooked rice it will help.

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  6. And don't forget the ' pobs ' warm milk, pieces of white bread, and a spoonful of sugar......
    I wish the professor a speedy get-well, there is only so much Bill and Ben the Flower Pot Men, a highly educated man can stand.
    ~Jo

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  7. Gingerale (non alcoholic), dry toast, and clear broth was we kids got when we had digestive issues. Easy calories, soothing liquid, and nothing challenging for stomach or bowels.

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  8. Metatone Tonic is also good as a pick-you-up after an illness and Berrocco too. Everything's shitty down your way? You ought to be in Scotland right now! It's worrying, so it is. x

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    Replies
    1. Why? With the election results you all should be happy!

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    2. 50% happy, 50% not happy.

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  9. we have bought Lucozade in the past here in Canada. Gatorade is now the go too drink or Ginger Ale (gone flat, not fizzy) for when you are sick.

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  10. We got gingerale and crackers. And when we started to feel better, we got egg-in-a-bowl which was a soft boiled egg, mixed up in a bowl with torn up bits of buttered toast.
    Highly recommend.

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    1. We had egg in a cup!
      With a bit of butter
      Xx

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    2. Anonymous2:01 am

      Oh, my Mum would give us egg-in-a-cup with a little butter! (Grew up in Boston.) Even if we were just feeling a little out-of-sorts, she'd make it for us ... as adults, too! Nice memory ...

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  11. Anonymous9:55 pm

    Lucozade hasn't tasted right for a lot of years. I used to enjoy being ill just because there would always be Lucozade at some point.

    Gatorade is gross.

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  12. Anonymous10:13 pm

    I really hope the Prof is feeling better soon. That Lucozade bottle brings back memories. Being off school also meant you got to watch The Sullivans and Crown Court, although my all time favourite was Paint along with Nancy. X

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  13. I remember having hot Ribena when I was ill as a child and red medicine that tasted of cherries and a bright orange medicine that looked like Tizer. I had glucose tablets for energy and occasionally lucozade that made me want to vomit as it always tasted of cheese to me! Thanks for triggering my memories off John! I hope that the prof feels better soon. I cry when I am ill.

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    1. OMG hot ribina......i remember that too!

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  14. I am sure that Chris is getting splendid care from his dear hubby. John a nurse's work is never done hey !

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  15. Isn't ginger ale because ginger is good for settling a stomach? but there's no real ginger in it of course. And ginger beer is probably too yeasty. A tisane of root ginger maybe. I remember vicks, ginger ale, and Crown Court too - whyever was it played during the day? And Days of Our Lives and The Young and the Restless when I was a bit older (because they only started then) Such drivel. :)

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    1. Canada Dry Ginger Ale has "real ginger" in it - it says so on my bottle! :-)

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  16. Wow, those first four in your list really bring back being ill as a child memories for me too. Lucozade for icky tummies was the only time I ever got to taste a fizzy drink in the 60s. I always seemed to crave (and get) Heinz Tomato Soup when I was ill too.

    I can vividly remember only being able to get Welsh language TV at times during the day - way back when TV was only in black and white - and, considering I grew up on t'other side of the Severn estuary, it didn't make a whole lot of sense to me. I imagine it was something to do with sharing HTV between Wales and the West Country.

    Hope that Chris's 'back door trots' (what we call the galloping squits in these 'yer parts) is soon much better.

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    1. Welsh television ! I remember that! When my girls were in school in the 70s I used to watch "Ronnie and Ryan" which was apparently hysterical. I couldn't understand a word. I have no idea now why I watched it.

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  17. Lucozade... rationed? Surely not. It never was when I was a lad and I'm older than you. I turn 60 in two minutes from now actually :)

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    1. Happy Special Birthday, Andrew MacLaren-Scott.

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  18. I've never heard of Lucozade. Possibly a distant relative of Gatorade?

    Vicks doesn't seem nearly as potent nowadays as it used to be. Remember when you opened the lid and it hit you like an atomic blast?

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  19. I'd not heard of the beverage, looked it up. Apparently it shed it's cellophane wrapping in '83. Sounds innocuous, carbonated, not much different than ginger ale or 7up.
    In my family a cold was greeted with (if accompanied by a temp >100f) with staying home, honey and lemon juice in a cup from mother, then dad would come in with a silver flask and top it off with an amber liquid that would inspire a few hours nap.

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  20. I remember Vicks, but a lot of dry toast and tea--Something that I still swear by to this day! --Hope your husband feels better soon!

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  21. *hugs* Hoping Chris heals quickly, John.

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  22. when i was a kid we used to have stewed apple and custard for pudding way too often and i was so bored i thought i hated it.
    the first time i was away from home i got food poisoning and all i wanted was stewed apple and custard :)

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  23. When I was a kid I had Gatorade...Ginger Ale, Campbells Chicken Noodle soup, Saltine crackers, Vicks Vaporub (ugh..I always hated the smell) and if I had a fever my mom would rub me down with rubbing alcohol which really helped with the muscle aches.

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  24. My mum swore by junket for anupset tummy and grated apple left to go brown before eating. Worked a treat in Australia. Hope the Prof is well again soon.

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  25. That cellophane wrapping is bizarre. I have never seen that before. I always thought of Lucozade just as a sports drink, but I suppose it would be good for hydration under any circumstances! I remember all those menthol smells too. I used to love the smell of Vicks.

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  26. I well remember that Lucozade time and, yes, in those alluring bottles you describe. When ill I used to positively yearn for it BUT it was so expensive that my mum used to limit each drink to no more than an inch at the bottom of the glass. I remember the envy felt when you'd see a TV advert for it showing a child in bed and his very middle-class, smiling mum handing him a glass FULL of the stuff. Such a luxury that only the 'rich' could afford!

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  27. So it was the same everywhere - how weird, I thought it was just mum being mean when we were given Lucozade in a teeny glass.

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  28. Yep, just the same when I was ill in the 60/70s .... with the addition of Slippery Elm Food. An absolutely foul drink, just seeing the box in the health food shop makes me heave. :-(

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  29. And Rosehip Syrup.
    My MiL drinks a raw egg in milk. I can only think it's to make her sick quicker. Certainly makes me sick just thinking of it.
    Is Chris going to thank you for making the state of his bum public?

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    1. Ah yes, Rose Hip Syrup - and don't forget that absolutely vile Liquefruta. It all comes back to me - and very nearly did back then!

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  30. Exactly !! The only thing different from my memory was Vegemite tea ( boiling water and Vegemite - a bit like Bonox ) instead of clear soup. And vegemite on the dry toast too !

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  31. Oh,... and no Lucozade , we had flat lemonade - lemonade with a teaspoon of sugar stirred into it to make it go flat !!

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  32. If I had a cough, Mum would mash butter, sugar and vinegar together and I would eat it. No idea if it worked but it tasted good!! We rarely had lucozade as it was too expensive Vick would be rubbed on the chest at night if a " stuffed up" nose was a problem. Hope Chris is feeling better this morning. X

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  33. Apart from the Vicks, you have just described my younger sick days.....eerie! Oh how I remember the washing up bowl and a splash of Dettol, happy days.

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  34. I don't even remember feeling poorly as a child, or taking to my bed. I must have erased all those unpleasant episodes from my memory. Either that or I just soldiered on in true masculine fashion, pretending I was absolutely fine.

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  35. We never had Lucozade, we were too poor. We just had water from a puddle in the yard.

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  36. Oh yes the noise of the cellophane as it was twisted off the bottle is something I clearly remember, vile stuff though!
    Sorry to hear there is no improvement, but I hope the Prof feels chipper soon.
    Lisa x

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  37. I always hated Lucozade.
    Hope the Prof is on the mend.

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  38. 'Being sick' in the 1960s used to mean throwing-up. Yes, I had the Lucozade by the side of the bed too, and Winter illness meant the ever-present smell of hot rubber, but not because of any fetish practices, I'm talking hot-water bottles.

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  39. To this day, my two grown kids consider "Dippy Eggs" (2 soft boiled eggs mixed with a piece of chopped toast) as major comfort food and always ask for them when they visit. Daughter says "Whenever we were sick you hovered over us and waited on us so much we HAD to feel better!"

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  40. Anonymous10:56 am

    The only difference here in Canada was the Lucozade....I don't believe we had that. Mom gave me flat gingerale in place of it. Otherwise, all the same. Oh, and we had mustard plasters as well.

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  41. I hope the Prof recovers soon - sounds like you're on a busman's holiday - at least he's in the best hands possible.

    Yep that's my childhood memories of sickness down to a tee; although i will add my Dad's special mix of orange squash made up with cooled boiled water and a smidge of sugar and salt added to it - my Dad had served in the Far East and was obsessed with us not becoming dehydrated.

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  42. Anonymous11:48 am

    Sorry to hear that Chris is sick, Having a nurse in the family has to help, but thank you for the Lucozade picture.

    My parents used to live in a little bungalow and moved out of it in about 1975. Seeing the bottle transported me right back to the kitchen table there, sitting in striped pyjamas, sipping Lucozade from a small glass (from the comments here almost everyone rationed it!). Since I know when they moved the memory has to be 40+ years old. It's such a clear and vivid image but without seeing that picture I couldn't have conjured it up.

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  43. yep lucozade here as well. Also rationed 2 adult fingers worth in the bottom of the glass. we had certain glasses and cups that were used by only sick people. egg and plain cooked rice to bung you up. clear chicken soup for colds. dry toast for vomiting.

    I think everyone here was the same. Get better soon Prof Chris.

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  44. Boy that brings back memories! Lucozade for me too. Sometimes we got Ribena. I remember when you were sick, especially in the hospital, you used to get grapes. I grew up around the same time as you, or a few years earlier, and when my grandparents would visit and bring a brown paper bag with oranges or apples in it, it was a great treat!

    Hope prof is getting better. I'm sure he's getting A-1 nursing!

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  45. Does anyone remember Ferguzade?I't was very similar to Lucozade but had a nicer flavour.think you could only buy it in Scotland.something I miss from my childhood is old English spangles.Wish the prof a speedy recovery.

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  46. Friars' balsam inhalations - is it 5 minutes yet Mum ? Aspro that tasted like sweeties ( can I have another Mum ?). 5 pm bath and fresh bed linen ( so good !) . Boiled egg and toast for tea. GP home visits.... yes, home visits. Poor GP - probably terrified of Mum - the ex- theatre charge sister !

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