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| George Buster Singleton |
(For decades, local historian and paranormal investigator
George “Buster” Singleton published a weekly newspaper column called “Somewhere
in Time.” The column below, which was titled “Foul-smelling, nasty-tasting
tonics made good home remedies” was originally published in the April 21, 1994 edition
of The Monroe Journal in Monroeville, Ala.)
However you think about it, we are living in a totally
changed world.
There was a time when the coming of spring meant a time of
being brought into the kitchen that sat behind the house and administered doses
of the usual spring tonic. A child of today knows absolutely nothing about the
spring tonics and having your system cleaned out in preparation for the coming
summer months.
They would look at you in total disbelief if you were to
mention about a dose of red oak bark tea to ward off chills and fever in the
summer months ahead. Probably, they would think you crazy if you suggested that
they drink a glass of warm sassafras tea each day for the next few days to
condition your system for the many meals of green vegetables ahead.
What happened to the doses of quinine that were a must in
the early spring? This dreadful-tasting stuff was supposed to be a sure remedy
for chills and fever and the telltale signs of malaria that rode the warm winds
of the coming spring.
Nasty-tasting tonic
A nasty-tasting dose of chill tonic was in order each night
just before bed time. This, too, was to ward off malaria. A new bottle of chill
tonic had been purchased earlier during the month of March from the Raleigh man
or the Watkins salesman, so that there would be no danger of running out during
the month of April.
Another item purchased from the Raleigh or Watkins salesman
was a large tin box of ugly black salve. This salve was a known cure for
anything that ailed you – a stumped toe, a mashed finger, an insect bite, or
even a knot on the head. This evil-smelling salve was the remedy for them all.
Along with this salve was kept a small bottle of coal oil.
The wounded toe or other ailment was always wiped clean with the coal oil
before applying the black salve.
Frequent trips were made to a nearby sulfur well, and
containers were filled with the bad-tasting water. This was brought home and
lowered down into the well to keep cool until such time Aunt Lelia, the
home-remedy expert, thought it necessary the small children should have a
healthy drink of the foul-tasting water.
Sulfur water was good for the skin and regulated your perspiration
during the hot summer days. By drinking this sulfur water, you would not get
too hot and faint from exposure to the sun’s rays.
Pod of boiled okra
In the event you had to take a pill or a capsule of some
kind of store-bought medicine, a small pod of boiled okra was helpful in
getting the medicine down. The pill or capsule would be placed in the pod of
boiled okra; the slick pod of okra would slip down your throat with little or
no effort. An early spring planted okra patch was almost a necessity in a
country family that had small children.
The boiled okra not only helped in the swallowing of the
pills or capsules, but it, too, was supposed to be good for the system. A small
child, when cutting teeth, always had to wear a nutmeg fastened on a string
around his neck. This kept the baby’s gums from being sore, and the new teeth
would break through their gums with little or no pain.
I never could see just how this could help in the growing of
teeth, but no one dared question Aunt Lelia’s home remedies or her methods of
doctoring.
Between the evil-smelling black salve and an okra bloom,
boils were almost eliminated; that is, most times. I never will forget this
friend of mine who came to play one day. On the top of his head, he had a
large, swollen, red boil. His mother had shaved the hair from around the boil
and had greased the boil quite well with the ugly black salve. Then she had
placed a large okra bloom atop the swollen boil.
Head shaved
My friend was an unusual sight with his head shaved around
the top and that large okra bloom turned down over the boil right in the middle
of his head. To hold the bloom in place, four short pieces of tape were stuck
to the bald spot on his head.
I almost got a spanking for laughing at my friend’s head. I
thought that this was one of the funniest sights that I had ever seen.
Bracelets made of copper wire were used by the older folks
for the relief of rheumatism or arthritis. If this ailment was only in the
finger, a copper ring would be worn on the ailing finger. If it was in the hand
or arm, a copper bracelet was worn around the wrist. There are those even today
who say that this home remedy works. Once in a great while, I spot a copper
bracelet being worn by one who suffers from the above ailments.
And then, there was the blackberry wine cure for almost any
kind of ailment. Once or twice a week, the small kids were lined up and each
was given a couple of large spoonfuls of blackberry wine. This kept their
systems in order and was supposed to be good for blood pressure and the
clearness of vision. This was probably the only home remedy that I didn’t dread
to have to take. Since I was Aunt Lelia’s favorite, many times I was slipped an
extra spoonful of the wonderful-tasting liquid. And, when no wine was
available, blackberry juice was substituted.
Faded from scene
Many of the old home remedies have long since faded from the
scene. With the passing of the old herb doctors, many of the so-called country
cures have been forgotten.
In our modern world of computers and our desire for
perfection, our way of life has changed. Home remedies that once served the
needs of the country folk are unheard of today.
Don’t misunderstand me; modern medicine has its place in our
society. But the family and community togetherness that once abounded when the
home remedies were applied to the youth of the farm communities is gone
forever.
Can we say that our society has advanced with all this
technology that we have acquired? I think not; there was once love and concern
four our neighbor. The youth of a community once would band together to assist
the elderly in their hour of need, but this has faded. Crime and disease now
flow across the land. The winds of tomorrow are not blowing at all in our
favor.
(Singleton, the author
of the 1991 book “Of Foxfire and Phantom Soldiers,” passed away at the age of
79 on July 19, 2007. A longtime resident of Monroeville, he was born on Dec.
14, 1927 in Marengo County, graduated from Sweet Water High School, served in
the Korean War, moved to Monroe County in 1961 and served as the administrator
of the Monroeville National Guard unit from 1964 to 1987. For years,
Singleton’s column “Somewhere in Time” appeared in The Monroe Journal, and he
wrote a lengthy series of articles about Monroe County that appeared in Alabama
Life magazine. He is buried in Pineville Cemetery in Monroeville. The column
above and all of Singleton’s other columns are available to the public through
the microfilm records at the Monroe County Public Library in Monroeville.
Singleton’s columns are presented here each week for research and scholarship
purposes and as part of an effort to keep his work and memory alive.)
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