This-n-that

Who is this?

I found this in a cigar box, in

Evalyn's trunk. The loops are

for small fingers and made of

rawhide. The spike is 5" long, iron, sharp at one end and hollow through the center with a few rough holes punched through.

Self defense?

Real mean ice pick?

Rambo-style can opener?

What is THAT!?

and . . .

I could use some help here. I am hoping that maybe one of you might know something about the images on the right. Just click on each to get an enlarged view of the image.

I have no information on these

folk. I can guess that this man is

most likely widowed, (with no

wife apparent) and that these are his children. That sort of grouping should stand out. I will keep my eyes open.

Good Ole Family Remedies

If anyone out there has any home remedies to share I would love to post them up here.

Teething babies;

I was told to rub a little flavored brandy on the gums of a teething child. Now while that may seem like encouraging substance abuse to some, it really is not that bad of an idea. The alcohol disinfects any opening of the gums to allow for new teeth and while it is a tiny amount, it can help to calm the pain a bit and the baby.

Butter on burns;

While that was pretty common procedure when dealing with a burn back then it is a wholly bad idea nowadays. Butter actually encases the heat from the burn, keeping it close to the dermis, continuing the burn. Best thing for a 1st degree burn, cold running water.

Tooth removal;

I think we have all had helping yanking a close-to-come-loose tooth. The most popular method when I was young was to tie a string around the tooth and the other end to a door knob. One merely slams the door shut and in theory the tooth pops right out. However 75% of the time it usually yeilded a bump on the head, as the whole person gets pulled instead of the tooth.

Bee stings;

This is almost painful to even talk about but my sister was accidentally pushed into a nest of stinging bees while picking strawberries. This was in an effort to save her from one or two bees flying near her. (shiver). Beer and dirt to make mud applied to the sting, if you can count them all, is the best course. The beer disinfects the sting while the mud draws out the toxins as it dries.

Abscessed tooth or gum;

This kind of works on the same theory as the beer and mud treatment. Wet a teabag and squeeze it out. Place the teabag against the swollen gum and the tea will draw out the infection. Do not swallow the tea...it is pretty yucky and there may be infection in it, so spit it out. Some may find this to be a great photo op, beware. Apparently, few things are as funny as sitting around with a teabag label hanging out of your mouth. Don't ask!