Try this 19th century folk cure if you dare, but I think I will abstain: “An excellent gargle is made of one tablespoon of cayenne pepper, a half cup of boiling vinegar, and three teaspoons of salt,” The Granville Sentinel reported on June 22, 1894. “Mix well together, and when settled strain. Gargle the throat every half hour, or as often as relief is needed.”
In other 19th century household hints collected from Northern New York historic newspapers:
“A bunch of sweet peas in each room, renewed each day, will kill every fly in the house. They will stop to suck the … sweet and to pale over dead. They alight with their usual buzz, stop momentarily, quiver in the legs, flap their wings weakly several times, and give up the ghost.” – The Granville Sentinel, July 27, 1894.
“A woolen rag saturated with boiled linseed oil is recommended for removing scratches from a highly polished surface, which may afterward be varnished with shellack dissolved in alcohol.” – The Morning Star of Glens Falls, July 17, 1894.
“When you go to camp in the woods, you can rid yourself of mosquitoes and black flies by spreading over your face a mixture of 2 ounces of castor oil and an ounce of penny royal, boiled together over a slow fire. A mixture like that ought to keep the rattlesnakes off.” – The Morning Star, Aug. 13, 1894.
“Ripe tomatoes will will remove stains from white cloth and also from hands.” – The Granville Sentinel, April 20, 1894.
“The odor of onions left on the hands after peeling them can be removed by running the hands with celery or mustard.” – The Granville Sentinel, April 20, 1894.
“Salt dissolved in alcohol will take out grease stains.” – The Granville Sentinel, Sept. 7, 1894.
“Banana peel will clean tan shoes as well as the regular dressings.” – The Granville Sentinel, Sept. 7, 1894.
“For a very bad burn melt beeswax and into this pour sweet oil until it makes a salve which can be readily spread with a soft brush. Keep every part covered with the salve.” – The Morning Star, Oct. 8, 1894.
“Coffee is far more delicious when made with eggs than it is without. One egg to a teacup full of ground coffee is about the right proportion for a rich extract, but less than this can be easily used by adding a teacup of water to a well-beaten egg and using enough of the mixture to thoroughly wet the coffee.” – The Morning Star, Nov. 8, 1890.
“Powdered charcoal, if laid on a burn, causes the immediate abatement of the pain. A superficial burn can thus be healed in about an hour.” – The Morning Star, Oct. 11, 1894.
“To keep irons from rusting, wrap them in common brown paper and put them away in a dry place. If they have become rusty, they may be made smooth and bright by putting some white sand on a smooth board and rubbing iron over it several times.” – The Granville Sentinel, Nov. 9, 1894.
“Brooms are bent out of shape by being allowed to rest on the floor instead of being hung up. Dipping them once or twice a week in a kettle of boiling suds is the careful housekeeper’s method of making them last twice as long as they otherwise would.” – The Granville Sentinel, Nov. 23, 1894.
“A lump of camphor in your clothes press will keep steel ornaments from tarnishing.” – The Granville Sentinel, Dec. 7, 1894.
“If you wish to rid your cellar of rats, sprinkle red pepper on the floor just around the holes. The rat comes out, cleans his feet with his tongue, and leaves your house never to return. – The Morning Star, Dec. 31, 1894.
“The finger nails can be whitened by rubbing them every night with a piece of freshly-cut lemon and washing off with warm water in the morning.” – The Morning Star, Feb. 20, 1894.
“Ten minutes sleeping before dinner is worth more than an hour after. It rests and refreshes the system for vigorous digestion. If sleep is taken before dinner, it should be in the sitting position, as the horizontal position is unfavorable to healthful digestion.” – Ticonderoga Sentinel, May 18, 1877.
“For a damp chest or cupboard, which is liable to cause mildew, place in it a saucer of quicklime, and it will not only absorb all apparent dampness, but sweeten and disinfect the place. Renew the lime once a fortnight or as often as it becomes slaked.” – The Granville Sentinel, March 8, 1895.
“It is said that lumps of gum camphor scattered inside of a piano will keep the moths from attacking the wooden lining of the hammers.” – The Granville Sentinel, April 5, 1895.
“Those who grow large watermelons state that they make the hills in winter. If the ground is not frozen too hard, a pile of fresh horse manure is placed where each hill is to be, and the manure is covered with earth. In the spring, after the weather becomes warmer, the manure is incorporated with the soil.” – The Granville Sentinel, April 12, 1895.
Illustration: A New York Times pressman checking a newspaper for defects in 1942.
