Whiskey for a cold

In a book on local folklore I got at the library it said that farmers drank whiskey for faster recovery from colds and the flu and such, and my mother said all the farmers she knew did just that, when they got sick they'd drink whiskey and be up and about again in no time. After this last cold I'm seriously considering getting a little bottle to put away for medicinal purposes, but has anybody here tried it and can say for sure if it works or not?

Well whiskey was at one time, a cure all, wasn't it? My guess is that it worked because it knocked them out, affording them some good rest. But that is just my speculation...I don't know if there are some healing properties to it or not, though I think not.

When my son was born, I asked the nurse what they did before modern medicine for babies that had to be born c-section. She said, "They were born c-section, and the moms had whiskey to dull the pain." Yikes...can't even imagine that if true.

I remember in one of the Delany Sisters' books they talked about when babies were born in the late 1800s about all their father could do was go and get a beer for their mother, aside from that there wasn't much for fathers to help out during the labor to the birth.

Off the subject, but isn't it crazy to think that not that many years ago, dads were not even present in the delivery rooms? That is so hard to think about now, when dads are right there, many times, filming and/or being supportive for mom-to-be.

Kind of funny, when I was being induced, a nurse pulled my son's father to the doorway, and told him, "You need to tell he you are proud of her and she's doing a good job." He walked right to me and said, "I am proud of you. You are doing a good job." Oh, goodness, it was so annoying!

I guess it depends on the father. When my mother was in labor with my middle sister, her second husband passed out so he was of no help so he shouldn't have even bothered being in the delivery room.


I do find it odd though that they didn't use to allow ANYBODY in the room, why? Especially when they were so limited in their knowledge about everything else. It's only been in relatively recent times that doctors even realized the importance of washing their hands before surgery so why couldn't fathers be in the delivery room when they weren't even concerned about germs?

Good point....I wonder why they didn't allow more folks? Now, I have seen that it totally depends on the doctor. My good friend could only have two plus dad. My son's paternal cousin was born, and she could have as many as she wanted, and I was in there, and she did have quite the group.

But, that was a private hospital that seems very awesome. My son was in there for nine days, and they even let me take our dog in. And we had so many visitors when he was still in intensive care, that I was embarassed, but they seemed to like seeing all the people there. They embrace the idea that friends/family/pets help. I think that is pretty cool.

Sounds like a good hospital to be in instead of the general cold harsh sterile environments where the doctors who are paid to treat you act like you're an inconvenience to them because you get sick.

I do adore that they have such an open door policy with visitors, including pets. I think it is just so cool. They have a huge pet visitor volunteer program as well, so that everyone gets pet visitors. We didn't get to see it, but a volunteer is even allowed to bring in a small donkey to the peds unit. We did get to meet the owner of the donkey, but that day she just brought in cats.

A good hot tottie might work. But a cold pretty much needs to run its course. If you want to get twisted in the process......by all means, rock out.