Ladies’ Indispensable Assistant
I recently came across a book that is amusing, interesting, and informative all at the same time. Last year my wife and I arrived early at a local charity dinner theater. The hostess directed us to a waiting area with a couch and a coffee table with a few books on it. My wife picked up a small black bound book and began flipping through the pages. It took only a page or two for her to realize that this was a find. The book she picked up was a reprint of the Ladies’ Indispensable Assistant, Being a Companion for the Sister, Mother and Wife, originally published in 1852.
The section entitled “Family Physician” is a list of information, cures, and treatments for a plethora of sicknesses or maladies that might befall a family in the mid-1800s.
For example,
“Dropsy of the Head. Take considerable blood from the temples by leeches, give powerful cathartics, shave the head and apply to it ice in bladders, apply mustard to the feet and inside of the thighs, and make the diet light, mostly of barley. This is about all that can be done.â€
We also have decided that flannel must be a cure-all for most ailments because it says many times to clothe the child in flannel as part of the treatment.
There is also information on “Etiquette for Ladies and Gentlemen,†recipes, and other important instructions.
Though we did receive a chuckle, this book is a look back at how far medicine and home health care has come (or maybe not). Either way it is an eye opener as to the thinking and ideas in the 1800s. Reprints and be found on Amazon or eBay but there are some original copies out there if you’re into collecting antiques.
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