April 15, 2020
Another story from my sister Nan. She is a great story teller!
I’ll bet many of you remember being the “victim” of one of your Mom’s home remedies. If you do, please write up the story and share it.
If interested in the history of mustard plasters, check out https://tipnut.com/mustard-plaster/
Dan
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Mustard Plasters
When we were kids, mustard plasters were in the arsenal of tools that my Mother used to treat a cough and congestion. I was a sickly child, caught every cold out there, then it usually morphed into strep. So Mom would try to prevent the simple cold from turning worse. With a cold, out came the mustard plaster.
A mustard plaster starts with a strip of flannel, usually cut from a pair of my Dad’s pajamas, that had been relegated to the “rag bag.” Make a paste of water and dry mustard powder, spread it on the flannel, folding it into a packet. This is then placed on the victim’s chest. It smells terrible, l hate all condiment mustards except French’ s yellow mustard.
The plaster is put on your chest while you are laying down, right under your nose. It would start to feel very warm and was left on for a certain amount of time. This was supposed to break up the congestion.
Once she got busy and forgot me and the plaster blistered my chest. I always said she killed my boobs even before they started to grow.
Submitted by Nancy Hyde Seyfried