Hiker's first aid kit - Year 1915

Posted by: Brumfield

Hiker's first aid kit - Year 1915 - 02/05/08 04:59 PM

Here's a hiker's first aid kit list I found from the year 1915. I think you will enjoy it.

PS: I did NOT make this up. Maybe we could learn from it. Brum

Check List for First Aid
One hot-water bag, good for all pains and aches, and a comfort when one is chilly.

One package pure ginger pulverized or ground, to make hot ginger tea in case of chill, pains in the bowels, or when you have met with an accidental ducking or are wet through to the skin by rain. Never mind if the tea does burn, ginger always stings when helping one. Be a good sport, take your medicine.

One box of charcoal tablets for dyspepsia or indigestion.

One package bicarbonate of soda (baking-soda); good for burns, sprinkle well with soda, see that the burn is completely covered, then cover lightly with cloth, and do not disturb it for a long time.

One bottle of ammonia well corked. Tie the cork down firmly [95]in the bottle (Fig. 32); a flannel case or raffia covering will protect the glass from breakage. Good to smell in case of faintness, but care must be taken not to hold it too near the nose, as the ammonia might injure the delicate membranes, as would also smelling-salts. Safer to move the bottle or cloth wet with ammonia slowly back and forth near the nose. Good also for insect bites.

One roll of adhesive plaster. Cut into lengths for holding covered ointment or poultice in place, the strips criss-cross over the poultice, but are not attached, the ends only are pressed on the bare skin to which they firmly adhere.

Two rolls of 2-˝ or 3 inch wide surgeon bandages (not gauze) for general use where bandages are needed.

One small package of absorbent cotton.

Two mustard plasters, purchased at drug store; good for stomachache.

One package of powdered licorice to use as a laxative. Dissolve a little licorice in water and drink it. To keep the bowels open means to ward off a host of evils. It is even more essential that the inside of the body be kept clean than it is to have the outside clean. To this end make a practise of drinking a great deal of pure water; drink it before breakfast, between meals (not at meals), and before retiring. If you do this, you will probably not need other laxative, especially if you eat fruit either fresh or stewed. Fruit should form part of every day's fare. Keep your bowels open.

One tube of Carron oil, to use for burns or scalds.

One small bottle of camphor, for headaches.

One small bag of salt—good dissolved in water, 1 teaspoonful to 1 pint of water, for bathing tired or inflamed eyes, often effects a cure. Good for bathing affected spots of ivy poison, good for sore-throat gargle, also for nosebleed; snuff, then plug nose. Good for brushing teeth. For all these dissolve salt in water in proportion as given above.

One white muslin 24-inch triangular bandage, for arm sling or chest, jaw, and head bandage. A man's large-sized [96]white handkerchief can be used; never bind broken skin with colored cloth.

One bottle of fly dope, warranted to keep off pestiferous flies and mosquitoes. All these may be kept in one-half of a linen case of pockets, your toilet articles in the other half, and the case can be opened out and hung to the side of your tent or shelter.
________________________________________________

Anybody want to add to this? <img src="/forums/images/graemlins/grin.gif" alt="" />
Posted by: Tango61

Re: Hiker's first aid kit - Year 1915 - 02/05/08 10:34 PM

Wow Brum! This is cool stuff. I had to look some of it up.

Carron oil - A mixture comprising equal volumes of linseed oil and lime water which is used for the relief of burns. Also known as lime liniment.

Salt for poison ivy - now that's one I haven't tried!

Camphor oil for headaches - anyone tried that? How is it applied?
Here's a website all about it:
http://www.essentialoils.co.za/essential-oils/camphor.htm

pestiferous - now that's a word I haven't heard before.
bringing or bearing disease;
pernicious, evil;
informal: mischievous; troublesome or annoying.

Interesting find.

Tango
Posted by: Earthling

Re: Hiker's first aid kit - Year 1915 - 02/07/08 09:10 AM

Dang Brum! Now everyone knows what's in my first aid kit <img src="/forums/images/graemlins/crazy.gif" alt="" /> <img src="/forums/images/graemlins/grin.gif" alt="" /> Very interesting....
Posted by: StepChld

Re: Hiker's first aid kit - Year 1915 - 02/07/08 03:28 PM

Have a young colleague pregnant with her first and morning sickness has been real bad until one of our secretaries gave her an old remedy of ginger root tea. My colleague felt immediatly better even before finishing the cup...so I can see how that would help with cramps,nausea, and etc.
Also I wonder why it suggested taking both Bicarb soda and charcoal...bicarb soda will brush your teeth and also relieve an upset stomach. <img src="/forums/images/graemlins/grin.gif" alt="" />
Posted by: oldranger

Re: Hiker's first aid kit - Year 1915 - 02/07/08 06:49 PM

I wonder why aspirin isn't included in this kit. It certainly was around in 1915 and would have been good for aches and pains...
Posted by: tarbubble

Re: Hiker's first aid kit - Year 1915 - 02/07/08 07:59 PM

i despise ginger (well, it's OK cooked in certain dishes), but it is a very popular remedy for pregnancy nausea. i made myself miserable during both of my pregnancies, chewing candied ginger for days. it never worked for me, probably because i found it so vile. <img src="/forums/images/graemlins/wink.gif" alt="" />
Posted by: frenchie

Re: Hiker's first aid kit - Year 1915 - 02/08/08 01:24 AM

I had a guide showing me how to chew and keep some raw ginger between cheek and gum when I was feeling exhausted and a bit nauseus....It helped, somehow.
Posted by: Paddy_Crow

Re: Hiker's first aid kit - Year 1915 - 02/08/08 05:24 AM

I just found a recipe for ginger cookies that kicks you know what. And pumpkin pie just wouldn't be right without ginger...
Posted by: tinaanderson

Re: Hiker's first aid kit - Year 1915 - 02/08/08 07:22 AM

I think we could learn a lot from what was in this kit. I especially like the fact that ginger was included. They knew what they were doing back then. Ginger is excellent for pains in the bowels and is a real natural cure that is often forgotten about.
Posted by: Brumfield

Re: Hiker's first aid kit - Year 1915 - 02/08/08 07:40 PM

Ginger cookies and pumpkin pie! Stop that, you're making me hungry! Brum <img src="/forums/images/graemlins/grin.gif" alt="" />
Posted by: blazer209

Re: Hiker's first aid kit - Year 1915 - 02/09/08 12:04 AM

Suprised there wasn't a bone saw included.Haha.
Posted by: Brumfield

Re: Hiker's first aid kit - Year 1915 - 02/09/08 07:03 AM

Quote:
I wonder why aspirin isn't included in this kit. It certainly was around in 1915 and would have been good for aches and pains...


I think they were trying to go all natural to fit the outdoorsy appeal. They didn't mention bourbon either. <img src="/forums/images/graemlins/grin.gif" alt="" /> Brum
Posted by: Paddy_Crow

Re: Hiker's first aid kit - Year 1915 - 02/09/08 07:15 AM

Aspirin was around in 1915, but probably wasn't very widely known. The tablet form we know and love had just been developed. From "The History of Aspirin:"

By 1829, scientists discovered that it was the compound called salicin in willow plants which gave you the pain relief.

The problem was that salicylic acid was tough on stomachs and a means of 'buffering' the compound was searched for. The first person to do so was a French chemist named Charles Frederic Gerhardt. In 1853, Gerhardt neutralized salicylic acid by buffering it with sodium (sodium salicylate) and acetyl chloride, creating acetylsalicylic acid. Gerhardt's product worked but he had no desire to market it and abandoned his discovery.

In 1899, a German chemist named Felix Hoffmann, who worked for a German company called Bayer, rediscovered Gerhardt's formula. Felix Hoffmann made some of the formula and gave it to his father who was suffering from the pain of arthritis. With good results, Felix Hoffmann then convinced Bayer to market the new wonder drug. Aspirin was patented on February 27, 1900.

Aspirin was first sold as a powder. In 1915, the first Aspirin tablets were made. Interestingly, Aspirin ® and Heroin ® were once trademarks belonging to Bayer. After Germany lost World War I, Bayer was forced to give up both trademarks as part of the Treaty of Versailles in 1919.
Posted by: oldranger

Re: Hiker's first aid kit - Year 1915 - 02/09/08 09:40 AM

Interesting... Thanks very much <img src="/forums/images/graemlins/smirk.gif" alt="" />
Posted by: hootyhoo

Re: Hiker's first aid kit - Year 1915 - 02/09/08 03:11 PM

Right on. Nice find. I love the nostalgia. I was at Obed river years ago and ran into an old man, called The Preacher, that lived in an old farm house at the trail head. He had a pickup truck load of deer intails, bones, ect.. that he got at a taxidermist to feed to his dogs (it was deer season). We were having a conversation about a recent fire and he told me that back in the day the locals would all get together to put out a forest fire. Somewhere in the conversation I asked him what they did for snake bites and he told me that they carried a bottle of coal oil and would rub it into the snake bite. And that was it. He said he still used coal oil (now kerosene) if one of his dogs got snake bit.

An odd thing about that place that we always noted was that his son lived in an old farm house right across the dirt road and he always had womens dresses hanging on hangers from tree limbs in the yard. The preacher and his son both lived alone and we always figured the son was trying to attract a mate. It was spooky.
Posted by: midnightsun03

Re: Hiker's first aid kit - Year 1915 - 02/09/08 04:33 PM

Hooty... when I was a kid (mid 70's) the teachers at my school put tobacco juice on bee stings. Ewwwww... imagine what would happen now if a teacher put tobacco juice on a student???

It is a fascinating list of stuff to carry... my eyes popped out when I got to the baking soda for burns (!!!!) <img src="/forums/images/graemlins/shocked.gif" alt="" /> But the ginger and charcoal are still spot on remedies for abdominal upset.

MNS
Posted by: chaz

Re: Hiker's first aid kit - Year 1915 - 02/10/08 10:06 AM

Can you say " squeel like a pig" (banjo playing).
Posted by: chaz

Re: Hiker's first aid kit - Year 1915 - 02/10/08 10:08 AM

This reminds me to go tweek my first aid kit. Add pain killers..
Posted by: hootyhoo

Re: Hiker's first aid kit - Year 1915 - 02/10/08 11:12 AM

I got some stuff from wallyworld this morning- this post reminded me that my kit was way outdated.
Posted by: Brumfield

Re: Hiker's first aid kit - Year 1915 - 02/10/08 11:33 AM

Quote:
Right on. Nice find. I love the nostalgia. I was at Obed river years ago and ran into an old man, called The Preacher, that lived in an old farm house at the trail head. He had a pickup truck load of deer intails, bones, ect.. that he got at a taxidermist to feed to his dogs (it was deer season). We were having a conversation about a recent fire and he told me that back in the day the locals would all get together to put out a forest fire. Somewhere in the conversation I asked him what they did for snake bites and he told me that they carried a bottle of coal oil and would rub it into the snake bite. And that was it. He said he still used coal oil (now kerosene) if one of his dogs got snake bit.

An odd thing about that place that we always noted was that his son lived in an old farm house right across the dirt road and he always had womens dresses hanging on hangers from tree limbs in the yard. The preacher and his son both lived alone and we always figured the son was trying to attract a mate. It was spooky.


Now that is an interesting story. My grandmother was Chiricahua Apache and used coal oil, sulfur, gun powder, and dozens of traditional herbs and plants to heal and even prevent health problems. It's also interesting how many traditional herbs are being touted today as "new" ingredients by drug companies. I like the old ways, our ancestors didn't have the synthetics that we use and they lived to old ages.

Regarding the dresses in the tree, yes, that strikes me as kinda spooky too! It also makes me wonder who may have been buried in his back yard. If my wife passes away before me, I'll try the idea of hanging her dresses out in a tree to attract a new one. I could even make a few bucks while I was at it by adding some price tags. <img src="/forums/images/graemlins/grin.gif" alt="" />

Thanks for the great post. Brum
Posted by: Brumfield

Re: Hiker's first aid kit - Year 1915 - 02/10/08 11:45 AM

Quote:
Can you say " squeel like a pig" (banjo playing).


Stop that! I ran into some people like that once way back in the swamps near Buras, Louisiana. I was glad I was packing a Sig Sauer P232 auto-loader. They made me very nervous, and I too began recalling those dueling banjos you mentioned here. I knew there could be trouble when my dog tucked his tail, and then backed his rump up against a tree. Nough to make you duct tape your pants on. <img src="/forums/images/graemlins/crazy.gif" alt="" /> Brum
Posted by: Trailrunner

Re: Hiker's first aid kit - Year 1915 - 02/11/08 11:51 AM

I wonder what people will say 93 years from now when someone posts the contents of a first aid kit circa 2008 <img src="/forums/images/graemlins/wink.gif" alt="" />
Posted by: Brumfield

Re: Hiker's first aid kit - Year 1915 - 02/13/08 06:28 PM

Quote:
I wonder what people will say 93 years from now when someone posts the contents of a first aid kit circa 2008 <img src="/forums/images/graemlins/wink.gif" alt="" />


They will say, "It's NO wonder they're all dead!" Brum