What’s in your medicine cabinet? Do you ever wonder if guests peek in yours when they excuse themselves to the bathroom? Have YOU ever sneaked a peek in someone else’s?
I remember a Seinfeld episode when Jerry couldn’t resist looking in his new girlfriend’s medicine chest and discovered a tube of fungicide there. Even though he really liked the girl, he stopped seeing her fearing she had an STD. It turns out the medicine was for the woman’s cat.
This past week, Linda was going through the medicine chest at her late mother’s house and discovered a couple of old bottles; one containing Witch Hazel and the other Hydrogen Peroxide..
These were apparently staples in most American households. Hydrogen Peroxide was used for everything from mouthwash to a disinfectant for cleaning. Witch Hazel is for treating skin ailments, from acne to razor burn. It’s also supposedly good for bruises, sores and swelling. I just remember the distinct and not totally unpleasant aroma coming from the faces of men after a close shave before church.
Someone this week also brought up how everyone used to have a little bottle of Mercurochrome in their medicine chest. I know we certainly did when I was a child.
It was also a topical antiseptic for use on cuts, scrapes and minor burns. So how was it different from Witch Hazel and Hydrogen Peroxide? Well, it didn’t sting when mom used that little glass wand to daub the reddish liquid on your injury. It turns out that Mercurochrome fell out of favor some years ago after the FDA raised questions about its effectiveness.
I got to thinking about the stuff we had in the medicine cabinet when I was growing up and suddenly, images stored in the back of my memory banks rushed into view. Thanks to Google, I’m able to give you a glimpse inside the Lund bathroom in the fifties and early sixties. Wait, that doesn’t sound right. Oh well, I’ll bet lots of these items look familiar to you too. Below is what our cabinet looked like:
It came from the factory with flourecent tubes on each side but they were pretty expensive to replace. So when we had a burnout..mom would just use a regular 60 watt bulb.
Dad used this old razor for a time with a shaving mug, brush and soap.
Dad also used his Sunbeam Shavemaster but it wasn't until he got a Norelco that he went totally electric.
Perhaps constant exposure to this Norelco TV commercial during the Christmas season was the reason. It showed old St. Nick gliding over the snow atop a Norelco razor with its three "floating heads." Odd that the bearded Santa would be the spokesman for electric shavers.
This was dad's after shave of choice. I still like the smell. My brothers and I were and are all pretty fair skinned and really didn't require regular shaving until long after we'd left home.
We all had big piles of hair, though and went through gallons of this stuff.
When the wet head look was dead, I switched to this stuff.
Once we saw that Crest had "flouristan" our family was sold.
We boys also went through plenty of this stuff. I think it was more effective at hiding zits than getting rid of them.
Mom thought gargling this awful tasting stuff was just the ticket for sore throats and bad breath. We eventually talked her into buying Scope.
Certainly no medicine cabinet then or now would be complete with out the trusty bottle of Vicks Vapo Rub. Magic stuff.
There was usually just one bottle of shampoo for all of us. Maybe it was best at cleaning all that Brylcreem out of our hair.
There was also a jar of this in our cabinet. I just assumed it was only used for chapped lips. But I guess it had other applications.
A Sunday morning ritual; swabbing our shoes with this stuff. I don't think it was leather's best friend but did "kote" those scuffs.
These probably wern't in our medicine cabinet but there was always a bottle of it in the house and it always required removing that scab of dried glue from the rubber applicator tip before use.
Did you ever wonder what became of Absorbine Senior?
We had a bottle of Bayer in the medicine chest but there was always a tin of tablets in there too..I suppose for when we traveled.
These were both in there at times. I remember insisting we get the Curad colored ones.
Well, that’s most of what I remember.
I could have snapped a photo so you could see inside Linda and my medicine cabinet..but she’d kill me if I did. I guess you’ll just have to come over for a visit and sneak a peek for yourself.
