Aunt Dollie's Remedies and Tips: 175 Years of Home Remedies

By Clementine Holmes Bass

Long before the arrival of the twenty-four-hour pharmacy, folk healers took care of aches, pains, and sniffles with home-grown remedies. Hidden in their kitchens, they had their own bag of tricks used for centuries to treat what ailed them. Growing up, Clementine Holmes Bass learned about many of these home cures from he

• Language: English
• Publisher: Bookside Press
• Release date: Jan 19, 2023
• ISBN: 9781778830105

Clementine Holmes Bass

Clementine Holmes Bass served as a school administrator for thirty-four years, dedicating her life to nurturing and encouraging children to get an education and contribute to society. Originally from Rison, Arkansas, she attended the University of Arkansas at Pine Bluff.

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Contents

Preface

The Early Years

Taking Care of the Teeth

Whiter Teeth in the Twenty-First Century

Sip Arthritis Away

Pick-Me-Upper

Liniment for Arthritis

Taking Care of Babies and Children

Old-Time Fable, but It Works!

Tiny Babies

Diaper Rash

Bed-Wetting

Teething

Century-Old Cure for Fever

Curing Colic

Head Lice and Red Bugs (Chiggers)

Tapeworms

175 Years of Home Remedies

Pellagra

Asthma

Coughs

Coughs and Sore Throats

Croup

Laryngitis

Tonsillitis

Colds and Congestion

Sore Throat

Diverticulitis

Bleeding

The Eyes

Earache

Stomach Spasms

Hiccups

Scalp

Boils

Warts

Headache

Fish Bone Stuck in the Throat

Heartburn

Monthly Period Pain

Sunburn

Nosebleed

Leg Ache

Chapped Skin

Upset Stomach

Diarrhea

Measles

Bruises

Insect Stings

Swelling and Sprain

Bronchitis

Springtime Tonic

Pains

Lullaby Pill

Itch

Sores

Painkiller

Sores, Boils, Carbuncle, and Staph Infection

Sore with Fever and Infection

Bee Sting or Stepping on a Rusted Nail

Snake Bites

Moles That Bear Watching

Brown Spots on Hands and Face

To Harden Soft Nails

Foot Perspiration and Odor

Menstrual Cramps

One-Step Home Remedies

Century-Old Household and Garden Tips

Planting Time

In the Kitchen

Wash Day

Household Aids

The End

This book is dedicated to the second generation of Ed and Rosie Holmes.

Preface

My father would drive down an old, rocky road and then down a trail surrounded by trees and thickets to a gate in an old wooden fence. Beyond the fence was the small white house where Aunt Dollie lived. Aunt Dollie always seemed to be happy; she always had a dip of snuff and a wide grin. I loved listening to her talk. Her house always had an aroma of something in the oven—baked sweet potatoes, cornbread, cookies, or a cake. I recall being congested with a very bad cold. Aunt Dollie had the cure: cow chip tea. Following her directions, my mother started to boil the ingredients. The aroma was so pungent it made me sick, so I went to bed and pretended to be asleep. Nevertheless, I was soon called to the kitchen and instructed to drink the concoction. I cried, but it did not matter. Aunt Dollie told me to hold my nose and drink, so I did. I must say that I felt better almost immediately. This was one of many times Aunt Dollie cured my ills. She said that it did not make sense to buy something when she knew a remedy she could make herself. After finishing high school, I attended the University of Arkansas at Pine Bluff, which was thirty miles from Rison, where Aunt Dollie lived. I relied on Aunt Dollie to help my college friends and me with our ailments, which was invaluable to us. After college, I received a master’s degree and an administrative certification. I taught kindergarten for sixteen years prior to assuming the duties of a public school administrator for fifteen years. Aunt Dollie was so proud of my accomplishments, and she often offered advice, which she called common sense, during my tenure in education. She passed away at eighty-five years of age; however, her remedies, advice, and love are still alive.

The Early Years

I never missed an opportunity to go to Aunt Dollie’s house, knowing there would be something good to eat and an unbelievable story to hear. A dirt road off the old highway in Cleveland County, Arkansas, led to my father’s family’s modest white framed house nestled in the woods. A lazy, sleeping dog would be resting in the yard. Every time my father said, I’m going down to the house, I would stop what I was doing and ask to go with him. My fraternal ancestors were Choctaw Indians, and they had lived on the land. Aunt Dollie recalled that my great-grandmother lived in something like a wigwam in the woods. My grandmother would visit her mother with her children in tow, all of whom were afraid of their grandmother. She said she was a really small woman with long, white braids and her eyes were like two black holes in her