Anyone recall Vick's vapor rub?

[Ilsa]

It's still available, of course. Mom used to rub it on our backs and chests when we were kids if we had stuffy noses. I think the vapors helped. It felt warm all over. I feel close to Mom when I use it now.

[skygazer]

1. I feel close to my mom too when I use it

She used to sing while she rubbed it on -

Oh, rub a dub dub
Three men in a tub
All stuffed up with colds are they
So they rub a dub dub
With Vick's Vapo Rub
And it starts in to work right away.

I sang it to my kids, my daughter sings it to hers. Thanks for the smile. :)

[alittlelark]

2. I found a container at Dad's house this trip....

with an expiration of 1985!!! EEEEWWWW!!!!

I still love that scent - when I was super-sick in childhood, it gave me strength.

[mcscajun]

3. Yup...my sisters and I wore the Rub for winter colds and such

And we put a cotton T-shirt on after the rub was in.

[alexisfree]

6. and...

you need to sweat it!! in order to get better!!

[Zomby Woof]

4. yep!

I recall the litte blue jar and the smell is vivid even 30 years later.

Vicks also makes my favorite OTC remedy of all time: The Mighty NyQuil! :D

[amerikat]

5. Did you have a "vicks vaporizer" too?

A gadget much like a humidifier that bathed the entire room in the scent of vicks vapo-rub.

[Liberal Veteran]

7. Um....I still have one....

You can still buy them in drug stores.

And vicks vapo-rub

[amerikat]

13. But I want the 1950's version.....

you know the one that was 100% made in America? That's the one I want.

[Liberal Veteran]

22. You mean this one?

[amerikat]

30. smaller and flatter....what year is that model?

I remember it being a glass bowl with an aqua green fan unit on top. Maybe held a gallon at most. and it gurgled.

[Liberal Veteran]

32. That one above in the glass is the model my family used and believe me...

...it gurgled...it sang....it got really really really really HOT too.

That thing was scary.

[amerikat]

16. from what I understand it is also effective at

Curing athlete's foot . I also see it in movies.....cops and morgue workers use it( swab it under the nose) to fend off the smell of dead bodies.

[China_cat]

20. We also use it with male show dogs

when there's a bitch in heat and no breeding planned. Or when a show competitor is tacky enough to try showing a bitch in heat in order to throw the dogs off their stride.

[amerikat]

27. same thing I guess.....it fools the sense of smell

[Ilsa]

12. Yeah, I had asthma bad as a kid.

Still get it some. I have a cool vaporizer and a hot steam one that you can put a few drops of vapor oil into a reservoir.

Christmas Eve night, we had to stay over at my mother-in-law's because it was snowing pretty hard and there was ice on the bridges, etc and in south Tx, we aren't prepared for that. ANyway, she has cats, which I'm allergic to, and the electricity went out and the house got very cold. I started wheezing bad enough that my husband woke up. I could have used the vaporizer right then. I tried looking forward to hot coffee, because the heat and the caffiene would both help to expand my bronchioles, but with no electricity, we wouldn't have heat or water (electricity is needed for the pump for the well).

[yorkiemommie1]

18. hope you're feeling better!

my daughter and i have asthma. horrid.

[MidwestMomma]

8. Ahhhh Vicks!

My mom used to rub it on our chests and then put a heated dish towel on top. That's was so soothing. She would heat the dish towel by putting it on top of the lamp's lightbulb. How crazy is that?

[amerikat]

15. She was practical that's all

An early adapter to energy conservation.

[DBoon]

9. Wasn't it a big hit at "raves" a few years ago?

Something about that cool refreshing menthol and the buzz from ecsatsy?

[jonnyblitz]

33. yup!

:crazy:

[jeff30997]

10. Using it right now.

I have a nasty cold.

[Jackpine Radical]

29. I've been dosed up with Vicks all day too.

Got some kinda bronchial crud that I hope isn't the flu.

I suppose the menthol raises hell with the homeopathics I'm also trying to use, though.

And yup--all kinds of memories from childhood.

My mother had a sort of cream-colored ceramic vaporizer that she used. It was electric & sort of looked like a ceramic coffee pot.

[MissBrooks]

11. You should cal her and tell her.

Moms always like to hear that stuff.

[Ilsa]

14. She's gone. Four years ago.

But I told her I was using it years ago when I lived in Dallas and had more frequent asthma attacks. I hope she knows I'm using it on my kids.

[MissBrooks]

21. I'm sorry.

[Ilsa]

23. Thanks. The first three years were really hard.

It gets a little better after that, but holidays are never the same. After she died, right before Christmas I picked up the phone to ask her a minor question about making a cherry pie. When the kids would do something special, I really missed calling her to tell her about it.

[MissBrooks]

28. I could imagine.

I know what you mean... wanting to pick up the phone and call someone who isn't there anymore.

Very sad.

[yorkiemommie1]

17. my daddy used to rub it on our chests

and cover w/ a cloth. i still have a jar.

[Generic Other]

19. My mother used to gag me with it. "Say ah...."

She swore by it. It tastes bad and was always clearly labelled FOR EXTERNAL USE ONLY.

Anyone else with crazy witch doctors in the family?

[cmkramer]

31. I thought we were the only ones!

My parents used to rub it on our chests and then give us a tiny amount to eat. I liked the taste myself.

[BrklynLiberal]

24. Of course!!! I still use it when I have a cold!!!!

Put it just under my nose..helps keep my nose clear.

[nicolemrw]

25. mmm... vicks vapo-rub

the smell of childhood.

anyone remember the vicks inhaler? that you sniffed to help clear your nose when you had a cold?

[Ilsa]

26. Yep. Used that also. My Mom thought it

was better than sliced bread when they came out with those sticks.

[frogbison]

34. Toenail infections

Put regularly on affected toenails, Vicks will, in time, cure the infection. Just remember, it took a long time to develop and will take a long time to fix.

[Zomby Woof]

35. Vick's Vapo-Rub had a RECALL??

Did someone tamper with it???

(This is how misinformation spreads on DU) :evilgrin:

[cestpaspossible]

36. That used to be one of my favorite parts of being sick

[DemBones DemBones]

37. What about orange-flavored St. Joseph's Baby Aspirin?

I always loved that stuff, but used it only as directed. One of my younger brothers ate a whole bottle of it and had his stomach pumped.

[tridim]

38. Baby Aspirin, Flintstones Vitamins and Vicks Vapo Rub

Although I admit I've never tried the rub, I know what it smells like though. I kind of want to buy some tomorrow to help ease these final days of a nasty two-week long chest cold. I'm curious.

Edit: I recently found a chewable adult vitamin that I really like. Nature Made orange flavored. They taste like sweet tarts. I got them because I hate swallowing those gigantic vitamins.