tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3119105822589181967.post5750533630593550183..comments2024-03-29T10:24:43.685-04:00Comments on SleuthSayers: Dying Drunk and other Victorian HabitsLeigh Lundinhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07921276795499571578noreply@blogger.comBlogger15125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3119105822589181967.post-21415944511165109802021-09-12T10:10:30.472-04:002021-09-12T10:10:30.472-04:00Oh, Elizabeth - I grew up in California in the 60s...Oh, Elizabeth - I grew up in California in the 60s - orange barrel, windowpane, Cambodian Red, Laotian Green, crystal meth, and old-fashioned junk. The pharmacopia was wide and colorfully named. But at least no one was pretending it was medicinal. Except for the shrooms.Eve Fisherhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/03015761600962360110noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3119105822589181967.post-13544514615182174792021-09-11T20:33:21.768-04:002021-09-11T20:33:21.768-04:00It could have been something else. I'm workin...It could have been something else. I'm working from memory here, but heroin chic strikes a cord. Yeahp, her husband was a piece of work.Jerry K. Sweeneyhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/10767327483158729005noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3119105822589181967.post-73697457479980004282021-09-09T22:45:06.044-04:002021-09-09T22:45:06.044-04:00Yeah, I've been around the block a few times, ...Yeah, I've been around the block a few times, Leigh. So your brother got high! The first time I dropped acid, it was in a bottle of orange juice that was being passed around. I really should have anticipated that.Elizabeth Dearbornhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14714209544959819305noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3119105822589181967.post-24531905349414022512021-09-09T21:30:59.739-04:002021-09-09T21:30:59.739-04:00I'm such an innocent babe compared to you, Eli...I'm such an innocent babe compared to you, Elizabeth!<br /><br />When my youngest brother came to visit me in NYC, I warned him about concerts in Central Park where lids passed around might have been dipped in acid. Of course he sampled every one he could.Leigh Lundinhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/07921276795499571578noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3119105822589181967.post-49241118274382976032021-09-09T19:32:24.958-04:002021-09-09T19:32:24.958-04:00About 20 years ago, a frenemy who was terminally i...About 20 years ago, a frenemy who was terminally ill & on many Rx drugs, painted some liquid morphine on a cigarette for me & I smoked it. I immediately understood why so many people like morphine so much! He also gave me a little bit of DTO, deodorized tincture of opium, mixed with water. This was like a fine cognac that sneaks up on a person.Elizabeth Dearbornhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14714209544959819305noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3119105822589181967.post-57142227878760091702021-09-09T13:40:48.610-04:002021-09-09T13:40:48.610-04:00You could still take paragoric when I was a kid. N...You could still take paragoric when I was a kid. Nasty stuff. Felt better, but it tasted like rotting wood. Guaranteed by flavor to prevent addiction. Had no idea it was an opiate.Jim Winterhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14866677233911395717noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3119105822589181967.post-15841386248706550932021-09-09T12:06:44.090-04:002021-09-09T12:06:44.090-04:00I was a merthiolate kid, too! And I HATED it. Stun...I was a merthiolate kid, too! And I HATED it. Stung like crazy. Didn't know it contained mercury. Now I get to throw some guilt my mom's way when I give her a call this evening (if you knew my mother, you'd understand that my tossing guilt of this variety her way will not faze her in the slightest!).Brian Thorntonhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14164348967846859987noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3119105822589181967.post-25637292304631082682021-09-09T11:28:21.661-04:002021-09-09T11:28:21.661-04:00Well, married to Daniel who wouldn't take a li...Well, married to Daniel who wouldn't take a little heroin? Although I'm surprised she just didn't use arsenic (sold over the counter) which made women's complexions pale and transparent as well, and belladonna, which made their irises expand to create that heavenly glazed look. Eve Fisherhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/03015761600962360110noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3119105822589181967.post-57799104443618747662021-09-09T10:17:07.022-04:002021-09-09T10:17:07.022-04:00If memory serves, Teresa Bagioli Sickles, wife of ...If memory serves, Teresa Bagioli Sickles, wife of the notorious Daniel E. Sickles, was prone to use heroin to maintain her weight and impart her complexion with an etherial glow. Indeed among young women of her 'set', the practice was dubbed heroin chic.<br /> <br />During the War of the Rebellion morphine was distributed liberally using the newly invented hypodermic needle. After the war, those left addicted were said to suffer from 'old soldier's disease. Jerry K. Sweeneyhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/10767327483158729005noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3119105822589181967.post-53393346234790436372021-09-09T09:49:23.174-04:002021-09-09T09:49:23.174-04:00Steve & Leigh, I too was bathed in mercurochro...Steve & Leigh, I too was bathed in mercurochrome as a child, mainly because I screamed less than when they used iodine.<br />Brian, as I've said before, my mother who was born in 1919 (or thereabouts) always said that the Coca-Cola that her father brought home from the drug store in a bucket as a Saturday night treat in the 1920s was the best she'd ever had. <br />Janice, the whole thing is that we really didn't get going on making drugs absolutely illegal until after the 18th Amendment. I sometimes think that the Temperance Societies were so infuriated by the repeal that they went after every other means of dulling the pain out of sheer spite.Eve Fisherhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/03015761600962360110noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3119105822589181967.post-44293371658058251742021-09-09T09:46:18.734-04:002021-09-09T09:46:18.734-04:00This comment has been removed by the author.Eve Fisherhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/03015761600962360110noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3119105822589181967.post-17911273213056436392021-09-09T08:36:41.709-04:002021-09-09T08:36:41.709-04:00Great post, Eve.
Like Leigh, I more or less grew u...Great post, Eve.<br />Like Leigh, I more or less grew up on mercurochrome, merthiolate...and paregoric. That may explain a lot. <br /><br />I'm still trying to comprehend "diet pills" made of tapeworm heads. Brrr...<br /><br />Amazing the euphemisms that we no longer understand (or may not have the sophistication to understand when we're young). One of my frequent assignments in my Honors American Lit classes was Hemingway's short story "Hills Like White Elephants," a brilliant example of euphemistic dialogue. I taught the class eight or nine years, and the class only figured out what the man and woman were arguing about once. Steve Liskowhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/07107703903536520140noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3119105822589181967.post-44927902397488999502021-09-09T07:01:40.439-04:002021-09-09T07:01:40.439-04:00A fine blog. This country also saw a big wave of a...A fine blog. This country also saw a big wave of alcoholism and drug use post Civil War, in part a consequence of the limited pain treatments available for wounded soldiers. Laudanum was still big into the modern world, witness Eugene O'Neill's Long Day's Journey into Night. The mother had been given it in childbirth.Janice Lawhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/03406971307368250281noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3119105822589181967.post-65367489799350859472021-09-09T01:44:30.221-04:002021-09-09T01:44:30.221-04:00Eve- brilliant as usual! Such a rich feast of the ...Eve- brilliant as usual! Such a rich feast of the besotted. No room for old favorites like the original recipe (the “secret formula”) for Coca(aine)-Cola. And then there are non-drug-based “curatives” such as “diet pills” that were in reality tapeworm heads (they latch on in the host’s intestine and let the digestive tract do the rest.). So not only addicted, but sometimes just outright weird.<br /><br />Kinda like human beings in every era. Thanks again, Eve. Great read!Brian Thorntonhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14164348967846859987noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3119105822589181967.post-76147530909011830312021-09-09T01:23:13.699-04:002021-09-09T01:23:13.699-04:00Emma. Bovary. Sin. Everybody dies.
Many pub patro...Emma. Bovary. Sin. Everybody dies.<br /><br />Many pub patrons must still suffer from malaria, considering the number of gin & tonic prescriptions. Hmm… that could have made a story for our anthology.<br /><br />When I was growing up as a boy of field, forest, and farm, my parents purchased merthiolate and mercurochrome by the quart. I soaked up so much mercury you don’t need a thermometer to take my temperature. And codeine… I’ve never encountered cough medicine as effective as apricot codeine.<br /><br />Eve, you opened with a right-wing takedown, but for reasons entirely different from others, I’d like to prescribe a special hospital triage in hell for Rush Limbaugh. He played a significant rôle in ensuring we can’t get decent painkillers in our nanny state of today. Thanks, Rush.<br /><br />Love the etching.Leigh Lundinhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/07921276795499571578noreply@blogger.com