With Halloween coming up, it is time for us to talk about the Boogerman/Boogerwoman.

At the time I was growing up, child psychologists were unheard of. In most cases, no one even got to a doctor unless they were seriously ill. I don’t remember any “cures” dealing with behavior. These were the common cures and most could be bought at local grocery stores:

1. Babies Teething – Baby Calomel - mothers rubbed the liquid on the child’s gums to ease the discomfort of teething. For constipation, children were given baby calomel hidden in marshmallow peanuts. We now know that it contained mercury, but it was accepted as good science at the time.

2. For respiratory problems, colds, flu or pneumonia, a flannel cloth soaked in kerosene (coal oil) was placed on the chest. Later, Vicks Vapo-Rub replaced the kerosene.

3. To stop bleeding, soot was gathered from the stove pipe or from the chimney and dabbed on the wound.

4. Nausea–nibble on saltine crackers or for those who had ice, sip ice chips.

5. Chicken soup would help almost anything.

6. Boil/boils–place a thin slice of fatback on the boil to draw out the pus and bandage the boil to make the fatback stay in place.

7. Aches and Pains - Rub with camphor liniment. The recipe for camphor liniment is:
One pint moonshine and one block of camphor. The liniment is ready to use when the camphor melts.

8. Diaper Rash–corn starch or Vaseline.

9. Pneumonia–Sheep dung tea, which as I understand it contained penicillin. During the flu epidemic of 1918, farmers who walked through the animal stalls and barnyards had a better chance of survival because of their exposure to the penicillin in the animal waste.

Now, since there were no child psychologists to lend behavioral suggestions and to scare children into preventing illness and accidents, mothers often invented scare tactics to protect the young. I don’t remember my mother doing this, but here’s one story that put the fear of the Lord into some local children:

There was a small creek in the yard. The mother was afraid her young children would drown in the “milk box” inside the springhouse. Even worse, they might get bitten by a poisonous snake while wading in the creek.

So. . . she invented this awful person called “Old Soos,” who might reach out her long arms and get any children that went near the spring. I think she may have made mournful sounds for the children to hear to make it more real. The children are all now senior citizens, but the memories of this boogerwoman remain vividly alive. A question for young folks to ask your moms is, “Did “Old Soos” ever stop by your family spring?