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Patricia Kangas Ktistes's avatar

Hope Mother wasn't drinking any "Mother's Ruin" (gin), or swallowing aspirin, or smoking. In the early 20th century my grandmother said some of the old Finn ladies advised their peers to smoke a pipe in order to help them cough and thus allegedly rid themselves of excess phlegm.

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Patricia Kangas Ktistes's avatar

Maybe Mother got better because she lay down, didn't stress out, and got a good night's sleep.

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Patricia Kangas Ktistes's avatar

So the mustard plaster worked, sort-of?

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Bill Niemi's avatar

You could compare it to Bengay. It can increase blood flow where it's applied numb pain receptors, but as a treatment for gastritis I don't buy it.

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Bill Niemi's avatar

Delbert was also road agent for Davis Village around 1915.

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