Travel Guide From 1910

[Ad Orientem]

For those with an interest in history and cultural norms a comprehensive guide for travelers published by the Scientific American...
http://www.gjenvick.com/HistoricalBroch ... index.html
Quite a few photos included.

[WiseOne]

That is a wonderful piece of nostalgia.  Loved the "Sun's cholera mixture":

Tincture of capsicum 1 parti
Tincture of opium. 1 part.
Tincture rhubarb 1 part.
Spirits peppermint 1 parti
Spirits camphor 1 parti
Mix and titter, dose 15 to 30 drops.

I'm quite sure this wouldn't do anything to prevent cholera, but they may have been talking about "Montezuma's revenge".  Notice, though, the second ingredient on the list.  Just imagine, at that time you could walk into any chemists' shop in the US or Europe and pick up what is now a Class I controlled substance with no fanfare or barriers.  Amazingly, society still managed to hold itself together.  And I bet the trade was taxed at some point along the line, instead of going to support an underground economy.

[Storm]

That is a wonderful piece of nostalgia.  Loved the "Sun's cholera mixture":

Tincture of capsicum 1 parti
Tincture of opium. 1 part.
Tincture rhubarb 1 part.
Spirits peppermint 1 parti
Spirits camphor 1 parti
Mix and titter, dose 15 to 30 drops.

I'm quite sure this wouldn't do anything to prevent cholera, but they may have been talking about "Montezuma's revenge".   Notice, though, the second ingredient on the list.  Just imagine, at that time you could walk into any chemists' shop in the US or Europe and pick up what is now a Class I controlled substance with no fanfare or barriers.  Amazingly, society still managed to hold itself together.  And I bet the trade was taxed at some point along the line, instead of going to support an underground economy.

I'm not sure it would cure cholera, but you would probably be so blitzed you wouldn't care!  It is pretty amazing, however, at the time a lot of people had serious opium addictions.  Opium addiction might be very manageable if you have easy access to a safe and unadulterated supply, but interrupt your supply for a few days and watch out...  physical withdrawal symptoms is not something I have ever had to experience, nor would I want to.

[dualstow]

My ex's grandmother in Taiwan had some cough remedy with opium as a main ingredient listed on the bottle in two languages. Not a derivative. Opium. :-)

[MachineGhost]

The reliance on government checks, and a vast array of painkillers and opiates, has turned towns like Gary into modern opium dens. The painkillers OxyContin, fentanyl -- 80 times stronger than morphine -- Lortab, as well as a wide variety of anti-anxiety medications such as Xanax, are widely abused. Many top off their daily cocktail of painkillers at night with sleeping pills and muscle relaxants. And for fun, addicts, especially the young, hold “pharm parties,”? in which they combine their pills in a bowl, scoop out handfuls of medication, swallow them, and wait to feel the result.

http://tinyurl.com/c2wd7rc

[Jake]

This is awesome, thanks for the link!

"Passports are required only in Russia and Turkey." Oh how the times have changed!

[Ad Orientem]

This is awesome, thanks for the link!

"Passports are required only in Russia and Turkey." Oh how the times have changed!

I know. I was reading about traveling on ocean steamships to get to Europe and realized that this was published just two years before the Titanic disaster. The pre-World War I era was so different it is hard to imagine.



Lunch menu from the Lusitania in 1907 (2nd class!)