All our problems are solved: post your dodgy solutions

[wefalck]

From late 1977 on for several years I was on the committee that organised the annual university ball of the ETH Zurich - a 'business' with a turnover of several million Swiss Francs and organised accordingly, but by students only. That first year I joined, the theme was 'Goldrush'. Various halls, gyms etc. were decorated in theatre-like decorations that took a good part of the winter-term to prepare and build. In one hall my colleagues put up some veritable rail-tracks and constructed a working draisine on which visitors could move forwards and backwards a few metres. Unlike the rest of the decoration, the draisine was not scrapped after the ball, but we were able to store it in our workshop for further use ... sometimes we would take it out at night for rides on the local tram network through the city after the end of service. We got stopped by police, but they couldn't say anything, as it was not a motorised vehicle and didn't need a license ... 😇

[wefalck]

On 5/27/2023 at 2:21 PM, bruce d said:

9

I am wondering, what footprints this girl tries to hide:

Photographed last Sunday in St. Pancras station, London.

 

[bruce d]

 

 

[hollowneck]

Хорошая жена,товарищ (Khoroshaya zhena, tovarishch)

Good wife, Comrade!

[bruce d]

The Boy's Own Paper, November 1881 (not too sure whether 'boys' should be given information about attaching electrical devices to noisy young siblings ...)

[Snug Harbor Johnny]

  I think there used to be cocaine drops for teething woes.

 

[Bob Fraser]

1 hour ago, Snug Harbor Johnny said:

  I think there used to be cocaine drops for teething woes.

 

Kaolin and Morphine over the counter for upset stomach. People were getting hooked on it as it was cheap until the Morphine addiction was realised and it was banned!

[Dr PR]

Someone used to sell an emulsion of radium for upset stomachs. We had an empty bottle in the department "museum" when I was an undergraduate. Unfortunately, it caused stomach cancer and certain death.

 

But I guess that did put an end to upset stomachs!

Edited July 24, 2023 by Dr PR

[Jaager]

Then there was the diet pills that contained live tape worm segments.  Well, they did work.

 

[allanyed]

14 hours ago, Bob Fraser said:

Kaolin and Morphine over the counter for upset stomach. People were getting hooked on it as it was cheap until the Morphine addiction was realised and it was banned!

And cocaine in Coca Cola..... ahhh the good ole days.  Found the following which may be made up as to quantity but funny none the less

“The first bottles of Coca-Cola from 1894 contained around 3.5 grams of cocaine, explains why our grandparents could walk to & from school, uphill, both ways, in the snow, barefoot.”

[bruce d]

14 minutes ago, allanyed said:

And cocaine in Coca Cola..... ahhh the good ole days.  Found the following which may be made up as to quantity but funny none the less

“The first bottles of Coca-Cola from 1894 contained around 3.5 grams of cocaine, explains why our grandparents could walk to & from school, uphill, both ways, in the snow, barefoot.”

To quote Monty Python, 'Ahhh, and ya tell 'em that today and they won't believe ya.'

[javajohn]

My Mother once told me she used to rub whiskey on my gums when I was teething to numb the pain. It's probably why I like a good single malt scotch.

[allanyed]

 

35 minutes ago, javajohn said:

My Mother once told me she used to rub whiskey on my gums

We did that for our boys too.  The older one asked if he had Wicky Gums when he was a baby after seeing us doing this for his younger brother.   

 

[Morgan]

On the subject of teeth, a common Victorian practice in the UK was for a brides father to pay for his daughters teeth to be extracted and replaced with dentures, even if her teeth were perfect.  This wedding gift was to save the new groom the expense of dental upkeep over her lifetime!  And if you couldn’t parcel your daughter off early it was also a perfectly acceptable 21st Birthday present! This practice continued into the 1950’s remaining particularly prevalent in Scotland.

 

As I sit here and reflect on the cost of my Scottish wife’s dental bill over the length of our marriage I can’t help but feel my father in-law in not providing this service has left me with an otherwise avoidable financial burden that could have paid for several good holidays (or more model kits & bits)!

 

Gary

Edited July 24, 2023 by Morgan

[wefalck]

I gather, the Victorian men never kissed their brides/wifes ...

[Altduck]

6 hours ago, allanyed said:

 

We did that for our boys too.  The older one asked if he had Wicky Gums when he was a baby after seeing us doing this for his younger brother.   

 

I used Gin with my daughters when they were teething.

 

[Jim Lad]

Richard, was the gin for your daughters or for you?

 

John

[Altduck]

On 7/24/2023 at 3:14 PM, Jim Lad said:

Richard, was the gin for your daughters or for you?

 

John

Yes