88 Old Wives’ Tales From The 1800s

Estimated reading time: 10 minutes

Has anyone ever dismissed a home remedy you used with the comment, “Oh, that’s just an old wives’ tale”? The phrase “old wives’ tale” is often used to describe an old cure or piece of wisdom that has been passed down through the generations. The “tales” include treatments for everything from toothaches to toddler misbehavior, and they vary widely in their accuracy.

We have the King James version of the Bible to thank for the wording of the phrase. “But refuse profane and old wives' fables, and exercise thyself rather unto godliness” is found in I Timothy 4:7 in the King James Bible, which was first published in 1611.

During the pioneer years of our nation, old wives’ tales were abundant as women passed down detailed theories on how to keep their families healthy. Some of these bits of 19th-century wisdom are backed by science and are honored today. Others merely stand as intriguing glimpses into the past.

Here is a list of some of our favorite old wives’ tales from the 1800s. We make no distinction between fact and fiction, so try them at your own risk.

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Gardening Advice

• Plant your garden rows in a straight line because God prefers things to be that way.
• Plant your rows in a North to South direction for best results. Also plant seeds in groups of three following this adage – one for the good, one for the crow, and one to grow.
• Plant crops that grow below the ground (such as carrots and potatoes) during a waning moon, and plant crops that grow above the ground (such as corn and tomatoes) during a waxing moon.
• Bury a scrap of iron along with your roses to help them be more fragrant.

Bee Sting and Bug Bite Treatments

• Use a dab of honey to treat a bee sting and a drop of vinegar for a wasp sting.
• Mold a poultice of soap, mustard, and bread to draw out the poison of a sting.
• Other poultice ingredients include mud, tobacco, dandelion, mullein, honey, and baking soda.
• Apply a damp tea bag to a bite or sting to dry the skin and draw out the poison.
• Place a slice of raw potato over the sting or bite for poison removal and pain relief. Or try a slice of raw onion in the same manner.

Lice Removal

• Apply a hair mask of mayonnaise to suffocate the lice. Then comb out the insects and their eggs.
• Wash your hair with vinegar to kill lice.

Get Rid of Warts

• Break a dandelion stem in half and apply the milky liquid inside directly to the wart.
• Rub leftover chicken bones on a wart before bed.
• Wash your hands in the early morning dew.
• Rub a dried bean on the wart. Bury the bean in the ground. In the time it takes for the bean to rot, the wart will be gone. Other similar tales describe the same process with using a piece of raw beef or bacon instead of the bean.
• Rub a penny on the wart. If you spend that penny, the wart will return. A similar version involves rubbing the wart with a white rock.

Splinter Removal

• Place a piece of bacon over the injured area overnight. Remove the bacon and splinter in the morning.
• Pack a poultice of soap and sugar on the splinter and leave it there overnight. Remove the splinter in the morning. Another version uses a poultice of Epsom salt and water.

Cold and Flu Remedies

• Drink a mixture of one tablespoon of honey, one tablespoon of lemon, and one tablespoon of whiskey.
• Sip the juice of raw onion.
• Swallow a tablespoon of honey to relieve a sore throat.
• Put a clove of garlic in both of your socks. As you walk, the garlic juice from the crushed clove will be absorbed into your skin.
• Apply a poultice of dried mustard and warm water to the chest overnight or until it dries.
• Brew tea made with three cups of water and half-cup of star anise. Simmer for 20 minutes with the lid on the kettle. Then inhale the steam before drinking the tea. Repeat up to four times a day.
• Drink raw apple cider vinegar (including the “mother”).
• Put earwax on a cold sore to help it heal faster.

Acne Treatment

• Collect the first-morning urine of a pregnant cow. Dab it on the pimples and leave it there for 15 minutes before rinsing. Repeat until pimples are gone.
• Another similar version involves rubbing a urine-soaked cloth baby diaper on the pimples.
• Put toothpaste on acne spots to help them clear up faster.

Burns and Rashes

• Soak a washcloth in vinegar and place it on the affected area for three to five minutes.
• Apply the gel from an Aloe Vera plant on the burn.
• Place the cut side of a white potato directly on the burn.
• Apply egg white to a cooking burn.
• Place a slice of tomato on the burned area.
• Soak a cloth in strong tea and apply to a burn or sunburn.
• Make a poultice of mullein leaves to soothe a burn.
• Apply yellow mustard to a burn or make a poultice of dried mustard and vinegar and leave it on overnight.

Sprains, Strains, and Bruises

• Apply witch hazel to aching muscles.
• Make a poultice of Epsom salt and water. Leave it on overnight or until it dries.
• Rub butter on bumps and bruises.
• Mix mint leaves and aspirin with rubbing alcohol and then apply this paste to sore muscles.

Cuts and Scrapes

• Let your dog lick the wound.
• Cover the wound with a spiderweb.
• Break open a puffball mushroom over the cut.
• Press Spanish moss gently into the wound to stop bleeding and promote healing.
• Use Lamb’s ear on the injured area for its antibacterial and antiseptic properties.
• To stop bleeding, press a piece of plain white bread onto the cut.
• Chew up a leaf of plantain and place this poultice on the cut.

Toothaches

• Press a whole clove of garlic against the affected gum and tooth.
• Peel and then chew the bark of a tickle tongue tree to numb the pain.

Foot Fungus

• Soak feet for in a tub of hot water that has a cup of turpentine mixed into it.
• Make a thick paste of green walnut husks and water. Paint the feet with the mixture and let it dry before rinsing.
• Place walnut leaves in your shoes.
• Soak your feet in warm water mixed with apple cider vinegar and baking soda. Let your feet air dry and then wear clean cotton socks.
• Spray feet with bleach. Leave it on for 20 minutes before rinsing.
• Urinate on your own feet. Then rinse them.

Children and Pregnancy

• Eating bananas will help you conceive a boy.
• Long labor is the sign that the baby will be a boy.
• Too many hot baths can cause infertility in men.
• Eat veggies while pregnant and your baby will like them when he/she is older.
• Heartburn during pregnancy is another sign of a baby boy.
• You can discover an unborn baby's gender by tying your ring to a string and hanging it over the pregnant woman's belly. If it swings in a circle, it's a boy. If it swings back and forth, it's a girl.
• Taking a bath while pregnant can drown the fetus.

Diaper Rash

• Apply cornstarch to the baby’s bottom.
• Brown regular flour in a pan or the oven and when it has cooled, apply it to the baby’s bottom.
• Place rolled oats in a sock and place it in a bath of warm water before bathing baby.
• Apply pure lard to baby’s bottom.

A Few Miscellaneous Tips

• An apple a day keeps the doctor away.
• Cows lie down when it's going to rain.
• Old people can predict rain by feeling it in their bones.
• A full moon makes people behave strangely.
• Spilling salt means you will have bad luck.
• If your ears are ringing, someone is talking about you.
• Don't cross your eyes or they'll get stuck that way.
• Newspapers are great for cleaning glass.
• The sharper the blast, the sooner 'tis past. Loud lightning means the storm is moving quickly and will pass sooner.
• If you pull out a gray hair, two will grow in its place.
• Fish is great for your brain.
• A wooden spoon keeps a pot from boiling over.
• Hair of the dog will ease hangover symptoms.
• Rub a walnut on furniture scratches to remove them.
• Eating carrots is good for your vision.
• You'll catch a cold if you go out in cold weather without a coat.
• Put a slice of bread in your mouth while slicing onions to stop your eyes from watering.
• Red sky at night, shepherd's delight. Red sky at morning, shepherd's warning.

A Few Miscellaneous Treatments

Here are a few other old wives’ tales that didn't fit into the other categories.

• Feed a cold, starve a fever.
• Apply salted pork to a boil.
• Chew parsley to get rid of garlic breath.
• Place a thin slice of onion under a bandage to help draw out the infection.
• Eat raisins that have been soaked in gin to ease arthritis pain.
• Applying kerosene to the injured area when you step on a nail or shut your fingers in a door can lessen the pain.
• To reduce restless leg syndrome, put a few potatoes in bed with you at night.
• Apply a mixture of raw eggs and milk to a snake bite.
• Chocolate helps relieve premenstrual cramps.
• Store a spare pair of metal scissors in the ice chest. To treat a nosebleed, place the cold metal scissors on the individual’s bare back.

And here is one final note. Have you heard that eating chicken soup is good for what ails you? This familiar old wives’ tale has been corroborated by science.

Hot soup has been used as a cold remedy since at least the 12th century. And, according to the National Institutes of Health (NIH), it really can help open congested sinuses and ease the inflammation associated with the flu and the common cold.

Chicken soup is especially helpful because it contains water and salt, which work together for hydration and for flushing out nasal passages. Scientists have found that eating chicken soup can actually slow down the white blood cell activity that causes inflammation.

Conclusion

So there you have it, nearly 100 old wives' tales. I'm sure there are many more.

Some of these treatments and sayings are true, but many of them aren't. If any of these work for you, leave a comment and tell us about it!

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