Grannie’s Remedies
Grandmothers and other African American women have been known to be the “healers” in the community since the enslavement period. They always had something growing in the garden or in the medicine chest to keep you healthy or help you to get better. Some of these remedies were used well into the early 1960s. The remedies (recipes) presented in this exhibit come from oral histories passed generation to generation.
These remedies are not intended to treat, diagnose, or prescribe, and are presented for educational purposes only.
Allergies:
Use 1 teaspoon of dried leaves or 2 teaspoons of fresh leaves in 1 cup of hot water, cover and steep for 10-15 minutes. Drink at least 3 times a day.
Anemia:
Eat beet and their greens and drinking beet broth will help cleanse the blood. Drink boiled beet broth.
Arthritis and Rheumatism:
Make a castor oil pack by soaking a cloth in castor oil, warming and
placing over the inflamed tissue and joints.
Take 1 teaspoon to one tablespoon up to five times a day.
Slice a raw red potato, put in a glass jar, cover with water and a towel or top. Let the mixture sit overnight. Strain and drink one cup of the liquid in the morning.
Carry a potato in your pocket to ward off pain.
Rub the gel from an aloe vera leaf on the affected area several times a day.
“You can use tobacco for wasp stings, bee stings, and stuff like that.”
Boils and cysts:
Put warm castor oil on the affected area and wrap with a cloth. Change daily; keep in place until the boil or cyst disappears.
“When you get a boil, put the skin of the eggshell on top of it and make it go down. If the boil ain’t open, get some fatback and put on there and it’ll jus’ open it up and draw all that infection on out.” Ruth Patterson
Burns:
Rub the gel from an aloe vera leaf on the burn several times a day.
Rinse the affected area with cold water to stop the pain and to pull the heat out. Dry the area, and then rub butter on the burn.
These remedies are not intended to treat, diagnose, or prescribe, and are presented for educational purposes only.
Colds and Flu:
Drink boneset tea to treat fever and congestion.
Cow chip tea:
Scoop up a cow pat and place in a pot. Fill the pot with water and bring to a boil, then simmer for 30 minutes. Strain several times in a cheese cloth until there are no sediments. Drink 1 cup daily until symptoms subside.
***Not recommended for use today. Given simply for educational
purposes. Many years ago, this method was quite common to
treat cough, congestion and pneumonia.
Rabbit tobacco tea:
Drink rabbit tobacco tea to treat congestion and coughs, and to combat infections due to colds and flu.
Sassafras tea:
Dig up roots, clean and let dry.
Cut root into chunks (with bark) in a pot and cover with cold water.
Bring to a boil and let simmer for 15 minutes.
Strain with cheesecloth and sweeten with honey.
Drink 2 cups a day. Can add lemon.
Hog hoof tea:
Cut off the hoof from the carcass. Wash and dry.
Boil in a big pot of water for at least an hour.
Drink 1 cup of steaming hoof water tea to cure a cold.
Pour remainder in a mason jar, refrigerate, and drink daily.
Hot totty:
Ingredients are whiskey or brandy, peppermint, lemon, honey, cayenne pepper.
Make a strong peppermint tea (cover and steep for 15 minutes); add honey, lemon and ¼ teaspoon of cayenne. Add 2 to 4 tablespoons of w or brandy to mixture. Drink right before bedtime. Sleep in warm clothes and cover up with blankets to make sure you get a good sweat.
Onion cough syrup:
Slice an onion; layer onion and honey in a mason jar like you are making a sandwich. Let the mixture sit for 24 hours. Take a teaspoon of the syrup to relieve cough, congestion, and throat irritation. Refrigerate for up to 2 days.
Congestion (sinus, nasal, chest, and head colds):
Tallow for chest congestion:
“They took (talla) and fried it, let it get cold, cut it in blocks. Grandma made a sack and tied it around our neck and that was supposed to pull the mucous and congestion out.” Author unknown
“Mama would fill a tub with steaming hot water and put whole bay leaves in it. She’d make you sit in a chair right next to the tub and cover your whole head with a towel. You’d inhale all of that steam and everything and whatever was wrong with you would come out.” Eveline Prayo-Bernard
Turpentine salve:
Mix 1 tablespoon of turpentine into 2 tablespoons of lard, olive oil, coconut oil, or shea butter. Spread on chest and place a warm woolen cloth over area.
Tea:
Add 1 to 2 dried bay leaves per one cup of water. Sweeten with honey if desired. Cover and steep 10-15 minutes. Drink 3 times a day to relieve congestion.
Vicks salve:
Mix 1 tablespoon of olive oil with 1 tablespoon of Vicks salve and rub on chest and back to break up congestion. Or use only Vicks salve.
Constipation:
Aloe vera:
Take 2 tablespoons of aloe vera twice daily on an empty stomach. Or scoop the gel from the leaf and mix with juicer; drink two cups daily on an empty stomach between meals.
Castor oil:
Take 1 tablespoon (chased with orange or lemon) in the morning or evening.
Elderberry root and Life Everlasting tea:
Drink 2 to 3 times daily.
Epsom salt:
Mix 1 tablespoon of Epsom salt in ½ cup of water and drink. Or mix 1 teaspoon of Epsom salt and 1 teaspoon of Black Draught in 1 cup of warm water and drink at bedtime.
Okra
“The only time I use okra is as medicine.” Luisah Teish
Eating okra or drinking okra water is a great choice for treating bowel irregularity. Okra is a natural cleanser. The mucilage, the slimy substance in okra, lubricates the intestines as it passes through, soothing inflamed areas and absorbing toxins and excess water while flushing out the colon.
To make okra water, soak 2 pods of okra overnight in a glass of water and drink first thing in the morning.
Cuts and Wounds:
Aloe vera:
Wash cut or wound; pick a leaf from the aloe vera plant, scoop out the gel and apply to the wound. For deep wounds, pack aloe into the opening. Wrap with sterile gauze or bandage, change 1 to 2 times daily.
Aloe vera and spider webs:
For deep wounds that required sutures, the wound was squeezed closed as much as possible with fingers; the wound is packed inside through a small opening with clean spider webs, and then spider webs spread across the wound. The wound is saturated with aloe vera gel and wrapped tightly. Wrapping changed daily but careful not to dislodge the spider web.
Spider webs:
“For puncture wounds, because we were always barefoot and stepping on nails, I remember my grandmother would make the wound bleed, and she would paddle it until it bled, we’d get all of the poison out and cover it with spider webs and smut from the stove and wrap it up on your foot and then you’d be walking around.” Ms. Etta Minor-Williams
Sugar Pack:
To stop bleeding, sugar was used to pack cut or wound. When bleeding stopped, area was rinsed thoroughly and medicine was applied.
Turpentine:
Apply a few drops of pure gum turpentine to a wool patch that is large enough to cover cut or wound. Place patch over affected area. Use a bandage to keep in place. Change once daily.
Diabetes/ Sugar or high sugar:
Banana peel tea:
Put a banana peel in a pot with water just enough to cover the peel. Bring to a boil, turn off the heat, cover, and let sit for 30 minutes. Drink the tea three times a day.
Garlic:
Eat 3 or more garlic cloves daily to control high sugar.
Huckleberry (leaves and ground berries.)
Make tea from leaves and drink 1-3 times a day.
Grind berries and make a tea using 1 teaspoon of powered berries to 1 cup of hot water. Drink 3 cups daily.
Spanish Moss: (Favored by the Gullah)
Gather the Spanish Moss, wash it in cool water, place enough to cover the bottom of a small pot. Cover with water and bring to a boil, remove from heat, put covering over pot, and let steep for 10 to 15 minutes. Pour liquid in a clean glass container and store in the refrigerator.
Drink 3 cups daily to treat diabetes.
Or pull Spanish Moss from tree and wear in shoes to treat diabetes.
Fever:
Mullein leaf and chicken head poultice:
“Mullein was used for fever. They would take a mullein leaf and put it on your head and it was supposed to draw the fever out of your body. Mother would wrap the chicken head in the mullein leaf and put it on your head.” Author Unknown
Collard green/Cabbage leaves:
Collard green or cabbage leaves were placed on the forehead to draw out the fever.
Palma Christi Leaf:
This leaf once found locally (in the Punta Gorda area) was placed upon the forehead and used to draw out fever.
Fever Blister:
Aloe vera gel:
Apply the gel 3 times daily or more until gone.
Ear wax:
At onset, apply ear wax from your ear to affected area as often as possible.
Teeth and Gums:
Dogwood Tree:
Twigs were used as a toothbrush and toothpick to cleanse the teeth. Small branches were taken from the Blackgum tree, twirling them until they broke off. The broken end was frayed and could then be used as a toothbrush.
Toothache
Clove Oil:
Rub clove oil mixed with coconut or olive oil on affected tooth and gum three times daily for pain and to reduce infection.
Garlic:
Bite down on one garlic clove where the affected tooth is. Leave there for as long as possible. Rub affected gum and tooth with garlic oil.
Saltwater:
Rinse mouth with very warm water 3 times daily, using ½ to 1 teaspoon of salt per 1 cup of water.
Pickash Tree:
“If you had a toothache we went to the pickash tree. It’s full of sticky stuff and my mother would go to the tree and just shave off the bark. If you had a tooth with a hole in it, she would put some of that stuff right in it. You would go to sleep and when you ake u, you don’t have a toothache. You could feel it just working. You have to be very, very bad before tey take you to a dentist.” Lacy Patterson
Stomach Problems:
Ginger Tea:
Drink ginger tea or eat pickled ginger slices with and after your meal.
Peppermint Tea:
Drink one cup of peppermint tea twice daily.
Astifidty/Asafoetida:
Put a pinch of astifidty/asafetida in a cup of room temperature water and then drink the mixture.
Baking Soda:
Mix 1 teaspoon of baking soda in water and then drink the mixture.
Bay Leaf:
Add bay leaf to your meals while cooking. Or make a tea by putting 1 dried bay leaf or 2 fresh bay leaves in 1 cup of hot water, covering and steeping for 3 to 5 minutes. Drink twice daily.
Castor Oil:
Massage stomach and abdomen with hand-warmed castor oil or us a hot pack with the oil.
Pickled Vegetables:
Eating pickled vegetable helped digestion by adding healthy bacteria to the gut. African Americans compliment their meals with pickled beets, chow-chow, and pickles.
Clabber or Sour Milk:
“…..take the milk and let it sour deliberately in the refrigerator…take cornbread, crumble it up in there and eat it and make it pudding like. It gives you a little more substance so you’r not just drinking the clabber (sour milk) straight down. Eat some sort of fermented; without question, the bacteria are good for you!” Anita Poree
Grandmothers and other African American women have been known to be the “healers” in the community since the enslavement period. They always had something growing in the garden or in the medicine chest to keep you healthy or help you to get better. Some of these remedies were used well into the early 1960s. The remedies (recipes) presented in this exhibit come from oral histories passed generation to generation.
These remedies are not intended to treat, diagnose, or prescribe, and are presented for educational purposes only.
Allergies:
Use 1 teaspoon of dried leaves or 2 teaspoons of fresh leaves in 1 cup of hot water, cover and steep for 10-15 minutes. Drink at least 3 times a day.
Anemia:
Eat beet and their greens and drinking beet broth will help cleanse the blood. Drink boiled beet broth.
Arthritis and Rheumatism:
Make a castor oil pack by soaking a cloth in castor oil, warming and
placing over the inflamed tissue and joints.
Take 1 teaspoon to one tablespoon up to five times a day.
Slice a raw red potato, put in a glass jar, cover with water and a towel or top. Let the mixture sit overnight. Strain and drink one cup of the liquid in the morning.
Carry a potato in your pocket to ward off pain.
Rub the gel from an aloe vera leaf on the affected area several times a day.
“You can use tobacco for wasp stings, bee stings, and stuff like that.”
Boils and cysts:
Put warm castor oil on the affected area and wrap with a cloth. Change daily; keep in place until the boil or cyst disappears.
“When you get a boil, put the skin of the eggshell on top of it and make it go down. If the boil ain’t open, get some fatback and put on there and it’ll jus’ open it up and draw all that infection on out.” Ruth Patterson
Burns:
Rub the gel from an aloe vera leaf on the burn several times a day.
Rinse the affected area with cold water to stop the pain and to pull the heat out. Dry the area, and then rub butter on the burn.
These remedies are not intended to treat, diagnose, or prescribe, and are presented for educational purposes only.
Colds and Flu:
Drink boneset tea to treat fever and congestion.
Cow chip tea:
Scoop up a cow pat and place in a pot. Fill the pot with water and bring to a boil, then simmer for 30 minutes. Strain several times in a cheese cloth until there are no sediments. Drink 1 cup daily until symptoms subside.
***Not recommended for use today. Given simply for educational
purposes. Many years ago, this method was quite common to
treat cough, congestion and pneumonia.
Rabbit tobacco tea:
Drink rabbit tobacco tea to treat congestion and coughs, and to combat infections due to colds and flu.
Sassafras tea:
Dig up roots, clean and let dry.
Cut root into chunks (with bark) in a pot and cover with cold water.
Bring to a boil and let simmer for 15 minutes.
Strain with cheesecloth and sweeten with honey.
Drink 2 cups a day. Can add lemon.
Hog hoof tea:
Cut off the hoof from the carcass. Wash and dry.
Boil in a big pot of water for at least an hour.
Drink 1 cup of steaming hoof water tea to cure a cold.
Pour remainder in a mason jar, refrigerate, and drink daily.
Hot totty:
Ingredients are whiskey or brandy, peppermint, lemon, honey, cayenne pepper.
Make a strong peppermint tea (cover and steep for 15 minutes); add honey, lemon and ¼ teaspoon of cayenne. Add 2 to 4 tablespoons of w or brandy to mixture. Drink right before bedtime. Sleep in warm clothes and cover up with blankets to make sure you get a good sweat.
Onion cough syrup:
Slice an onion; layer onion and honey in a mason jar like you are making a sandwich. Let the mixture sit for 24 hours. Take a teaspoon of the syrup to relieve cough, congestion, and throat irritation. Refrigerate for up to 2 days.
Congestion (sinus, nasal, chest, and head colds):
Tallow for chest congestion:
“They took (talla) and fried it, let it get cold, cut it in blocks. Grandma made a sack and tied it around our neck and that was supposed to pull the mucous and congestion out.” Author unknown
“Mama would fill a tub with steaming hot water and put whole bay leaves in it. She’d make you sit in a chair right next to the tub and cover your whole head with a towel. You’d inhale all of that steam and everything and whatever was wrong with you would come out.” Eveline Prayo-Bernard
Turpentine salve:
Mix 1 tablespoon of turpentine into 2 tablespoons of lard, olive oil, coconut oil, or shea butter. Spread on chest and place a warm woolen cloth over area.
Tea:
Add 1 to 2 dried bay leaves per one cup of water. Sweeten with honey if desired. Cover and steep 10-15 minutes. Drink 3 times a day to relieve congestion.
Vicks salve:
Mix 1 tablespoon of olive oil with 1 tablespoon of Vicks salve and rub on chest and back to break up congestion. Or use only Vicks salve.
Constipation:
Aloe vera:
Take 2 tablespoons of aloe vera twice daily on an empty stomach. Or scoop the gel from the leaf and mix with juicer; drink two cups daily on an empty stomach between meals.
Castor oil:
Take 1 tablespoon (chased with orange or lemon) in the morning or evening.
Elderberry root and Life Everlasting tea:
Drink 2 to 3 times daily.
Epsom salt:
Mix 1 tablespoon of Epsom salt in ½ cup of water and drink. Or mix 1 teaspoon of Epsom salt and 1 teaspoon of Black Draught in 1 cup of warm water and drink at bedtime.
Okra
“The only time I use okra is as medicine.” Luisah Teish
Eating okra or drinking okra water is a great choice for treating bowel irregularity. Okra is a natural cleanser. The mucilage, the slimy substance in okra, lubricates the intestines as it passes through, soothing inflamed areas and absorbing toxins and excess water while flushing out the colon.
To make okra water, soak 2 pods of okra overnight in a glass of water and drink first thing in the morning.
Cuts and Wounds:
Aloe vera:
Wash cut or wound; pick a leaf from the aloe vera plant, scoop out the gel and apply to the wound. For deep wounds, pack aloe into the opening. Wrap with sterile gauze or bandage, change 1 to 2 times daily.
Aloe vera and spider webs:
For deep wounds that required sutures, the wound was squeezed closed as much as possible with fingers; the wound is packed inside through a small opening with clean spider webs, and then spider webs spread across the wound. The wound is saturated with aloe vera gel and wrapped tightly. Wrapping changed daily but careful not to dislodge the spider web.
Spider webs:
“For puncture wounds, because we were always barefoot and stepping on nails, I remember my grandmother would make the wound bleed, and she would paddle it until it bled, we’d get all of the poison out and cover it with spider webs and smut from the stove and wrap it up on your foot and then you’d be walking around.” Ms. Etta Minor-Williams
Sugar Pack:
To stop bleeding, sugar was used to pack cut or wound. When bleeding stopped, area was rinsed thoroughly and medicine was applied.
Turpentine:
Apply a few drops of pure gum turpentine to a wool patch that is large enough to cover cut or wound. Place patch over affected area. Use a bandage to keep in place. Change once daily.
Diabetes/ Sugar or high sugar:
Banana peel tea:
Put a banana peel in a pot with water just enough to cover the peel. Bring to a boil, turn off the heat, cover, and let sit for 30 minutes. Drink the tea three times a day.
Garlic:
Eat 3 or more garlic cloves daily to control high sugar.
Huckleberry (leaves and ground berries.)
Make tea from leaves and drink 1-3 times a day.
Grind berries and make a tea using 1 teaspoon of powered berries to 1 cup of hot water. Drink 3 cups daily.
Spanish Moss: (Favored by the Gullah)
Gather the Spanish Moss, wash it in cool water, place enough to cover the bottom of a small pot. Cover with water and bring to a boil, remove from heat, put covering over pot, and let steep for 10 to 15 minutes. Pour liquid in a clean glass container and store in the refrigerator.
Drink 3 cups daily to treat diabetes.
Or pull Spanish Moss from tree and wear in shoes to treat diabetes.
Fever:
Mullein leaf and chicken head poultice:
“Mullein was used for fever. They would take a mullein leaf and put it on your head and it was supposed to draw the fever out of your body. Mother would wrap the chicken head in the mullein leaf and put it on your head.” Author Unknown
Collard green/Cabbage leaves:
Collard green or cabbage leaves were placed on the forehead to draw out the fever.
Palma Christi Leaf:
This leaf once found locally (in the Punta Gorda area) was placed upon the forehead and used to draw out fever.
Fever Blister:
Aloe vera gel:
Apply the gel 3 times daily or more until gone.
Ear wax:
At onset, apply ear wax from your ear to affected area as often as possible.
Teeth and Gums:
Dogwood Tree:
Twigs were used as a toothbrush and toothpick to cleanse the teeth. Small branches were taken from the Blackgum tree, twirling them until they broke off. The broken end was frayed and could then be used as a toothbrush.
Toothache
Clove Oil:
Rub clove oil mixed with coconut or olive oil on affected tooth and gum three times daily for pain and to reduce infection.
Garlic:
Bite down on one garlic clove where the affected tooth is. Leave there for as long as possible. Rub affected gum and tooth with garlic oil.
Saltwater:
Rinse mouth with very warm water 3 times daily, using ½ to 1 teaspoon of salt per 1 cup of water.
Pickash Tree:
“If you had a toothache we went to the pickash tree. It’s full of sticky stuff and my mother would go to the tree and just shave off the bark. If you had a tooth with a hole in it, she would put some of that stuff right in it. You would go to sleep and when you ake u, you don’t have a toothache. You could feel it just working. You have to be very, very bad before tey take you to a dentist.” Lacy Patterson
Stomach Problems:
Ginger Tea:
Drink ginger tea or eat pickled ginger slices with and after your meal.
Peppermint Tea:
Drink one cup of peppermint tea twice daily.
Astifidty/Asafoetida:
Put a pinch of astifidty/asafetida in a cup of room temperature water and then drink the mixture.
Baking Soda:
Mix 1 teaspoon of baking soda in water and then drink the mixture.
Bay Leaf:
Add bay leaf to your meals while cooking. Or make a tea by putting 1 dried bay leaf or 2 fresh bay leaves in 1 cup of hot water, covering and steeping for 3 to 5 minutes. Drink twice daily.
Castor Oil:
Massage stomach and abdomen with hand-warmed castor oil or us a hot pack with the oil.
Pickled Vegetables:
Eating pickled vegetable helped digestion by adding healthy bacteria to the gut. African Americans compliment their meals with pickled beets, chow-chow, and pickles.
Clabber or Sour Milk:
“…..take the milk and let it sour deliberately in the refrigerator…take cornbread, crumble it up in there and eat it and make it pudding like. It gives you a little more substance so you’r not just drinking the clabber (sour milk) straight down. Eat some sort of fermented; without question, the bacteria are good for you!” Anita Poree
