Old Wives' Lore: A Book of Old-Fashioned Tips & Remedies

by Polly Bloom

A combination of folklore and time-honoured advice, this book illuminates the history behind female wisdom from yesteryear. Taking in money saving ideas, gardening knowledge, household management and age-old remedies, it offers both seasoned advice and eccentric cures for a huge range of problems. Revealing that a great deal of old wives' lore does have its practical merits, but also how a lot of tales are not to be relied upon, this fascinating compendium of tips and tricks shows how sometimes old advice is still the best.

Genres: Nonfiction, History, Reference, Folklore, Science

225 pages, Kindle Edition

First published January 1, 2013

Reviews

[Jessica Murphy · Rating 3 out of 5]

Found this at a thrift store and picked it up randomly to read a chapter at a time. Some decent common-sense advice, and some hilarious folk remedies for different physical, mental, household ailments.

[Nicola Michelle · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was an entertaining quick read, full of handy little tips, myths and insightful stories from history. There’s not only some actionable advice for a handful of maladies and illnesses but also household chores, gardening and what we can do and historically, what was done by our forebears in the past.

I loved the section on historical eating, the diets of middle age peasants and the Victorian rich. It was super interesting! I learnt more from this book than I thought I would, although some of the home remedies is never try in a month of Sunday’s, it was still interesting to read how common complaints could be tended to.

Really glad I picked this one up. I read in a few short days and it didn’t take too long. A great book to keep on your shelf!

[Cheryl · Rating 5 out of 5]

As “A Book of Old-Fashioned Tips & Remedies”.. it excels. A fun read that touches on health to gardening & house cleaning. Funny how so many oddities were thought to cure ailments. More funny was how often sticking an onion in your armpit was the chosen elixir.

Recipes for food, cleaners, poultices, tonics and more, as well as tidbits from yore. Handy book for what actually works, via nature, to aid in your day to day.

[Teresa · Rating 3 out of 5]

Some interesting stuff here. Very casual approach. Very UK-centric, also. Finished my last book of 2013 with 2 minutes to spare! :D

[Ape · Rating 4 out of 5]

I rather enjoyed this one. It's not heavy going or massively long, but a collection of tidbits on old wives' lore - both the historic stuff that's a definate 'do no try this at home' or just pure nonsense, through to the stuff that might be fun to try or does actually work. Along with little historical facts and did-you-know interspersed throughout. She focuses on a collection of physical ailments on the first half, through to house and garden in the second - tips on cleaning, gardening etc etc. And there are some bits in here that I'm going to try. I think we could all do with dibbling in some of this advice. We're so reliant on chemicals and plastics and quick fixes so quick we don't understand the process we're doing, that it wouldn't hurt to look back to simplier methods that work, and to boot are better for our own health and the environment. Got some tips for improving the soil with stuff we'd normally throw out (my tip she doesn't mention is for plants such as rhododendrums, cammilias, witchhazel etc - keep the black tea from your used tea bags to throw on as a mulch/fertilizer - they love it) and learned random things such as that there is a patron saint for the sufferer of piles and Napoleon may have lost Waterloo due to his piles (or maybe Wellington would have won it anyway, who can tell!).

I borrowed this from the library but think it may be so useful I've ordered a second hand copy for myself.

[Aditi · Rating 2 out of 5]

Ok I don't like to take my reviews seriously but I have complaints! This will be my angry Google review

I didn't expect much from a book this size but the intro promised a compilation of folk remedies, cures and housekeeping tips from history, all the way up till the 1950s. But most of the recipes, especially towards the end are unsourced or given little explanation. At one point she includes a recipe from her grandmother which is cute but didn't really meet the expectations set at the start of the book. At one point, it just says "(source: medievalcookery.com)" which undercut the authority of everything before and after it. The bibliography is just other versions of the same kind of book. It was sloppy, disconnected, all over the place, and feels like it didn't go through the full editing process.

The recipes were interesting, but for a non-fiction book, I don't feel very informed. I might as well have read an amateur blog post. I wouldn't have finished it if it was any longer.

[SA Jackson · Rating 3 out of 5]

3 stars... it lost 1 star because it felt choppy and disconnected with the different sections and inconsistencies with recipe formats. It lost another star with how unfinished it felt. I did like how it gave some history to the tales, which is unique to these types of books. It only took about 45 minutes to read.

[sharon Wilkinson Whitehead · Rating 2 out of 5]

OK to fill in time on breaks at work. Chapters not too long. Not really what I expected could of been better.

[Natasha Flint · Rating 5 out of 5]

I loved this book. Both interesting and useful.

[Pam Keevil · Rating 5 out of 5]

An extremely interesting book filled with remedies from the days before the NHS and science challenged the folk wisdom. The chemical free weed killers are worth a try.

[Ember Air · Rating 2 out of 5]

This was not everything I had hoped. I love lore, wives tales, stories and past remedies and was really expecting this to be more in the style of each factoid or use for something to be attached to a story or legend, or at least a little bit of history about it. So overall, I love the idea of this, but the follow-through disappointed me.

[Lisandra Linde · Rating 3 out of 5]

A quick read filled with interesting tidbits, home remedies and historical trivia. Good for a casual read for people with an interest in remedies and historical home medicine but not meaty enough for those seeking a more in-depth read.

[Lucy Mason · Rating 2 out of 5]

Felt a bit light and unfinished.