Popular Home Remedies & Superstitions

I know it is not hard to believe that I might have impulse bought a book.  To be more precise, it is really a booklet and not really a book, so I don't feel too bad when I add it to the already overflowing bookshelf.  It is hard to call 32 pages a book. However, I am pretty sure that most members of my circle of friends would have done the same thing and snatched this booklet up and brought it home for future reference.  After all, how could you pass up Popular Home Remedies & Superstitions of the Pennsylvania Germans?  Only a crazy person would pass up the $2.95 bounty of wisdom from days gone by.  I certainly am not crazy.

The plethora of wisdom and advice found within the pages, certainly speaks to a time gone by, but in some ways, it is still be applicable today.  When common etiquette has gone out the window, I feel that the hodgepodge of advice from several centuries prior could come in handy.  After all  my survival might end up being dependent upon knowing what is considered a death omen. (Counting the conveyances at a funeral is not only an omen of death, but tacky. Don't do it.)

It is my recommend that if you ever happen upon any of the limit printings by The Aurand Press that you snatch them up a quickly as you can.  The charm and rarity of this folklore is sure to bring at least a small smile to a dour face.  Below are a couple of my favorite words of advice that I have gained from this publication. 

" If you can arrange to kiss a girl while you secrete a heart of a turtle-dove in your mouth, it will act as a love charm- no one can be sure of what may happen as a result." 

"Scratch a dog where he can't scratch himself and he won't run away"

"Take a hold of the big toe of a person talking in his sleep and he will tell you anything he knows- like being hypnotized."