Hair Tonic

Tincture of cantharides one-half ounce, glycerine one-half ounce, lime water three ounces, distilled water one ounce, eau de cologne one-half ounce. Mix and bottle. This is from a famous English chemist.

Source: The Canadian Family Cookbook, Grace E. Denison

Wash for Hands

Glycerine and lemon juice, equal parts of each.

Source: Flint Hills Cook Book

A Useful Lotion for the Hands

…which may be kept in the bathroom or upon the washstand, is made with equal parts of glycerine and rubra lotion (tincture of lavender and zinc). Mix the two together in a bottle and rub a few drops into the hands after washing, but before drying them upon the towel.

Another similar lotion is made by mixing equal quantities of glycerine, rosewater and hazeline.

Rub in a few drops after washing when the hands are partly dried.

Source: Household Management, E. Stoddard Eckford & M.S. Fitzgerald

Camphor Tablet for Chapped Hands, etc.

Melt tallow, and add a little powdered camphor and glycerine, with a few drops of oil of almonds to scent. Pour in molds and cool.

Source: Our Knowledge Box, ed. G. Blackie

Indian Cough Cure

To five cents’ worth of whole flaxseed add three pints of water. Boil fifteen or twenty minutes, strain and add the juice of three lemons, one-half pound of rock candy and one ounce glycerine. Take wine-glass of this three or four times a day and before retiring. It will cure the worst cough in three days.

Source: 1001 Household Hints, Ottilie V. Ames

For Dandruff

Take glycerine four ounces, tincture of cantharides five ounces, bay rum four ounces, water two ounces. Mix, and apply once a day and rub well down the scalp.

Source: The White House Cookbook, F.L. Gillette

Toilet Items

Mutton tallow is considered excellent to soften the hands. It may be rubbed on at any time when the hands are perfectly dry, but the best time is when retiring, and an old pair of soft, large gloves thoroughly covered on the inside with the tallow and glycerine in equal parts, melted together, can be worn during the night with the most satisfactory results.

Four parts of glycerine and five parts of yolks of eggs thoroughly mixed, and applied after washing the hands, is also considered excellent.

For chapped hands or face: One ounce of glycerine, one ounce of alcohol mixed, then add eight ounces of rose-water.

Another good rule is to rub well in dry oatmeal after every washing, and be particular regarding the quality of soap. Cheap soap and hard water are the unknown enemies of many people, and the cause of rough skin and chapped hands. Castile soap and rain-water will sometimes cure without any other assistance.

Camphor ice is also excellent, and can be applied with but little inconvenience. Borax dissolved and added to the toilet water is also good.

For chapped lips, beeswax dissolved in a small quantity of sweet oil, by heating carefully. Apply the salve two or three times a day, and avoid wetting the lips as much as possible.

Source: The White House Cookbook, F.L. Gillette

Barber’s Shampoo Mixture

Dissolve half an ounce of carbonate of ammonia and one ounce of borax in one quart of water; then add two ounces of glycerine in three quarts of New England rum, and one quart of bay rum. Moisten the hair with this liquid; shampoo with the hands until a light lather is formed; then wash off with plenty of clean water.

Source: The White House Cookbook, F.L. Gillette

Japanese Cream

Four ounces of ammonia, four ounces of white Castile soap cut fine, two ounces of alcohol, two ounces of Price’s glycerine and two ounces of ether. Put the soap in one quart of water over the fire; when dissolved add four quarts of water; when cold add the other ingredients, bottle and cork tight. It will keep indefinitely. It should be made of soft water or rain water. To wash woolens, flannels, etc., take a teacup of the liquid to a pail of lukewarm water, and rinse in another pail of water with half a cup of the cream. Iron while damp on the wrong side. For removing grass stains, paint, etc, use half water and half cream.

Source: The Golden Age Cook Book, H. L. Dwight

Remedy for Corns

When corns are troublesome make a shield of buckskin leather an inch or two across, with a hole cut in the center the size of the corn; touch the exposed spot with pyroligneous acid which will eat it away in a few applications. Besides this a strong mixture of carbolic acid, and glycerine is good, say one-half as much acid as glycerine. Turpentine may also be used for corns and bunions. A weaker solution of carbolic acid will heal soft corns between the toes. A French medical journal reports the cure of the most refactory corns by the morning and evening application with a brush of a drop of a solution of the perchloride of iron. It states, that after a fortnight’s continued application, without pain, a patient who had suffered martyrdom for nearly forty years was entirely relieved.”

Source: The Housekeeper’s Friend: A Practical Cookbook