How to Cure Your Cough, 1558

So, are old ways always the best?

A most beautiful and pleasant secret for curing a cough by greasing the soles of the feet. An extremely true thing, and very easy.

BnF, MS Lat. 9471 (15th c.)

Take two or three heads of garlic and peel them, and crush them very well, and then add pork fat, and crush it together well again. Then, in the evening when you want to go to bed, take your socks off and put the soles of your feet toward the fire, and grease the soles with the mixture of garlic and fat. And keeping the feet always to the fire so that it almost burns you, or as hot as you can endure, let the ointment stay on for a while. Then put on warm socks and go to bed, and in bed have your back massaged a little with the ointment. And after three evenings you will be miraculously cured from any cough.

~ De’ segreti del reverendo donno Alessio Piemontese

Previous, semi-related posts:

Advice from c. 530: How To Use Bacon, including for medicinal purposes such as "thick bacon, placed for a long time on all wounds, be they external or internal or caused by a blow, both cleanses any putrefaction and aids healing".

Advice from 1489: To stay young, suck blood from a youth.

Mostly weird, and some not so weird, medical treatments from the old days, including this:

How to Stop Bleeding, 1664:

“To Stench a Bleeding Wound: Lay hogs Dung, hot from the Hog, to the Bleeding Wound.”

~Samuel Strangehopes, A Book of Knowledge in Three Parts (166[4])

Dubious medical device du jour - the prostate warmer.

Advice from 1380: How to Tell if Someone Is or Is Not Dead, with bonus Monty Python.

Friday links

A selection of weird nativity sets.

Pachelbel's Canon In D Performed By Train Horns.

National Geographic’s 100 best photos from 2019.

One of my favorite Christmas stories - 'Twas the Overnight Before Christmas: The Merry Tale of How Air Cargo Deregulation Led To Amazon.

How robocalls became America's most prevalent crime.

Darwin Awards: a cumulative list.

ICYMI, most recent links are here, and include advice from c. 1200 on surviving the winter (spoiler -  lay off the purging and blood-letting, and keep your hands and feet covered in wolf grease), the anniversary of Australia's Great Emu War, the pre-Seinfeld origins of Festivus, and a pairing guide for pop-tarts and fine whiskies.

Weird nativity sets

Quite a collection of nativity sets - this first is my personal favorite, because you can eat it when the season's over:

Godzilla nativity:

Naked men nativity:

Zombie nativity:

Rubber duckie nativity:

For unto us a robot is born:

Super!:

Playmobil:

Creepy mannequins:

Mary, Joseph and Baby Cheesus (more here, including video of the cheddar-carving process:

Chicken nativity, complete with flying chicken angels:

Doggie nativity:

Hipster nativity:

Not sure how to label this one:

Or this one, and I suspect that having more than one Darth Vader isn't biblically accurate:

Whatever-you-have-handy nativity:

The meat nativity:

Irish nativity:

Various animals - moose:

Piggies:

Frogs:

The butter nativity:

The cupcake topper nativity:

Nativity carved out of spam:

Action figures:

Tampons:

And shotgun shells:

Mexican mermaid family nativity:

You may have to think about this one for a minute:

 Many more here.

Tuesday links

Advice from c. 1200: How to Survive the Winter. Don't forget to lay off the purging and blood-letting, and keep your hands and feet covered in wolf grease.

On December 10, 1932, Australia's Great Emu War ended. More here.

The trippy illustrations in this Horseback Riding Manual are a hoot.

Before Seinfeld: The Origins of Festivus.

Pop-tarts and Fine Whiskeys, a Pairing Guide.

The Mechanics of What Happens When You Hit a Speed Bump at High Speed. Click through to see the video.

ICYMI, most recent links are here, and include why you shouldn't salt a leech that's sucking your blood, the mathematics of where to park your car, the physics behind why barns are painted red, and the history of penicillin. 

Easy (4 ingredient) chocolate coconut pecan cookies.

Preheat the oven to 350°F

Ingredients:

1 (14 oz) bag sweetened coconut flakes

1 (14 oz) can sweetened condensed milk

2 cups semi-sweet (or dark) chocolate chips

2/3 cup chopped pecans

Directions:

Line a large baking sheet with parchment paper.

In a large bowl, combine everything - coconut, chocolate chips, pecans, and sweetened condensed milk. Stir well.

Drop rounded teaspoons of dough on the baking sheet.

Flatten each ball of dough slightly, with a wet fork or wet fingers.

Bake for 10 minutes and check - they may need a couple more minutes. They're done when the tips of the coconut are starting to turn golden brown.

Let cool for a few minutes on the baking sheet.