Jan12

michigan medicine.

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as michiganders

we grew up with detroit’s famous vernors ginger ale

not only was is good to drink and make floats and shakes out of it

but we used it as at least 80% of our medicine

if you felt

nauseous, had a virus, flu, unexplained itching, headache, were sore, tired, dizzy

or suffered from an unlimited litany of ailments

you were put to bed

and given cold vernors to sip on

but when the hot vernors showed up

on your bedroom tray

you knew your prognosis was much worse

and your days possibly numbered.

—

“there is no medicine like hope, no incentive so great,

and no tonic so powerful as expectation of something better tomorrow.”

-orison swett marden

 

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88 responses »

  1. Not a brand we know here but we had Vicks Rub, smelling strongly of eucalyptus – when that one came upon your breast as a child, you knew that you didn‘t need to rub the thermometer to ‚get a fever‘! Great pairing with that quote ;)

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  4. Now that’s some medicine I would enjoy taking! I chuckled at the last line of your poem — I didn’t see that coming :) And I also enjoyed the heading “For Children Who Are Tired of Milk” in the recipes section in the Vernors brochure. I’ve had an ice-cream float made with ginger ale, but not milk with ginger ale. I’m curious, but not sure I’ll try it. Even though the brochure claims it has “zest and sparkle”!

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    • Yes, that is a hilarious suggestion and like you, I’ve had it with ice cream as a float but never poured into my milk. To its credit, it really did help with nausea, most likely due to the ginger and bubbles

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  7. Thats fascinating, Beth! And scary served hot I bet! Everything made me giggle here. I smell Vicks and feel a warm wet towel on me if I feel my prognosis isn’t good. Grandma Hale was for a shot of whiskey and Grandma Wilson gave chicken broth served with prayers! I think all 3 are good. I’d probably like Vernon’s!

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  11. When we lived in Detroit and Milwaukee, I was not a big fan of Vernor’s Ginger Ale. (I drank root beer or Orange Nesbit.) But my brother craved it and we could not get it in Seattle when we moved West in 1962. One of the greatest gifts he received was a case of it when someone on a cross country trip picked it up for him.

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    • Yes,it’s definitely a love/hate beverage. I grew up with it but it does have its own eccentricities- such as the fizz goes up your nose and it is impossible not to cough after the first sip

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  12. Hilarious bit about your days possibly numbered when the hot Vernors showed up! I remember when we were young “cod liver oil” was the tonic for all that ailed us…I think we got better just to avoid having to swallow any more!

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  13. I love ginger ale, but didn’t know about Vernor’s. My mother liked Coca Cola for settling upset stomaches, and for cleaning dirty windshields in rain and fog, but we lived in Georgia.

    In my years of experience, I’ve come across many cures for many ailments, and ginger root is popular in Chinese and Japanese medicine and cooking. I remember one of my father’s paperback books recommended apple cider vinegar for everything, but the author was a Vermonter.

    Today, with the increasing merger of pharmaceutical and chemical companies, there is more attention given to drugs and synthetic fertilizers, GMO crops, and genetic engineering of DNA and mRNA.

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  19. YES! Loved Vernors ginger ale when I was a kid. It was so spicy it tickled me nose. I knew about heating it up with lemon to fix what ailed you, but I don’t remember my mother doing that. Haven’t had any Vernors in years.

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  25. Ginger actually has better health qualities than garlic and many other herbs. Now the sugar on the other hand offsets some of that, but who doesn’t love good ginger ale? :D

    Living in Tennessee now, I suppose I’m supposed to say damned yankee ginger ale also, LOL. Truth though, I’ve heard great things about Vernors but haven’t had a chance to try it. Schwepps and Canada Dry are also from up North anyway, so… :D

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  27. For us it was my mother’s famous hot toddy. If there was just a waft of whiskey, recovery was assured. If the whiskey made your eyes water, the end was near but by the bottom of that mug, you no longer cared.

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  29. My Mum was a gentle, kind woman, but when she rubbed your chest (Vicks) you knew about it. I hated it, but it had to be done. Our go to health drink was Lucozade. Oh, my fave thing, and worth being poorly. 8n them days it was wrapped in cellophane and very expensive for my dear Mum and Dad. Hospitals had signs, not to bring Lucozade in – so some must have been sceptical. I spotted the sign whilst hospital visiting.

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  32. This is just so funny…You pretty much have to be a Michigander to know what Vernors is right? I too grew up with it in Flint but I have to say we never had it warm but that doesn’t sound too bad. My favorite Vernors drink was the cream ale and of course the float..which we called a Boston cooler. There is a building in downtown Flint that has a huge Vernors mural painted on it that’s been there forever. It is right next to Bill Thomas’s Halo Burgers which is another long time iconic business where they serve Vernors cream ale right to this day. I used to get them there in the 60’s. :)

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  38. That rings true, but probably ginger ale for most of the rest of the country. I see Book Club Mom above mentioned Coke. I still can’t drink Coke either without feeling like I must be sick. Weird how things are associated with other things that shouldn’t normally be related!

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  39. I remember drinking ginger ale when I didn’t feel good, and it’s still my go-to drink when I’m nauseous. I’ve passed this tradition down to my boys as well. It’s the best way to settle an upset stomach, and it tastes good, too!

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  40. Our generation’s mothers and grandmothers indeed must have been schooled by medical professionals and grocers to use ginger ale to cure the ills, Beth. This young New Yorker was served plenty of Canada Dry to ease various ailments, though the healing elixir in my glass was always poured room temperature.

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