Flashback: Laxatives, Alcohol Were Popular Common Cold ‘cures'

It's just about that time of year again — if you're not sniffling and sneezing, chances are your co-workers and classmates have been. While fall colds might send us to CVS for DayQuil and cough drops, Dallasites living in the early 20th century took much different steps. Citizens headed to the druggist for "Hyomei," an inhaled medication that "the best people in Dallas always ... keep in hand." Peruna, a highly alcoholic tonic, was so popular in its time that SMU named its mascot after the remedy. Some pharmacies even sold "medicinal whiskey," which promised to cure just about anything — or, at the very least, help you forget the sniffles.  Continue reading...