Like most people, whenever I catch a cold or sore throat, I’m immediately transported back in time to when I was a little kid. The remedy: Soup, tea with lemon and honey, lozenges (Sucrets, Ludens, Halls or Ricola), baby aspirin (Bayer, Chewable Tylenol or St. Joseph’s) and Vicks VapoRub. My mother or grandma would lift up my pajama top, and gently massage the Vicks onto my chest. Then she would put a little under my nose (and sometimes with a dab on a Q-Tip up the nose), and some more in the humidifier. I’d get under the covers, and almost immediately I would start to feel warm and safe and just a little bit better, as the vapors took over.
Check out this wonderful vintage commercial for Vicks Vaporub.