Alcohol, cannabis, morphine, chloroform, and other skillfully combined ingredients. It sounds like a recipe for disaster. Or the toxicology report from a coroner. But no. It’s neither. What you just read was once the concoction that people casually consumed to treat a cough back in the day.
It’s just one of many strange and somewhat ridiculous norms once held in high regard. And the “receipts” for them can be found on a page aptly called Old School Ridiculous. The online community has more than 159,000 members who are there to laugh at the past. And while some of the history posts are no laughing matter, many of them are so ludicrous that it is genuinely laughable.
Bored Panda has put together a list of the most bizarre pictures from the page. So keep scrolling and be prepared to be blown away by the things that humanity once found quite normal, but in reality, show just how far we’ve come.
#1 A Cartoon About A Hypothetical "Pocket Telephone," From 1919
Image credits: The_Persian_Cat
Nowadays, you'd go to jail for possessing cough syrup ingredients from way back when. But more than a hundred years ago, cough syrups were unregulated, so "mixologists" could put pretty much anything in them. And they did.
From opiates to cannabis, and even chloroform, people were going to great lengths to soothe that irritating cough or bad chest. Even babies weren't spared. It was seen as quite normal to feed them (highly) questionable things to help with their infant ailments.
#2 Ella Fitzgerald Arrested After Singing To An Integrated Audience In 1955
Image credits: jeremykunayak
#3 Joan Trumpauer Mulholland Was Arrested For Protesting In 1961
She was tested for mental illness because law enforcement couldn’t think why a white woman would want civil rights.
Image credits: jeremykunayak
Teething pain, for example, required a good dose of “laudanum,” which is just another name for a little bit of opium in cough syrup. While a bout of diarrhea was "easily cured" with morphine-laced syrup. That's because constipation is a side effect of opiates.
But before you judge, remember that those who came before us knew no better.
#4 Menswear From The Jc Penney Catalog, 1970
Image credits: jenn_knits_again
#5 Who Remembers People Smoking In The Malls Back In The 1980’s ?!
Image credits: ComplexWrangler1346
#6 Whiskey Vending Machine, 1960
Image credits: colonelanthrax
Back then, it wasn't the law to state the ingredients on a bottle or box of medicine. It was only in 1906, that Congress passed the Pure Food and Drug Act, which required manufacturers to disclose the ingredients in their products, notes Healthline. And thankfully, more legislation and regulation followed.
The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) only outlawed the use of chloroform in medications in 1976, when research revealed just how dangerous it can be. But before then, it was widely used in cough medicine, as well as an anesthetic.
And in case you're wondering, yes, chloroform is that stuff we see used in movies. When the bad guy puts some on a rag and holds it over the mouth of an unsuspecting victim to make them lose consciousness.
#7 Defense Shoes To Protect Young Girl From Street Romeos
Image credits: Ebonystealth
#8 Never Forgot This Proactive Ad From When I Was A Kid
Image credits: Hour-Bison765
#9 The Ingredients On "One Night Cough Syrup"
Image credits: Ebonystealth
But the historical naivety didn't stop at medicine, as this list of ridiculous photos proves. The most immoral acts were considered peachy. Yet many could land you in prison nowadays.
Old men thought nothing of marrying a very young girl. And while that practice hasn't been fully scrapped (child marriage is still legal in some U.S. states and certain countries around the world), we have come a long way in fighting it.
#10 The 1903 Mugshot Of Bertha Liebbeke, A Woman Who Would Approach Wealthy Men In Crowds And Pretend To Faint In Their Arms — Then Would Relieve Them Of All The Valuables In Their Pockets
Image credits: alecb
#11 Hard To Top This One…
Image credits: reddit.com
#12 Futuristic Baby Stroller, West Germany, 1950s
Image credits: lampoluza
Many in the LGBTQ community are still fighting for their rights after a long history of discrimination and mistreatment. Quite a few pics here show the blatant hatred for them. Take this Moral Majority Report, for example. It claims that “Homosexual Diseases Threaten American Families.”
It was only in 1962 that American states started decriminalizing same-sex activity. It began with Illinois, and others very slowly followed suit. But according to the international LGBTIQ lobby group, ILGA, one-third of the world continues to criminalise consensual same-sex sexual acts.
#13 Paparazzi Take Pictures Of Bill Clinton's Cat Named Socks, 1992
Image credits: lampoluza
#14 A Sign In A Hotel Room Warns The Occupant That Snoring Is Forbidden, 1926
Image credits: Ebonystealth
#15 Now That's Just Mean. Old Lead Industry Advertisement
Image credits: Vin_du_toilette
As we look back on history in shock at some of the ridiculousness of it all, we shouldn't be too surprised if future generations do the same to us. Pictures detailing sexism, discrimination, abortion laws, racism and capitalism are among the things that might make it onto a list like this in decades to come.
While humanity has come a long way, there is no doubt that there's still a lot of work to be done...
#16 A Dangerous Playground From The 70s
Image credits: Dull_Ad8495
#17 Sugar Information, Inc., 1964
Image credits: jeremykunayak
#18 The Shirt Suit Supreme, 1972
Image credits: notbob1959
#19 Household Hint From An Old Magazine
Image credits: thegree2112
#20 The Michelin Band Performs At The Opening Of The Michelin Hour Radio Program, 1928
Image credits: Quick_Presentation11
#21 A Union Officer Being Silly 1860-65
Image credits: CryptographerKey2847
#22 Can You Even Imagine? Northwest Airlines Organist, 1959
Image credits: Slow-moving-sloth
#23 Lola, A Romantic Comedy From 1970
Image credits: Sinfestival
#24 Pull My Hair And See
Image credits: RublesJones1
#25 Creepy Love's Baby Soft Advertisement From 1975
Image credits: Ebonystealth
#26 For Smokers-In-Bed
Image credits: HoneyRush
#27 Mister Merry’s Play Lighter
Image credits: Great-Committee8425
#28 Hefty Girls Wanted For Police Force (Must Be Fairly Good Looking). London Metropolitan Police, 1930s
Image credits: Vin_du_toilette
#29 My Grandfather’s Signature Pose In Photos, Took His Resemblance To A Certain Dictator A Little Too Seriously
Image credits: YourMothersButtox
#30 The Sunpod Was Used So You Could Go To The Beach And Not Get Bothered When You Tan, 1982
Image credits: jeremykunayak
#31 Prank My Great Grandpa’s Friends Played On Him In The 70’s
Image credits: shiloh666
#32 The Sausage Queen, 1955
Image credits: lampoluza
#33 AIDS, The Homosexual Disease Threatening American Families. 1983
Image credits: Vin_du_toilette
#34 The Protection Ball
Image credits: Ebonystealth
#35 Let Gert Jonnys Introduce You To The Psychotic World Of 1970s Swedish Dance Music
Image credits: CpGrover
#36 Daytona Beach, Fl 1985
Image credits: jeremykunayak
#37 German Greeting Card From The Early To Mid-Century Of A Female Krampus Who Punishes Bad Men
Image credits: BillythenotaKid
#38 Children Dressed As Billiard Balls
Image credits: BurstingSunshine
#39 72m Marries 22f Step-Granddaughter. 1907
Image credits: theclosetenby
#40 Was This A Cojmon Way To Dress Your Bridesmaids Back In The Day?
Image credits: sutsyudge
#41 Tim Allen's Mugshot When He Was Arrested In 1978 After Walking Into Kalamazoo Airport With 650 Grams Of C**aine
Image credits: kooneecheewah
#42 This Was A Size 20 In 1965. Look At This Plus-Sized Heifer!
Image credits: reddit.com
#43 Women Are Especially Susceptible, Doctors Say... To Troubles Caused By Harsh Toilet Tissue. Scott, 1930
Image credits: jeremykunayak
#44 The N**ple Bra
Image credits: Ebonystealth
#45 Teenagers Weekly 1963
Image credits: Vin_du_toilette
#46 Thank Goodness We Don't Have Sexist Ads From The 20s To 50s Anymore, Because This Is Just Silly 💀
Image credits: 09997512
#47 1990: No Joy In Gay, W. Va
Image credits: MinnesotaArchive
#48 Sally Simkin’s Is As Thicc As A Dump Truck…
Image credits: SweatyMess808
#49 Ribs In A Can (Armour, 1963)
Image credits: Ghosts_of_Bordeaux
#50 1975 Patons Knitting Pattern, For Larger Sized Woman
Image credits: Ebonystealth
