were we the last generation to use mercurochrome?

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BrooklynRobot@reddit

My family would coat their sore throats with that stuff. A few years ago I had to argue with my aunt to stop.

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OhioIT@reddit

Is this the reddish stuff they spread on your skin at the hospital before they make an incision?

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My dad was a pharmacist and he and his partner had a small drug manufacturing company- silver seal- that made this as well as paragoric - tincture of opium. I remember my brother and I on Saturdays filling those little plastic bottles..

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DirtRight9309@reddit (OP)

ok now that’s fascinating

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andrew_c_morton@reddit

As a baby Xennial (1984), I only know of this stuff because my mother always referred to the Shakespearean character Mercutio as Mercurochrome...

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DirtRight9309@reddit (OP)

🤣

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ihavenoidea81@reddit

I never heard of it any my chemist brain got a little shook reading that label. I was “thrilled” to see it only has mercury and not chromium in it.

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DirtRight9309@reddit (OP)

ok i’m glad a professional was as alarmed as i was. i googled it not too long ago thinking “i’m sure it didn’t really contain mercury right haha…”

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tagehring@reddit

I vaguely remember my grandmother having a bottle of it that was probably bought during the Eisenhower administration.

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Eclectic_Paradox@reddit

I've heard of it but don't recall if my parents ever used it on me.

What they did use was this...

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buginmybeer24@reddit

I hate the smell of that shit.

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DirtRight9309@reddit (OP)

i LOVED the smell of it 🤣 i used to open up that antiquey bottle just to get a little hit every now and then

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FrameJump@reddit

Really? I have fond memories of the smell, but the bottle I remember looked newer than that.

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schwarzeKatzen@reddit

You can still buy that.

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Eclectic_Paradox@reddit

Yes! I didn't even know it was still around until I googled to find this photo. I haven't seen it in years but I'll look for it next time I grocery shop.

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nochickflickmoments@reddit

Yep we use that exact bottle. I remember my mom putting it on my lips?

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schwarzeKatzen@reddit

It can help dry up cold sores. I don’t know if that’s why she used it on your lips but maybe?

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mander00@reddit

I grew up in the deep South and would get covered in chiggers and mosquito bites after running throughthe field and woods all day. My mom would pour this shit on me in the mid 80s.

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FrameJump@reddit

It was this or nail polish for chiggers. I don't miss being covered in them.

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mander00@reddit

Yep. The same bottle of clear nail polish that was used for runs in Mama's pantyhose for church.

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Cptcodfish@reddit

I’m convinced we were the last generation to use it, but the generation before us was the last to buy it. I know I was little and all, but I swear every bottle I saw seemed like it was 20 years old.

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Icy-Office155@reddit

for real, those bottles looked ancient, like, what even happened there

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CarbonInTheWind@reddit

It's still sold in most non Western countries. It stopped being sold in most Western countries in the late 90s because of concerns about the fact that it contains mercury.

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PiHKALica@reddit

I have lived in half a dozen

non Western countries since 2008 and visited dozens more. I've never seen it in any pharmacy, clinic, or hospital.

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CarbonInTheWind@reddit

It is marketed under several different names. I'm in the US. It's not banned here but was listed as untested so drug stores stopped carrying it. But I can still order it online.

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PiHKALica@reddit

Lol, right... such as??

They use iodine, hydrogen peroxide, and alcohol depending on the situation; just like the west.

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jaybotch29@reddit

But they commented on the internet. It must be true.

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CarbonInTheWind@reddit

From Wikipedia which is unfortunately one of the few mostly reputable sources left on the Internet:

"Merbromin (marketed as Mercurochrome, Merbromine, Mercurocol, Sodium mercurescein, Asceptichrome, Supercrome, Brocasept and Cinfacromin) is an organomercuric disodium salt compound used as a topical antiseptic for minor cuts and scrapes and as a biological dye. While readily available in most countries, it is no longer sold in much of the West, including Switzerland, Brazil, France, Iran, Germany, Denmark, or the United States, due to its mercury content."

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jaybotch29@reddit

gif

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billyrubin7765@reddit

Iodine stung more than mercuchrome.

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Pudenda726@reddit

I used to oddly like the smell of mercurochrome

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IceColdDump@reddit

No bathroom fan/ century home with rads combo will age stuff into sepia tones etc. real quick.

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No_Today_4903@reddit

Our children should be thanking us to the heavens for not letting anyone manufacture this hells fire in a bottle anymore. Abuse in a bottle 🤣🤣 idk what was in it but I swear to you it was actual fire when it hit that open wound. I criedddd when I saw that label. Cried tearssss of pain. It was worse than the actual cut. My arm could’ve been hanging off from my literal elbow, meat showing, veins, cartilage lol I’m rubbing dirt on it, walking it off. But I see that bottle and now I’m crying 🤣🤣🤣

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Epicardiectomist@reddit

excellent way to put it. I have the same memory. The one my mother used looked like it was pilfered from a hospital in an HP Lovecraft story.

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Octavya360@reddit

Ours was in a little brown plastic bottle. It was fairly new but looked old. I think it was their gimmick - old looking bottle had the good stuff

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No_Attention_2227@reddit

I'm 45 and never heard of this stuff

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sarabridge78@reddit

I'm 47 and thought so too. I clicked on theWikipedia link someone else posted and realized I did know, I just never heard it called that and the bottle looked much different. It was that orange/rust colored liquid the nurse would put on your cuts at school. I think our nurse just called it antiseptic.

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Honest_Tutor1451@reddit

Are you sure you’re not thinking of iodine? It looks the same

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sarabridge78@reddit

Maybe, but the blue and white bottle that Wikipedia shows sparked a memory. Who knows, lol.

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clutzycook@reddit

I've heard of it, but we never used it in our house. My mom would usually use antibiotic ointment if necessary, but usually she just washed our scrapes and cuts with soap and water.

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falconjayhawk@reddit

Same. And my dad was a pharmacist.

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funkympc@reddit

Same. And my mom was a hypocondriac.

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graveybrains@reddit

It was the only chemical in the house that lasted as long as the chemicals dad kept in the garage.

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durandall09@reddit

This is more GenX than us.

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DirtRight9309@reddit (OP)

i knew a bunch of Xennials who had it in their homes. we weren’t buying it, our Boomer parents were. and it wasn’t banned in the states until 1998.

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Beelzebozo26@reddit

I'll be 48 next month and we didn't use this. I'm aware of it only from other people. We mainly just got all of our cuts and scrapes washed out with soap and water and bandaged. Both of my parents were nurses when I was a kid (my dad went on to change careers).

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No_Today_4903@reddit

Just seeing the picture of this ish gave me the vapahs and was enough to make me wanna toss my phone and runnnnn Jesus. Run down the hall away from my pappaw lmao. They had this crap at their house and if I got even a paper cut over there mammaw was telling him to get this crap and it was worse than finding a hidden cut on your hand with sanitizer now. I’d rather cut my appendages off than have this crap put on. Holy lord.

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nochickflickmoments@reddit

We called this red medicine in our house

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DirtRight9309@reddit (OP)

idk why but that somehow seems even more ominous

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Epicardiectomist@reddit

I've always wondered if there were going to be long-term as-of-yet-unknown effects from using this. I remember being a kid and even thinking then that it seemed like a sketchy thing to use.

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GrumpyOldHistoricist@reddit

I think you mistook “Oregon Trail generation” for “generation that trekked the Oregon Trail” because I’m a ‘79 baby and I don’t know what the fuck that is

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DirtRight9309@reddit (OP)

welp i’m ‘81 and i am very familiar with the sting.

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lemmylemonlemming@reddit

Damn she. I was a kid and got a cut it was either this stuff or iodine and I prayed for this stuff because it didn't sting. Eventually my parents moved on to Bactine and it was like a different world.

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chaoshaze2@reddit

Burn it! Burn it with hell fire before it makes a comeback. Save the children

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DirtRight9309@reddit (OP)

you’re safe, it’s not allowed to be sold in the us due to the risk of mercury poisoning, which is such a relief to know we were all having mercury injected into our open wounds

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RosemaryRoseville@reddit

I read this as adrenochrome

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DirtRight9309@reddit (OP)

that stuff makes pure mescaline seem like ginger beer

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Roland-Of-Eld-19@reddit

They actually only stopped widespread usage in late 98

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be_more_constructive@reddit

I have never heard of this.

For others interested: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Merbromin

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Seven22am@reddit

We used hydrogen peroxide in our house.

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ninetysevencents@reddit

We used amputation of gangrenous appendages in our house.

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Seven22am@reddit

"Just put some 'tussin on it!" --Chris Rock

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jaybotch29@reddit

I heard you can get high off tussin. I drank three vintage vials of mercurochrome when I was 15 years old, and It didn't do shit. I haven't gotten sick in 30 years, though.

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funnylikeaclown420@reddit

Lucky!! Paw wouldn’t touch my gangrenous leg, I had to wait for it to just fall off by itself.

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ailish@reddit

Yeah I never heard of it either. We also used peroxide.

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sleepyj910@reddit

Same, maybe cause Dad went to medical school but we always used povidone-iodine,

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bitsy88@reddit

My mom was a CNA and we were an iodine household.

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6thBornSOB@reddit

Me either.

We used the fuck out of some Mentholatum though. I get funny looks for that sometimes.

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hbi2k@reddit

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FudgyMcTubbs@reddit

Don't make fun.

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Negative-Wrap95@reddit

My parents used that shit like they owned stock in the company.

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impliedapathy@reddit

I was gonna ask if maybe it was regional but I lived somewhat close to Chicago. I’ve also never heard of this.

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Forsythia77@reddit

We had a bottle of this in my house as a kid in the early 80s. Originally from Michigan City. 🤷‍♀️

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Confident-Cellist-25@reddit

Is this what we called monkey blood? Did anyone else call it that?

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SweetCosmicPope@reddit

Yup! We called it monkey blood and once the bottle ran out I never saw it again.

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RealisticAd2293@reddit

We did and I have zero clue where it came from. Just floated around until it found us, like the cool S and the rumor about Marilyn Manson’s rib removal 🤷🏻‍♂️

I grew up in rural Arkansas, the monkey blood reach was far and wide

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Robo_Rameses@reddit

Monkey blood was Merthiolate.

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ObligationJumpy6415@reddit

Yep, we called it that! Then as a young teen I saw it sold at the pharmacy as a clear liquid, and thought that was ridiculous 😅 I haven’t seen it at all for years now.

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NombreCurioso1337@reddit

Came here to ask if this was monkey blood. Literally all I ever knew it was. Also don't know its purpose.

Fall down, skin knee, hold back tears in front of friends, go to nurse, nurse puts monkey blood on it. A week later pick the scab. Childhood.

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Bullitt_TX@reddit

I believe so.

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sapperbloggs@reddit

Holy shit, this stuff is still available to buy in Australia.

It's not widely available, but there are a handful of places selling it.

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schwarzeKatzen@reddit

Check the label. It’s likely the mercury free version.

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Inevitable_Pride1925@reddit

I always wondered what happened to this. Never knew it contained mercury. Not a lot but enough it lost its “generally safe” FDA Approval and instead became “untested.” But that was enough for it to stop being sold.

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schwarzeKatzen@reddit

The original formula was banned in 1998. You can still purchase it without the mercury.

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hokie47@reddit

Today that would boost sales.

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Addamall@reddit

I only remember it as a joke about old people products.

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Temporary-Warning883@reddit

Bit before my time I think, I’m 1983 so maybe that’s why I don’t recall this stuff

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FartWalker@reddit

I am 1985 and I remember my grandmother having a bottle. My mom never had it at home but it was the go to at my grandmother’s.

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heyskeksislady@reddit

83 and my mother and grandmother covered me in it for scrapes and cuts.

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TheRealLimitlessHate@reddit

85, mom and dad kept a bottle of mercurochrome in the medicine cabinet.

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misplacedbass@reddit

83 here too, I never personally used it, but I know for sure my dad used it on more than one occasion. So I’m definitely familiar with it.

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jaywinner@reddit

Also 1983. I recall it being used when I was very young and fading away.

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Legitimate-Produce-1@reddit

Not me. I don't know what that is

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sweetbirthdaybaby333@reddit

Xennial theater kid response -- I only know of this medication because it was mentioned in a lyric from Rent. I don't think my family ever used it.

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Street_Narwhal_3361@reddit

Today for you, tomorrow for me!

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CorgiMonsoon@reddit

Do you know what kind of horror show the aftermath of a freaking Akita landing on the sidewalk after jumping from the 23rd story would be?

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emotyofform2020@reddit

When I was a kid I assumed this was a little yappy dog, only to then learn it’s a fucking husky

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Traditional_Cat_60@reddit

TIL

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Street_Narwhal_3361@reddit

RIP Evita

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On_my_last_spoon@reddit

Came to say the same thing!

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Aggravating_Yam2501@reddit

Can literally hear Angel in my head 😇🌈

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closethird@reddit

I wouldn't have heard of it either, but one of my favorite bands has a song titled Mercurochrome

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nomadicexpat@reddit

Haha yupppp that's exactly what I thought of!

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fifteengetsyoutwenty@reddit

Same!!!!!

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georgeamberson1963@reddit

I dressed his wounds, and got him back on his feet!

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rolL_uP_one_more@reddit

gif

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Bubbly_Wealth8165@reddit

Omg this was my grandpa’s answer for every skin issue, cuts and scratch. All of us grandkids would hide from him or pray he wasn’t home if we had a cut. The memories of my cousins and I crying make me life now, but the trauma is real! The sting was so bad!

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SensitiveArtist@reddit

We were a Bactine household

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FleasInDisguise@reddit

My mom had a bottle when I was a kid. But she only would use it if you got a cut or canker sore inside your mouth, because she wanted to ration it since they didn’t make it anymore. We used peroxide on regular skin.

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evolutionxtinct@reddit

That’s the red stuff that burns right? I agree everything my parents had reminded me of the 70’s lol

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MushLampMaker@reddit

I used to love that medicine. It made my scabs all sorts of iridescent colors. Turns out it was mercury. lol.

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accordse1997@reddit

Whoa!!!!! Deep-as-hell core memory unlocked.

gif

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BetaThetaZeta@reddit

🎶 MercuroChro-o-ome, they make us those nice bright colors 🎵

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col_akir_nakesh@reddit

My great grandmother used to pull out the merthiolate. Stung like a bitch.

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ahabneck@reddit

Yes! Dad used to paint an orange smiley face next to my wound. 😊

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succubus6984@reddit

Everything i came home from my grandparents. "OH my god you are bleeding and they didnt put a bandage on it?...... Oh wait they juat put the red stuff on it and it stopped bleeding". 😂😂😂

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FemaleMishap@reddit

My family was hydrogen peroxide for everything.

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Pharmere@reddit

My grandparents used it on me back in the 1980’s. They called it “Monkey’s blood”. I remember that it burned like hell

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irelandm77@reddit

We had a slightly different product in our house called Merthiolate which contained Thimerosal which is an organomercury compound. Nowadays, the product of the same name uses Benzalkonium Chloride.

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LazyBengal2point0@reddit

old Xennial here... I remember this

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jarjarbinx@reddit

i also remember merthiolate. that thing stings

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jmurphy42@reddit

I know about it, but I thought the earlier Xers were the last to use it. I never laid eyes on any in real life, our medicine cabinet had hydrogen peroxide and rubbing alcohol.

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AjCaron@reddit

My grandma put this ish on EVERYTHING! I spent alot of time at my grams house, once got whacked in the neck during a pine cone fight, went back to her house and she slathered this on my neck and sent me back out to play. It was sooooo embarassing!

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M_Me_Meteo@reddit

My parents were boomers and my dad still has a bit of this stuff. He believes that the color red is critical for healing. This is why we can't have nice things. I'd explain further, but your parents are all boomers too, so...you know.

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Badfish1060@reddit

We called it monkey blood. idk why

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BearCat1478@reddit

Lol. My Mom still has a bottle. Uses it for toe sores. She's nuts. They also painted my tonsils with iodine when I had strep throat...

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grrrbruno@reddit

I had this put on my cuts n' bruises until my early teenage years

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WolvesandTigers45@reddit

I never used it but I know of it

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tacitjane@reddit

Miss a drop and whatever it lands on is stained for life.

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SnooDrawings7662@reddit

Never heard of it or used it. We used betadine.. it seems it is somewhat similar

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notsosecretshipper@reddit

Loved putting that stuff on and staining my skin red. Pretty sure the bottle of it was older than I was and it seemed like it never ran out.

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OohBeesIhateEm@reddit

I’m 1984, never heard of this in my life

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Haus4593@reddit

Never heard a grown ass man scream louder.

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TheAskewOne@reddit

I hated it. For some reason I can't stand having stains on my skin so having to go around that red indelible red color for days was disgusting. Decades later I'm still disgusted by that color.

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PhysicsAndFinance85@reddit

I remember that bottle well. I'm pretty sure they came off the store shelf looking 20 years old.

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hoopstick@reddit

My parents just used iodine 🤷‍♂️

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nipplecancer@reddit

Never heard of this. We were a Bactine family.

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dabeeman@reddit

i have no idea what this and have never used it

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ShirazGypsy@reddit

I hope so, that shit sucked

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Kryptin206@reddit

I've heard of it from old tv shows, but never seen it before.

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ModBabboo@reddit

Definitely had it applied as a kid. It seemed to disappear after the '80s.

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Krissy_ok@reddit

I have some in the medicine box on top of my fridge. Bit newer than that fossil though

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Fast-Damage2298@reddit

We had a bottle of mecurochrome and a bottle of merthiolate in the cabinet all throughout the 1980s. Both bottles were at least 10-15 years old, but mom still used them on us.

Iirc, the merthiolate stung and the other didn't. Mom sort of randomly grabbed them when we had cuts. It was a 50/50 chance you would get the stingy one.

I wonder if those old bottles are still in the cabinet of her old house?

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Redneck-ginger@reddit

I used some 2 weeks ago. It was the only thing i could find at the hunting camp.

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myfrigginagates@reddit

Instead of using that my mom could have just cauterized my cuts with a hot poker from the fireplace. Same result for the cut, same insane burning sensation for me.

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marco3055@reddit

Yep, every scuffed knee after a fall, grandma to the rescue

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tgerz@reddit

Just learning what this right now (1982). Makes me think of getting a nasty cut when I was kid and my parents just pouring iodine all over it.

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1upjohn@reddit

I remember this being the default when getting any cuts or scrapes as a kid. It was banned in 1998.

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freshleysqueezd@reddit

Its featured in probably every Stephen King book.

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GreenZebra23@reddit

I have definitely heard that term before. That's the extent of my experience with it

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DisconcerteDinOC@reddit

I hated that stuff. Although, I DID survive childhood. Lol

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Suitable-Cat-4762@reddit

I still remember the smell of this stuff, and the sting on my cuts. Wow brought back some memories.

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Timlmmansdead@reddit

I remember this stuff vividly. Burns like fire. I was born in 91 haha

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FoppyRETURNS@reddit

I knew iodine was still a thing but never saw this!

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ruby_jewels@reddit

Yes!

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207Menace@reddit

My mimi had some and yes. Stung bad.

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laziestmarxist@reddit

Maybe because I grew up in a small town or maybe it was because of the military healthcare but I have vague and dim memories of this being used on my cuts when I was really little and absolutely hating it

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