The "From The Smell of Good Samaritan To Aunt Jemima Syrup" Story

It was an ordinary day.  Recently saw a product for sale on eBay that brought back memories from my childhood.  It was a small tin of Good Samaritan Ointment.  

Lid of the tin of Good Samaritan Ointment

Stuff used to do wonders for healing small cuts, brush burns and even helped in extracting splinters if I may have had any.  And...it didn't hurt the same as Mercuro- chrome or Iodine!  For many of you reading this, you may have no idea this product looked like, smelled like or even the color of it.  I began to search more on eBay and even found a bottle of Good Samaritan which was a liquid.  Now...was that an external healing salve, or a liquid "healer" that solved many other problems?  

Now comes in a tube I was told.

Wanting more information on Good Samaritan, I took to my computer and a few of Lancaster's Facebook pages.  Asked readers what they knew about the Good Samaritan Ointment, or salve.  The first response told me it was an antiphlogistic and antiseptic preparation, to be used as an aid in the treatment of: surface burns and scalds, sunburn, windbag, chapped hands, dry or cracked skin, relief of corn pains and other skin irritations.  It acts beneficially when used as a poultice for stains and minor muscular aches, caused by fatigue or exertion, and tender, tired or burning feet.  I also found out that it is still made, but in plastic tubes.  Well, the first thing I did was look up some of the words the person wrote.  

Another type of healing salve.

Found out that antipholgistic is a medicine for reducing inflammation or fever and poultice is a soft, moist mass of material, typically of plant material or flour, applied to the body to relieve soreness and inflammation and kept in place with a cloth.  I then asked if someone could tell me what it smelled like.   One person told me it came in a small tin can and was cream in color.  She, or he,  said it was good to draw out splinters, glass or anything you may have stepped on.  One person said they loved the smell.  Put it on a bandaid, placed it over top of a splinter and viola, it drew the splinter out.  Another told me  it was food for colds, coldsores, sore holes and pimples on the ass.  So, there you have it!  One woman wrote that her Aunt Isabel made her own stuff that worked like a miracle on ulcers in your mouth.  It had yellow sulfur in it and a sweet flavor.  No thanks!  Darlene remembered a salve in a tin, but thought it was called Colverine brand salve.  Mike's grandfather always had Peterson's Ointment.  

A different type of Good Samaritan??

Debbie told me that she loved the smell of Good Samaritan.  Marge said she still had a tin of it.  Carol said that's a new one to her...never heard of it.  Can you still get it?  Charles said it looked like putty.  An old friend, Russell, told me they still make it, but it goes off the shelf so fast you never see it.  Told me if I want some he would tell his daughter to save me a tube, since she is a pharmacist.  Daniel said he thought it was made in Lancaster,  although an ad for it said Norristown, PA.  Connie wondered if it was like Porters Ointment.  John said he remembers it as a cream and not an oil.  Diane said they used Vicks.  Her mom would sew camphor in their undershirts.  Then Gwen told me she loved that magazine!  Wrong post, Gwen.  

The rear of the can of Good Samaritan.

Jackie told me she loved the pink salve that was put-on a cloth and heated before it was put on your chest for a cold.  Wanted to know if anyone knew what it was called.  Naturally, Jeannie remem- bered it was Numotizine.   Jack told me that his family always had a can of Good Samaritan salve in the medicine cabinet from when he was little on up.  He told me he was 76, so this product is quite old.  Then he told me it smells oddly like his insulin, but still a pleasant smell.  Didn't smell like the black colored substance that smelled like asphalt, but also worked.  The responses when on and on and on.  And, only Jack told me it didn't smell like asphalt.  One of the latest responses was from another Larry who said, "Can't help you with the oil question, but I just wanted to say Hello, hope all is well.  Thanks, Larry.  I often wondered, as I read on and on, if anyone actually read the original post asking for help with the smell of Good Samaritan.  Time to turn off my computer, since someone just told me their favorite syrup was Old Jemima Syrup.  It was another extraordinary day in the life of an ordinary guy.