Question

Anyone Heard of Asphidity (Asafoetida) Bags?

To ward off the Spanish flu virus, colds and other diseases people used folk medicine remedies, medicine bags called 'Asphidity' bags The bags were filled with awful smelly herbs, (that is what my Great Grandma Nannie Mary Spencer/ Snell called her bag) worn usually on a string around her neck. But others pinned to there under garments. Nannie was a tiny, tough lady. Those herbs must have kept Nannie safe, because she killed a Fox that was roaming around her house in her 90’s and made front page news in Winchester, Franklin County, Tennessee.

Here is my family tree:https://www.wikitree.com/treewidget/Solomon-2474/5

Comments

Asafoetida:  https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Asafoetida

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Wow… Thanks Kathy. I never would have thought there was another spelling for Asphidity Bags( Asafoetida.)

Who would ever have thought you can actually purchase the ingredients in powder form at a Compound Pharmacy.

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I've come across Asafoetida as an ingredient, in Indian cookery books.

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Hi Gillian,

Thanks for taking time to communicate about the Asphidity Bags.

I am thrilled you found out Asafoetida was in an Indian Cookery Book. Do you have the exact source? I am hoping your book might tell which Indian Tribe it originated from? As I know I have to be part Indian, however my DNA does not show it, nor have I found any documentation in the Spencer or Snell line that shows which Tribe they were from. I suspect Cherokee.

Thanks,

Terri Solomon / McGhee

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Indian cookery, as in the subcontinent.  Not a Native tribe that I know of.

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I have read about them for years.  Lots of snide remarks in 1900s fiction books.

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Jane,

Thanks so much for communicating.

Terri

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Beulah,

I I can only imagine what people would think and say. Ha

Answer 1

I had to stop by and see what this was all about. How interesting! I learn something new every day.

Comments

Glad you took time to learn something new Emma..

Pretty interesting stuff.

My mom said she felt like her grandma wore that stinky bag around her neck to keep her hubby away. Nannie Snell had nine kids. GGrandma Snell was pregnant with a child, at the same exact time as their own daughter Wilma, who was pregnant at age 18. Nannie already had 8 kids 1920.

My grandma was Wilma Snell. Wilma was pregnant with my moms brother JC, (now deceased), at the same time as her own mom Nannie Spencer/ Snell, who was pregnant at age 41 with Cecil Snell born in 1921. JC was the oldest son of Wilma and Earl Weaver. Wilma and Earl Weaver had three kids, with the oldest being 12 years difference from my mom ( the youngest), now age 86.

Guess they had no birth control back then…. so the Asphidity bags were it. Ha

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Ha ha! Thanks for the good laugh

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You bet cha!

Answer 2

Good job granny, killing that fox!  

I had the 80 year old janitor of the church chase me with a straw broom!  He was mad.  Ouch!  Dear old Brother Angelo from Italy.  He was a WWII immigrant and lost his son on a sub.

Comments

OMG…. That’s a funny story Clifford.
Terri

Answer 3

The bag held a Garlic clove or Ramp clove and was worn around the neck when one was in bed sick.  That was supposed to help them get well or ward off bad ailments. The pioneers knew what natural herbs and plants were for medicinal purposes such as Comfy leaves for tea to treat bronchial ailments.  My mother said she brushed her teeth with a Willow limb.  A poultice made of cloth filled with medicinal herbs or plants was heated and used to draw out pus that had built up in a wound or to place on a sore muscle. Just a little extra info about pioneer herbal medicines from my Mom.

Comments

Very interesting Mary Lou!!

Terri

Answer 4

Oh yes, when I was a child, we had a neighbor lady, who believed that it warded off all kind of illnesses.

Comments

Daniel Bly,

That’s amazing. Was your neighbor part American Indian?