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 highs 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
#3 Joan Trumpauer Mulholland Was Arrested For Protesting In 1961
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 medicine. That's because constipation is a side effect of opiates.
But before you judge, remember that those who came before us knew no better.
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 in anesthetics.
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 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
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.
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.
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...
