What is asfidity?

Answer 1

Asfidity was a block of some type of herb with a very strong pungent smell. I know it was sold in the 1950's through the early 1980's. I am sure it was available much earlier but I remember my grandmother would pinch off a small piece of it and put in in a small piece of sackcloth and pin it to the insides of our shirt or dress... it was pinned close to the chest area. She said that it warded off diseases and we had to wear it to school everyday. We used to laugh and say the reason we didn't get sick was because we smelled funny and no one wanted to get close to us. When my children came along in the 70's and 80's I made them wear it also. I am not sure if it helped or not..but I believed in it and they really were never sick that much. I now have grandchildren and have tried to find it but it is no longer sold. I am not sure what it really was...I am thinking some kind of herb.

Answer 2

It certainly dates back to early 1900's. My father wore an asfidity bag in the "Spanish Flu" epidemic of 1918. Also, in the early 1920's he was subjected to it to ward off other maladies. He said the odor was absolutely horrible.

Interestingly enough, my other grandparents wore an onion tied around their neck in the 1918 epidemic and survived, even though they assisted in preparing bodies for burial since there were so many deaths.

Answer 3

We wore it around our neck in the 40s when Polio was an epidemic,

Answer 4

A medical used in the 1940 s

Answer 5

A medicine used in the 1940s