Ask the Past: teenage drama

Just when I thought I would be taking a break from Ask the Past for a little while I received this message which felt like it needed a reply:

My teenage daughter is prone to conniptions and the vapours. How might one put a stop to these unhealthy behaviours?

Yours

A Father

The right treatment for the vapours, of course, is smelling salts, although several of the books I checked suggest snuff as an alternative. If you'd like to make your own smelling salts, here are a few recipes you can try.

Firstly, this simple recipe from The Housewife's What's What (1904):

Smelling salts. — Lumps of ammonia with lavender water over, in a glass bottle with stopper.

If you would prefer a more distinguished source, this recipe for Pearl Smelling Salts from The White House Cook Book (1887), although more complicated, is sure to make your fainting teenager feel important:

Powdered carbonate of ammonia one ounce, strong solution of ammonia half a fluid ounce, oil of rosemary ten drops, oil of bergamot ten drops. Mix, and while moist put in wide-mouthed bottle which is to be well closed.

And finally, from Henley's Twentieth Century Formulas (1916), this recipe:

Oil of lavender, one-fourth fluid ounce; caustic spirits of ammonia, three-eighths of a pint. Saturate with this preparation a bit of sponge, and place it in the vinaigrette; or pour it onto crystals of potassium sulphate with which you have first filled the vinaigrette. This preparation is excellent in cases of faintness or headache.

You might be wondering why you're adding your smelling salts to vinaigrette and how to avoid accidentally pouring the results all over your salad, but it turns out (according to Harmsworth's Household Encyclopedia (1922)) that a vinaigrette is actually "a small box, often made of silver and occasionally of gold, that is used for storing aromatic vinegar". Filled with any of the above recipes, it is sure to be extremely aromatic and very helpful in dealing with fits of the vapours on the go.

Coming to the second part of your question, the past is surprisingly unhelpful on the subject of how to deal with teenaged conniptions - you won't even find the word "teenager" in Papers Past until 1943, where it shows up in an ad for Premier Drapery in the 5 April 1943 edition of the Manawatu Standard. Here's what the fashionable teenager was wearing in 1943:

The choice for the Teenager: Fibro Wool Frocks in smart checked designs, featured in shirtwaist styles with pleated skirts. Predominating shades: Maroon, Brown, Green, and Grey. Sizes 33 to 42. Prices 47/6 to 52/6

I didn't have any luck finding out what fibro wool actually was, but it sounds uncomfortable. Possibly you could consider buying your teenager a maroon and green checked wool dress to wear on days when she is particularly difficult - at least then she would have a reason for it.

I'm sure that will help.