Black Salve in Comic Books

[warren5421]

I was trying to remember the name of the salve sold in ten cent comic books in the 50's and 60's. I also wondered if it is still sold as dad always had me use it on the old milk cow in the winter.

[ebb]

Dad told me he got his first 22 rifle for selling Cloverine salve when he was a kid.

[Skipper]

FDA says don't use it
https://www.fda.gov/consumers/consumer-updates/do-not-use-black-salve-dangerous-and-called-many-names

319713
This patient suffered the loss of his left naris (nostril) and surrounding tissue as a result of using corrosive black salve ointment to treat suspected melanoma. Photo courtesy of the U.S. Department of Veteran’s Affairs

[Froogal]

I was trying to remember the name of the salve sold in ten cent comic books in the 50's and 60's. I also wondered if it is still sold as dad always had me use it on the old milk cow in the winter.

We always used a product called "Bag Balm". It comes in a square, green can. Probably can find it at your local farm store.

[jdfoxinc]

Walgreens Carrie's bag balm. It can also be used as a swaging lubricant.

[MostlyLeverGuns]

Cloverine was the salve in the comic books, I sold some myself. It was not black, looked like petroleum jelly(Vaseline), maybe some lanolin, beeswax like most of the hand creams. Bag Balm started out in feed and farm supply to protect and heal cow and goat udders(bags) in wet and cold weather.

[Mr Peabody]

We always used the salve in the yellow can, udder eze I think it was. Bag Balm stung the nicks and cuts on their teats

[MostlyLeverGuns]

There are/were a few yellow tubes and cans - Dr Naylor's Udder Balm, Corona Salve, Corona Udder Butter - all yellow, I always liked the Corona Udder Butter for hands - used on heels of horses to keep from cracking when it got wet and sloppy. Bag Balm was always to stiff when cold for me. There's an d Udderly EZ milking machine, they probably made a salve, and a few other 'udder creams' that I haven't used.

[HWooldridge]

Ichthammol ointment is the proper term for what we always called drawing salve (and it's dark brown to black color). We used it to help remove splinters and thorns that got imbedded in the body. Put a little on the entry site then cover with a band-aid. The thorn would usually work its way to the surface within a couple days.

[choctaw/creek]

The black salve that we use is Prid Salve. It works well as a drawing salve but use it only as directed because it can can some less than ideal effects.

[schutzen-jager]

Watson's petro carbo salve was black back then - sold by door to door salesmen - do not remember the one sold in comics -

[IHuntDragons]

FDA says don't use it
https://www.fda.gov/consumers/consumer-updates/do-not-use-black-salve-dangerous-and-called-many-names

319713
This patient suffered the loss of his left naris (nostril) and surrounding tissue as a result of using corrosive black salve ointment to treat suspected melanoma. Photo courtesy of the U.S. Department of Veteran’s Affairs

So it was the salve that destroyed the tissue and not the basically untreated skin cancer?

[36g]

Watson's petro carbo salve was black back then - sold by door to door salesmen - do not remember the one sold in comics -

I believe that you are referring to Watkins Petro Carbo Salve. It was a medicated salve containing the usual petrolatum and resins as well as phenolic acid. It was indeed black or dark back in the day. Formulation has changed over the years to comply with changing federal regulations as it has to comply with FDA OTC drug monographs.

[William Yanda]

Watkins had a black salve. Definitely not to be confused with Bag Balm or Cloverine.

[36g]

Watkins had a black salve. Definitely not to be confused with Bag Balm or Cloverine.

You are correct. If memory serves me correctly, it was introduced in the 1880's or so as a general purpose salve for animals and humans. Came in a large red tin. I oversaw Watkins' collection of historical old product samples for a number of years prior to them establishing their company museum and also tracked the formulation changes.