HOT WEATHER TIPS: RECOGNIZING HEAT RELATED PROBLEMS, SOLUTIONS, AND PERIOD COLD BEVERAGES [Reproduced from The Campbell Crier, July 1999 edition]

By Virginia Mescher

We are now entering summer and attending hot weather events, and there are some points that everyone should be aware when attending a summer event. Most of us live air conditioning at home and work in an air conditioned atmosphere, so that when we attend an event and are unaccustomed to the heat of the sun and increased humidity, some people have problems dealing with the extreme circumstances. Even people used to being out in the heat need to be careful when it is extremely hot. It is not a new problem, and if one reads accounts of the troops on the march to Gettysburg, there is mention of many of the men who succumbed to the heat.

There are three stages of heat related problems: heat cramps, heat exhaustion, and heat stroke. Heat cramps are the least serious, but give a warning that trouble is approaching. One's heart rate may increase, they may feel faint, be dizzy, be very tired, have very hot skin and sweaty skin and a red face, and possibly have nausea or vomiting. Heat exhaustion is more serious with the symptoms similar to heat cramps, but confusion sets in and the body temperature increases. Heat stroke is the most serious and if left untreated, brain damage can occur. Some of the symptoms that may occur with heat stroke are hot, dry skin, dry mouth, mental confusion, headache, shallow breathing, loss of consciousness, hysteria, and extreme weakness.

If someone is suffering from heat exhaustion or heat stroke, get help immediately. Get them out of the heat, remove the outer layers of clothing, and loosen any tight clothing, lay them down with the legs elevated, fan them and if the person has dry skin, keep them wet.

DO'S AND DON'TS TO DEAL WITH THE HEAT

DO condition yourself before a hot weather event. If you are going to have to walk a great deal, get used to walking beforehand. If you are not used to being outside in the heat, get out in the heat and walk and get more used to the change in conditions. Go slowly at first and then build up your exposure to the heat.

DO drink lots of water before, during and after an event. Your body sweats and fluids must be replenished. Avoid caffeine and highly sugared beverages, such as soft drinks since caffeine and sugar act as diuretics and cause you to loose more fluid. The popular sports drinks are not necessary and only end up giving you more calories than you need. According to Stephen Oreck, MD, electrolytes do not need replacing since our diet is salty enough at an event. Alcoholic beverages can be dangerous, since alcohol is also a diuretic and interferes with the body's temperature regulation. Water is the best drink, but some safe alternative period beverages will be discussed later.

DO keep you canteen full and soldiers if your canteen is empty and if there is no water available, take a hit and rest.

DODO realize that if you are thirsty, your body is already 15% dehydrated. Don't wait until you are thirsty to drink.

DO be aware of how often you urinate and if possible the color of the flow. You should be drinking enough liquids that you need to urinate at least every two hours and the urine should be clear yellow; if it is dark yellow or orange, you are in trouble and get fluids into you immediately.

DON'T drink caffeinated, sweet, or alcoholic beverages. They act as diuretics and can play havoc with your body temperature.

WAYS TO HELP YOU STAY COOLER

Make sure that you are wearing all natural fabrics. The natural fibers will wick out the moisture and act as a desert cooler. You don't want to trap the heat and moisture in.

Keep a wet or damp cloth on the back of your neck. At the fabric dries out, re-wet it and continue to wear it. There are some products that can be wet ahead of time and worn like a neckerchief, that stay wet for hours, and you don't need to keep wetting them. These items are filled with some beads that absorb water and will stay wet for a number of hours. They can be purchased in period looking fabrics which are fairly unobtrusive. Ladies can wear either a kerchief or collar over the neck cooler. There also is a product, made by the same company, that is round and can be wet and worn under a hat and cool the top of your head. One period remedy to keep cool while wearing a hat, was to wear a cabbage leaf on the top of your head under the hat.

Stay in the shade as much as possible and use a fan.

When it is extremely hot and humid, restrict your activity as much as possible.

DRINK WATER.

PERIOD RECIPES

For those of you who like to prepare period recipes, there are some that you can make and drink in addition to the water. They do have sugar in them, but do not contain as much sugar as soft or sports drinks. I have included some of the recipes below in a previous Campbell Crier but since we have some new members, I thought it would be appropriate to repeat some of them.

The following are some period beverages that I found in mentioned in diaries and period cookbooks: lemonade, cider, ginger beer (a soft drink), fruit shrubs or vinegars, switchel, barley water, sugar water (eau sucre), and effervescing beverages.

Lemonade was always a favorite, and any modern recipe for lemonade is fine to use. Raspberry or strawberry juice may be added for pink lemonade. Mother Bickerdyke prepared pink lemonade for "her boys." Since lemons were not always available, "portable lemonade" commercial mixes could be purchased and there were many recipes for lemonade mixes. Lemonade mixes were found in the cargo of the Steamboat Bertrand and listed in Sanitary Commission stores. In the January, 1863 of Godey's there was a recipe for portable lemonade which I have made and found it as good as "Countrytime" lemonade mixes. "Take of tartaric acid, half an ounce; loaf sugar [may use granulated sugar], three ounces; essence of lemon [lemon essential oil] half a drachm [p teaspoon]. Powder the tartaric acid and sugar very fine in a marble or Wedgewood mortar; mix them together, and pour the essence of lemon upon them, but a few drops at a time, stirring the mixture after each addition, till the whole is added; then mix them thoroughly, and divide it into twelve equal parts, wrapping each up separately in a piece of white paper. When wanted for use, it is only necessary to dissolve it [one tablespoon] in tumbler of cold water, and fine lemonade will be obtained, containing the flavor of the juice and peel of the lemon, and ready sweetened." The Practical Housewife published a receipt for effervescing lemonade: "boil two pounds of white sugar with a pint of lemon-juice, bottle and cork. Put a tablespoonful of the syrup into a tumbler about three parts full of cold water, add twenty grains [1/3 teaspoon] of carbonate of soda [baking soda], and drink quickly." [For a non-effervescing beverage, the baking soda may be omitted and just use the lemon syrup mixed with water.]

Among other fruit beverages that were enjoyed was appleade. The Practical Housewife gave the following recipe for this favorite beverage. "Cut two large apples in slices, pour a quart of boiling water on them, strain well and sweeten. To be drunk when cold or iced."

Ginger beer [non-alcoholic] was also favored, but it was not always convenient to carry the pre bottled variety. Catherine Beecher in her Domestic Receipt Book gave several recipes for powdered drinks. The following seem to be the very practical. "Ginger Beer Powders and Soda Powders: Put into blue papers, thirty grains [p teaspoon] to each paper of bicarbonate of soda [baking soda] five grains [1/12 teaspoon] of powdered ginger, and a drachm [1 teaspoon] of white powdered sugar. Put into white papers, twenty-five grains [scant p teaspoon] to each, of powdered tartaric acid. Put one paper of each kind to a half a pint of water. The common soda powders of the shops are like the above, and when the sugar and ginger are omitted. Soda powders can be kept on hand, and the water in which they are used can be flavored with any kind of syrup or tincture, and thus make a fine drink for hot weather." [Ginger is a remedy for a nausea or stomach cramps.]

Other summer beverages fall into the category of shrubs, fruit vinegars or switchels. These are very refreshing in hot weather, because they replace electrolytes, and are based on a mixture of vinegar, a sweetener (honey, molasses, brown sugar or white sugar) and water. Plain switchel or haymaker's switchel consists of p cup each of cider vinegar and a sweetener, and seven cups of water. Combine the vinegar and sweetener of choice until well mixed and add it to the water. Chill. Optional: add 1 teaspoon of powdered ginger to the mixture, which helps prevent stomach cramps or nausea. Raspberry (or other fruit) shrubs were given to sick persons, but were also enjoyed by all during hot weather. Buckeye Cookery included the following recipe for raspberry shrub, "place red raspberries in a stone jar, cover with good cider vinegar, let stand over night; next morning strain, and to one pint of juice add one pint of sugar, boil ten minutes, and bottle while hot." The syrup was mixed with cold water for a refreshing beverage. To make raspberry shrub using modern ingredients, combine equal parts of raspberry (or other fruit) vinegar and honey, mix well and combine two tablespoons of the vinegar mixture and add to one cup of cold water. Another modern method combines one tablespoon fruit flavored pancake syrup and one tablespoon cider vinegar with one cup cold water. [Some shrub recipes contained alcohol, but avoid these, since alcohol and extreme heat do not mix.]

Summer would not be complete without iced tea. It was a beverage used in the South at the time of the Civil War. The first reference that I found that mentioned iced tea was How to Live by Solon Robinson in 1860. He wrote, "Last summer we got in the habit of taking the tea iced, and really thought it better than when hot." Since caffeine should not be consumed, decaffeinated tea may be used.

These are just a few of the available beverages that can be consumed at a summer event, but just remember one thing: DRINK, DRINK, AND DRINK MORE WATER AND RECOMMENDED BEVERAGES.

REFERENCES

Beecher, Catherine. Domestic Receipt-Book: Designed as a Supplement to her Treatise on Domestic Economy. Harper Bros. New York, 1857.

Beeton, Isabella. Beeton's Book of Household Management. Facsimile edition by Farrar, Strauss, Giroux. New York, 1977.

Brown, John Hull. Early American Beverages. Charles E. Fuller. Rutland, VT, 1966.

Child, Lydia Maria. The American Frugal Housewife. Applewood Press, Bedford, MA, reprint of edition by Carter, Hendee & Co. Boston, 1833.

_______. Godey's Lady's Book. Sarah Josepha Hale (editor), Louis Godey (publisher), Philadelphia, various issues from 1857 through 1866.

Haskell, Mrs. E. F. Housekeeper's Encyclopedia. R. L. Shep. Mendocino, CA, 1992, reprint of edition by D. Appleton, New York, 1860.

Hooker, Richard. Food & Drink in America. Bobbs-Merrill Co. New York, 1981.

Johnson, Sharon Peregrine & Byron. The Authentic Guide to Drinks of the Civil War Era. Thomas Publications. Gettysburg, PA, 1992.

Leslie, Eliza. Directions for Cookery. Carey & Hart, Philadelphia, 1848.

Lowery, W, EMS provider. Correspondence on heat problems via cw-reenactors mailing list on Internet.

Oreck, Steven, MD. Correspondence on heat problems via cw-reenactors mailing list on Internet.

Randolph, Mary. The Virginia Housewife. University of South Carolina Press Columbia, 1991, reprint of edition by Davis & Force, Washington, [DC], 1824, 1825, and 1828.

___________. The Sanitary Commission of the United States Army: A Succinct Narrative of its Works and Purposes. United States Sanitary Commission. New York, 1864.

Steamboat Bertrand Cargo Manifests. Steamboat Bertrand Museum. DeSoto National Wildlife Refuge, Missouri Valley, IA.

Wilcox, Estelle Woods. Buckeye Cookery and Practical Housekeeping. Minnesota Historical Society Press. St. Paul, 1988, reprint of 1877 edition by the First Congregational Church. Marysville, OH also published as the Dixie Cookbook in 1883.

Copyright ©1999 by Virginia Mescher. All rights reserved. May not be reproduced without permission.

---

Return to The Reference Room