Poison Ivy

Eaton Rapids Joe was talking about poison ivy recently (I couldn't find the post), but it sent me into my memory banks, to find an old-home remedy that we used years ago to protect ourselves against the inching, burning, scritchty rash that shows you've been in contact with the stuff.

Lead.  Yeah, that's right.  The same stuff we make bullets from.  Years ago, I heard about lead against the skin as a protection against poison ivy, so I tried it myself.  Simply to tie a lead bullet on a string and wear it against your skin.  We trued it when we lived in the country, a place where poison ivy was a constant companion, and it worked for us.   Later during that period, I even carved some crosses into wood and poured molten lead into those rustic molds for some of the lady-folk.  They wore them around their necks and were also protected.

Go Google it, you won't find anything on it, but it's always been my experience that raw lead, worn against the skin, protects against poison ivy.  Don't aske me how or why it worked.  I didn't care.  All I knew that with rour kids running wild through the woods, I suddenly wasn't buying as much calamine lotion.