Active discussions

Meet the Other Phone. A phone that grows with your child.

Meet the Other Phone.
A phone that grows with your child.

Buy now

Please or to access all these features

Talk
Chat

Join the discussion and chat with other Mumsnetters about everyday life, relationships and parenting.

Original poster

When did Calpol get invented?

147 replies

AcidTest · 26/07/2023 19:57

I was just reminiscing about being ill as a child and my mum giving me a dissolvable aspirin in a glass of orange squash. It tasted vile!

I don't remember taking paracetamol for pain relief until I started my periods at 13, and even then I had to ask my mum to get some in and then learn to swallow them whole! Initially she gave me a small glass of brandy and hot water- odd choice for a teenager, but we had no painkillers in the house!

I'm just wondering a what point did calpol become so ubiquitous, and aspirin stopped being used as pain relief in children?

I guessing it might have been the 80s at some point?

OP posts:
ShowOfHands · 26/07/2023 19:58

Calpol was launched in 1959 by Calmic Limited, based in Crewe. (It's likely the Calpol brand name comes from the contraction of “Calmic” and “paracetamol”.) At the time, paracetamol was being given to children in solution and tasted extremely bitter; Calmic was the first to suspend it in a sweet, flavoured syrup

CornishGem1975 · 26/07/2023 19:58

No idea. I am early 40s and my mum used to crush paracetamol tablets in a spoonful of milk for me to take.

NancyJoan · 26/07/2023 19:59

I definitely only ever had Disprin as a child. Paracetamol tablets from 12 or 13.

Interested in this thread?

Then you might like threads about this subject:

General health
Tailfeather · 26/07/2023 19:59

1959!!!! I don't remember having any medicine as a child at all.

dementedpixie · 26/07/2023 20:00

I'm sure it was disprin dissolved on a teaspoon that I was given as a child. It did not taste nice!

Original poster
AcidTest · 26/07/2023 20:02

ShowOfHands · 26/07/2023 19:58

Calpol was launched in 1959 by Calmic Limited, based in Crewe. (It's likely the Calpol brand name comes from the contraction of “Calmic” and “paracetamol”.) At the time, paracetamol was being given to children in solution and tasted extremely bitter; Calmic was the first to suspend it in a sweet, flavoured syrup

Maybe it was very expensive then, although presumably free on prescription. Why was aspirin used more commonly then?

OP posts:
Sirzy · 26/07/2023 20:02

I was born 84 and remember having calpol as a child.

DanceMumTaxi · 26/07/2023 20:04

I’m 41 and definitely remember having calpol.

NineteenForever · 26/07/2023 20:04

I'm a child of the 70s and we had Junior Disprin until I think about the mid 80s when they discovered it wasn't good for kids and presumably started to market the paracetamol version.
Yes Junior Disprin in orange squash was awful- I recommend dispersible tablets in lemonade, so much better!

GellerYeller · 26/07/2023 20:07

I remember Junior Disprin, was it supposed to be dissolved? And Karvol, gripe mixture, Tyrozets. All gone now I think. Chalky tart tasting fruity Sanatogen kids vitamins too. Little coloured chalky spherical tablets.

QueSyrahSyrah · 26/07/2023 20:08

Born in 1983 and never remember having anything other than Calpol.

If I concentrate hard enough I can still taste it.

Original poster
AcidTest · 26/07/2023 20:09

NineteenForever · 26/07/2023 20:04

I'm a child of the 70s and we had Junior Disprin until I think about the mid 80s when they discovered it wasn't good for kids and presumably started to market the paracetamol version.
Yes Junior Disprin in orange squash was awful- I recommend dispersible tablets in lemonade, so much better!

I was born in 75 so my aspirin in squash memories are from late 70s and early 80s.

OP posts:
Shitzngiggles · 26/07/2023 20:09

Born in the 60's. We used to have a crushed up aspirin in a teaspoon with a little bit of sugar and milk.

OhhhhhhhhBiscuits · 26/07/2023 20:11

I am 46 and had calpol as a kid. Tasted a lot sweeter than today as it had a ton of sugar in it.

mnahmnah · 26/07/2023 20:11

I was a child of the 80s and was always handed a bottle of Lucozade when I was ill…

AmbleInAnnBoleyn · 26/07/2023 20:11

We had disprol (?) that fizzed in a glass, horrid tasting stuff.

Also kaolin and morphine for upset tummies! (This was known as 'concrete')

60s baby.

PerspiringElizabeth · 26/07/2023 20:12

I’m nearly 34 and absolutely had Calpol as a kid. Crushed paracetamol in milk sounds awful!

CornishGem1975 · 26/07/2023 20:13

PerspiringElizabeth · 26/07/2023 20:12

I’m nearly 34 and absolutely had Calpol as a kid. Crushed paracetamol in milk sounds awful!

I mean, it wasn't my favourite treat!

JessicaBrassica · 26/07/2023 20:13

Junior dispirin in our house, and then dispensable solpadeine (mum had it on prescription ) until I left home and found tablets! I had disgusting medicine when I was in hospital with an infection in 1980 (aged 5) - never forgotten the taste and after dosing my own kids with calpol, spilling some and licking my fingers I realized what I had in hospital!

GrannyAchingsShepherdsHut · 26/07/2023 20:13

Sirzy · 26/07/2023 20:02

I was born 84 and remember having calpol as a child.

Same, on both counts!

Only other medicine I remember was something that supposedly tasted of banana and was really grainy. Probably an antibiotic of some sort?

NuffSaidSam · 26/07/2023 20:14

GellerYeller · 26/07/2023 20:07

I remember Junior Disprin, was it supposed to be dissolved? And Karvol, gripe mixture, Tyrozets. All gone now I think. Chalky tart tasting fruity Sanatogen kids vitamins too. Little coloured chalky spherical tablets.

Your medicine cupboard was identical to ours.

GrannyAchingsShepherdsHut · 26/07/2023 20:16

mnahmnah · 26/07/2023 20:11

I was a child of the 80s and was always handed a bottle of Lucozade when I was ill…

DF looked after me one day when I was ill, which was unusual. DM was a sahp for a lot of my childhood.

He gave me absolutely loads of lucozade. I remember DM coming home and having a proper go at him. I'd probably had about 3 litres of the stuff!

MargaretThursday · 26/07/2023 20:16

I was born in the 70s and remember Calpol. We had dissolved aspirin as we got older until the link between having aspirin aged under 12 and something (Reye's syndrome?) meant that it wasn't advised. I remember being a bit put out as I found dissolved aspirin much more palatable when I had a migraine.

GrannyAchingsShepherdsHut · 26/07/2023 20:18

I remember being sent to school with little red sweets for a sore throat. Like little gummy sweets that tasted really nice until the suger on the outside was sucked off, then they were gross. Throaties? Something like that.