Page "lore" Paragraph 746

Bedbugs were a common pest in pioneer days ; ;

to keep them out of homes, even in the 1900's, was a chore.

Bed slats were washed in alum water, legs of beds were placed in cups of kerosene, and all woodwork was treated liberally with corrosive sublimate, applied with a feather.

Kerosene was very effective in ridding pioneer homes of the pests.

At times pioneer children got lice in their hair.

A kerosene shampoo seems a heroic treatment, but it did the job.