AePIX_Vamos

Vámos, Gabriella,
HNM PCC Semmelweis Museum, Library and Archive of the History of Medicine + ELTE BTK Institute of Ethnography and Folklore Budapest, HU

“They blew sugar on it to alleviate the pain …” Details on the role of sugar in folk eye treatment in the 18th-20 th centuries
DOI: https://doi.org/10.71067/AePIX-2025-267-286 
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Aegyptus et Pannonia IX, Acta Symposii anno 2023, objects and Concepts.
Proceedings of the Conference held 19th-20th Januar, 2023, Budapest; ed. by Hedvig Győry.
Published by The Ancient Egyptian Committee of the Hungarian-Egyptian Friendship Society, Budapest 2025.
ISBN: 978-615-6571-04-5 (printed), ISBN 978-615-6571-05-2 (pdf); DOI: https://doi.org/10.71067/AePIX-2025
Soft cover. No Jacket. 1.st Edition. 18+380 pages (24x17), with colour pictures.

Abstract
The consumption of sugar was introduced in the broader society during the late 18 th century with the spread of beet sugar. However, it remained a luxury item among the peasantry until the early 1900s. After World War I, the use of sugar by peasants increased, and the number of sugary festive dishes also rose. The 1920s marked the beginning of the sugar jam and jelly-making era. For the poorer sections of peasant society, consuming sugar outside of high holidays was rare. Therefore, it is no coincidence that sugar has become a little-used ingredient in folk medicine. While researching the collections of the Semmelweis Museum, Library, and Archive of the History of Medicine, as well as the Folk Medicine Archive, it became apparent that sugar was also used as an element in treating eye diseases, such as cataracts and trachoma, in addition to aiding wound healing and treating the common cold. My study focuses on the role of sugar in the treatment of eye diseases. By putting the use of sugar in a new perspective, it seeks to answer questions about the effects of the healing images and practices associated with this sweet ingredient.