These days, hacks of all sorts are given out freely over the internet. But in those good old days, Hacks were cough drops stocked in a tall red tin, that featured a semi-botak man coughing into a handkerchief. In the 1960s, we paid something like 5 cents for 2 pieces.
Each sweet was about the size of an olive, but flattened and packaged in a brilliant orangey-red transparent wrapper. Deep grayish-black in colour, it delivered a mighty menthol-mint punch to soothe our tender throats which had been ravaged by frequent bouts of cough.
Over the years, milder versions were marketed – the Honey Lemon first, followed by a variety of other flavours – to serve the later generations who could not endure the rigours of strong remedies, preferring softer options instead. Never mind, I still stick by the old.
Eh hem ! Eh hem !
Punny Memories 