Almost everyone who lives in the territories of the post-Soviet space has long heard the name of the Golden Star ointment. In fact, this balm was created by Vietnamese doctors and was originally called “Vietnamese Star”.
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We owe our familiar name to American pharmacists, it was they who translated the original “Cao Sao vàng” as “Gold Star Balm”. In this form, he came to the USSR in 1975. The ointment became extremely popular and was used as a panacea for both colds and headaches, and some even used it for massage.
Vietnamese medicine often uses aromatic oils in medicines. Asterisk is no exception: it contains four different types of oils – eucalyptus, mint, clove and cinnamon, and menthol completes this list. It is he who provides such a pungent smell and creates a “chill” at the site of application.
As for the application, the balm was originally created to fight insect bite marks, and all other methods of use appeared already in the USSR. There were many ways. For example, if you have overcome a migraine, then you need to smear whiskey with an asterisk. And to treat a runny nose, just lightly apply the ointment under the nose. If it was necessary to alleviate the condition of the respiratory tract, then they smeared the back, bronchi, throat and heels. The ingenuity in the use of the balm has even gone beyond medicine. Smokers came up with an original method: they put an “asterisk” on cigarettes, which caused them to acquire a pleasant menthol flavor.
Interestingly, the appearance of the jar of ointment is also not from the Soviet Union. But this did not prevent the scarlet jar with a star from being closely intertwined with Soviet reality. Perhaps that is why it has not been visually changed so much, and now we see the same packaging as many years ago.
