Almost everyone living 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 the American pharmacists, it was they who translated the original “Cao Sao vàng” as “Gold Star Balm”. In this form, it 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 massages.
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 “shiver” at the application site.
As for the application, the balm was originally created to combat the signs of insect bites, and all other methods of use appeared already in the USSR. There were many ways. For example, if you have overcome a migraine, you need to smear the whiskey with an asterisk. And to treat a runny nose, lightly apply the ointment under the nose. If it was necessary to relieve the condition of the respiratory tract, then they smeared the back, bronchi, throat and heels. The ingenuity in the use of balm has even gone beyond medicine. Smokers came up with an original method: they put an “asterisk” on cigarettes, which made them acquire a pleasant menthol flavor.
Interestingly, the appearance of the ointment jar is also not from the Soviet Union. But this did not prevent the scarlet vase with a star from being closely intertwined with Soviet reality. Maybe that’s why it hasn’t been visually modified so much and now we see the same packaging from many years ago.
