Oh my goodness...my mother had some interesting ones.
We got our mouth washed out with soap for cussing, spanked with a wooden spoon for being very naughty! Only once in a great while tho mind you..it wasnt a common occurance by any means.
My dad only had us go and cut a switch from a tree once. Like an idiot I am thinking...oh get a little thin one it shouldnt hurt. Oh I never did anything worth a spanking again after that lol
The very worst punishment for me was when I got my books taken away
The best punishment, well, maybe not best, but most imaginative was when I REALLY screwed up at age 15ish. I don't recall now what I did...but i believe it was mouthing off, the typical "you're not the boss of me" stuff, and pretty much being a brat. I left for school, and came home to find that I had nothing. Nothing. My room had been cleaned out so that I had a bed, a weeks worth of clothes, a lamp and my desk for school work. That was pretty much it. Everything was gone from the bathroom except the basics...hairbrush, hair dryer, toothbrush, toothpaste and towels etc. I had to earn all my stuff back. It was so awful!! But I look back now and I admit that it worked. Took me 6 weeks to earn stuff back. That was the last time I ever mouthed off to my parents.
Now, not quite a punishment but I sure felt it was was when I got my first job. My parents sat down and looked at how much i brought home and said well, you are 16 ...time to pull your weight. I had to pay 1/4 of the electric bill, 1/4 of the water bill, 1/4 phone bill as well as rent lol I was just OMG. However, I never saw the bills...my dad would just tell me what it was and I would pay him. Now, I didnt know at the time, but he was squirreling all that money I paid him away in an acct for me, and teaching me how to budget and be responsible. I was so shocked when I moved out on my own, and my father and mother gave me a check with all the money I had paid them over the years. It was several thousand dollars worth! It was so nice to know that I had earned it and that I had something to fall back on if needed.