#patentmedicine

[orjustthinkit]

That’ll definitely do 💀

#patentMedicine #cocaine #heroin #laudanum #wtf #speedball

[curiouscatalog]

Cover: The New York Almanac. New York : Centaur Company, 1889

#almanac #1889 #advertising #patentmedicine #castoria #vintageadvertisement #vintagead #beckwith #petersburg #va #virginia #rarebooks #specialcollections #libraryofva

[librarycompany]

Drs. Starkey & Palen's Compound Oxygen claims to aid any number of ailments from headaches to tuberculosis, just inhaling this cure will increase blood flow to where it needs to go. Or, maybe just breathe some fresh air. The seaworthy man in this picture may be doing both, or maybe he’s about to dump the bottle’s contents into the sea. 

[Drs. Starkey & Palen's Compound Oxygen, 1529 Arch Street, Philadelphia] [graphic]. [Philadelphia?] [ca. 1887] 1 print : chromolithograph ; 11 x 15 cm. (4.25 x 6 in.)

#quackery #patentmedicine #TradeCardThursday #LCPprints #1880s #chromolithographs #specialcollections #VCPatLCP #visualculture #tumblarians

[weemsbotts]

Riddle Me This: What’s In My Medication?

By: Lisa Timmerman, Executive Director

In late 1860 and early 1861, Mrs. Mary F. Shacklett shopped with local shopkeepers Merchant & Claggett. Besides for neck handkerchiefs, cotton, buttons, knitting needles, shoes, and stockings, Mrs. Shacklett also purchased “1 Vial Virmafuge”. Although the merchants did not list the specific company associated with this medication, this little vial still contained a surprising amount of information from parasites to fraudsters.

Vermifuge has an interesting and squeamish history in Virginia as people purchased this product to treat parasitic worms. While doctors made significant strides in medicine during the Civil War, society already had enough understanding of parasites for people to market supposed cures. By the 1700s, Scientist Carolus Linnaeus identified, described, and named six helminth worms, and today we are sitting around an uncomfortable 300 species. Records of these infections certainly predate the 1700s with fascinating texts from Egypt (3000-400 B.C.) and China (3000-300 B.C.), suggesting these culprits were already causing havoc in human history. While the vermifuge business seemingly boomed after the Civil War with more apothecaries mixing and carrying the product, Mrs. Shacklett did have a few options on the market. B.A. Fahnestock & Company sold both white lead and a variety of patent medicines (in two separate companies), while Dr. David Jayne established one of the largest patent medicine firms with the name “Dr. D. Jayne and Son”. Fahnestock’s vermifuge mixture contained castor oils, oils of worm-seed, turpentine, and tincture of myrrh. Dr. Jayne launched an impressive marketing campaign by publishing medical annual almanacs, advertising all his products. For his vermifuge tonic, he notably scared parents by writing, “Parents are frequently deluded into the belief that their carefully nurtured child cannot possibly be suffering from worms, thinking that this infection can only be present in neglected children. This belief is not well founded, as all children are more or less exposed at times to worm infection.”

While both companies promised and guaranteed satisfaction and wormless children, patent medicine was a very lucrative field and growing steadily by the 1860s. British American colonists initially relied on imported British patented medicine and U.S. manufactures quickly started producing medicine after the Revolutionary War, selling their goods to apothecaries and hospitals. Due to a variety of factors, such as mass production, industrialization, and better marketing, the field boomed entering its’ “Golden Age” in the late 19th century. Prior to the Civil War, people generally viewed the peddlers selling directly to the public as deceptive scammers, but this changed as the companies greatly enhanced and improved their image through targeted advertising and marketing. Following the Civil War, people viewed patent medicines as less expensive accessible alternatives that the consumer could purchase directly (physicians started prescribing drugs in the mid-late 19th century). However, the term “patent” was very misleading as there was no government regulation or oversight of this industry. The medication could contain everything from water (most common) to morphine, so relief from these treatments varied greatly and certainly the placebo effect was in play (except for those with morphine). The companies could voluntarily opt to follow the American Medical Association Code of Ethics, which directed vendors to sell to physicians rather than the public, but the keyword here is voluntary.  Advertisers exploited both women and minorities for sales, whether by labeling a product as “exotic” or from American Indian “medicine men”. While the companies targeted white middle-class populations (with racist and sexist marketing campaigns), many black communities purchased the products as black practitioners were uncommon and overwhelmed. By the early 20th century, patent medicines underwent a sharp decline as journalists, the medical community, and federal government targeted this often corrupt and unethical field.

Mrs. Shacklett’s ledger received special interest as Richard B. Merchant went to court to collect dues from her estate in 1870. The surviving member of Merchant & Claggett, he eventually received $17.84 from her estate in 1871. While we do not know the attended recipient of the purchased medication, we can assume they at least could tell if it worked or not as noticeably failing to kill parasitic worms would be…well noticeable. And disappointing.

Note: Our Children’s Day at the Museum Sponsored by Colonial Downs Group is one week early! We are celebrating African American folklore on Saturday, 02/12, at 10:00am, so as not to interfere with the Town of Dumfries Black History celebration. You can find tickets to our free virtual event here and info about the Town of Dumfries here.

(Sources: HDVI Archives; Cox, F E G. “History of human parasitology.” Clinical microbiology reviews vol. 15,4 (2002): 595-612. doi:10.1128/CMR.15.4.595-612.2002; Jayne Building Engraving, Finding Aids: Archival Collections at Hagley Museum & Library, https://findingaids.hagley.org/repositories/2/resources/424; Yates, Donald. Dr. Jayne’s Root Beer & Alternative. The Federation of Historical Bottle Collectors Magazine, Bottles and Extras, Winter 2005, Pages 28-29; Lockhart, Bill, Beau Schriever, Bill Lindsey, and Carol Serr, etc., The Fahnestock Companies, Society for Historical Archaeology, https://sha.org/bottle/pdffiles/Fahnestock.pdf; Chase, Matthew. Curses and Cures: A History of Pharmaceutical Advertising in America. University of St. Augustine for Health Sciences Library, https://library.usa.edu/cures-curses-exhibit#:~:text=Patent%20medicines%20in%20the%20United,demand%20among%20apothecaries%20and%20hospital, part of the Public Library Association’s Project Outcome)

#archives #medicine #historicalmedicine #patentmedicine #falseadvertising #localhistory #americanhistory #buyerbeware #parasites #merchants #shopping #shopkeepers #courtrecords

[mysteriousplanchette]

King of the Nerves. #patentmedicine #snakeoil #salve #balm #tonic #elixir #curewhatailsyou #thenerveofsomepeople

#salve #snakeoil #curewhatailsyou #thenerveofsomepeople #balm #patentmedicine #tonic #elixir

[thebowlercapfairy]

Bitters for your jaundice? #nofilter #noedit #antique #antiques #antiquing #antiquestore #antiquestores #vintage #retro #lansingmegamall #quackmedicine #patentmedicines https://www.instagram.com/p/CFC_As5MQCS/?igshid=2oj7zpjmd0sd

#nofilter #noedit #antique #antiques #antiquing #antiquestore #antiquestores #vintage #retro #lansingmegamall #quackmedicine #patentmedicines

[jacquierogers]

#patentmedicines at the drugstore in #silvercityidaho. #JacquieRogers (at Silver City, Idaho) https://www.instagram.com/p/CC0JQV8APfb/?igshid=9mp9m8ueio4u

#patentmedicines #silvercityidaho #jacquierogers

[cabinetforthecurious]

Dr Kings New Discovery #tee , inspired by an #1895 #patentmedicine advertisement, available in my #etsy shop. etsy.com/shop/cabinetforthecurious #consumption #cough #cold #bucklens #arnica #salve #electricbitters #antiqueadvertisements #style #fashion #shopping #shoppingonline #etsysellerofinstagram #tshirt (at Cincinnati)

#shoppingonline #electricbitters #bucklens #shopping #etsy #salve #cold #arnica #1895 #tee #cough #tshirt #style #patentmedicine #consumption #fashion #antiqueadvertisements #etsysellerofinstagram

[347danger]

#patentmedicine

[sturgis-antiques]

Early 1900's patent medicine Charles Frosst's Blaud Capsules Arsenic Strychnine $35 #sturgisantiques #pharmacycollection #patentmedicine #antiquemedical #forsale (at Sturgis Antiques & Collectables)

#antiquemedical #forsale #pharmacycollection #sturgisantiques #patentmedicine

[reardanplowboy-blog]

#sample #antiques #cureall #patentmedicine (at The Plowboy)

#patentmedicine #cureall #antiques #sample

[msisir1]

#patentmedicine #fakirmohansenapati #odiacomedy The great short story Patent Medicine, written by Byas kabi Fakir Mohan Senapati and presented with Akshaya Mohanty's voice. A nice attempt to stage the drama by the local guys. by Dreams2tell

#IFTTT #YouTube #Festivals #Indian #Odisha Tourism

[librarycompany]

For our third Shareholder Spotlight we are taking a look at one of our more infamous shareholders, William Swaim, who became shareholder number 439 on May 12, 1829. Read about Mr. Swaim’s rather frightening exploits in patent medicine today on the Library Company blog: https://librarycompany.org/2018/10/30/shareholder-spotlight-william-swaim/

Swaim, Wm. (William). Cases of cures performed by the use of Swaim’s panacea. Philadelphia : [s.n.], 1829.

#ShareholderSpotlight #LCPinsider #1820s #rarebooks #patentmedicine #tumblarians #specialcollections

[cabinetforthecurious]

Electric Bitters #tee, in men's & women's styles & colors. insta.cabinetforthecurious.com #patentmedicine #tees #tshirts #pseudoscience #victorianinspired #style #quackery #quackmedicine (at Cincinnati)

#style #tees #tee #quackery #pseudoscience #tshirts #victorianinspired #quackmedicine #patentmedicine

[sturgis-antiques]

Dr Kilmer Swamp Root It's for your Kidneys and a "mild" Laxative. A nice parent medicine elixir. Original box and bottle. $25 #sturgisantiques #patentmedicine #antiqueapothecary #pharmacycollection #drkilmersswamproot #forsale (at Sturgis Antiques & Collectables)

#antiqueapothecary #sturgisantiques #drkilmersswamproot #forsale #patentmedicine #pharmacycollection

[librarycompany]

“For pity’s sake gentlemen, be calm.” This pair of trade cards advertising Allen’s Lung Balsam, a cure for consumption, shows a tom cat spat for a fair feline. 

Allen’s Lung Balsam. (1890s?)  Helfand Patent Medicine Trade Card Collection. 

#FelineFriday #LCPtradecards #LCPephemera #cats of tumblr #CatsofInstagram #chromolithograph #patentmedicine #BensLibrary #SpecialCollections #1890s #Tumblarians #lcpprints