Patent Medicines

Medicines

"PRESERVE YOUR HEALTH

The Subscriber has on hand the following PROPRIETARY MEDICINES, which will be sold as low as at any Drug Store in the Province, viz:--
Curtis & Perrin's PAINKILLER, (an invaluable medicine.)
Indian Life PILLS, which have cured thousands--just try a box.
The Celebrated WORM NUTS, so highly prized in New Brunswick & elsewhere.
Fahnestock's VERMIFUGE--LIP SALVE.
CASTOR Oil in small phials.
EPSOM Salts, SENNA Leaves Ess. Peppermint.
PERFUMERY, --viz. smelling SALTS, COLOGNE, HAIR-OIL.
LIQUERS--viz. Lemon, Syrup, Lime Juice. &c. &c.
Antigonish Aug 1852." [ Casket , 26 August 1852]

[ View object ]

Item:MEDICINE BOTTLES
Date:c. 1900
Dimensions:Copeland bottle 14.5 cm high and 5.5 cm wide; Foster bottle 14 cm high and 5.5 cm wide

Comments:Most 19th- and early 20th-century family medicine chests were stocked with an ample supply of patent-medicine bottles. Some of these concoctions were fairly potent, for they contained hefty doses of such substances as cocaine and wood alcohol. Throughout North America, manufacturers of secret-formula remedies were prolific. Furthermore, most druggists produced nostrums to sell to their customers. At this time, pharmacists played an active role as diagnosticians, frequently identifying a host of ailments from catarrh to worms. Advertising for patent medicines was fairly vigorous in the 19th century. Newspapers, almanacs and directories were crowded with testimonials proclaiming the miraculous powers of various expectorants, corn cures, dysentry cordials and muscle ointments. Little wonder that in 1905 the Canadian government launched an inquiry into the drug and proprietary medicine trade in Canada.

The Antigonish Heritage Museum has a wide selection of glass medicine bottles in its collection, including one with the embossed brand name "BURDOCK BLOOD BITTERS TORONTO, ONT. THE T. MILBURN CO LTD" and another, round and faceted in shape, with the words "TUTTLE'S ELIXIR CO. BOSTON, MASS." The collection also has several other bottles with specific local interest. One bottle features a moulded rectangular body, flat chamfered corners, four indented panels and an embossed label which reads: "J.D. COPELAND DRUGGIST ANTIGONISHE". The neck with its broad lip is quite long and was clearly designed for a cork stopper rather than a screw cap. A second, more truncated moulded bottle offers a more elaborate contrast. The indented and embossed panel displays the markings "FOSTER BROTHERS CHEMISTS & DRUGGISTS ANTIGONISH, N.S." as well as the Foster Brothers' monogram. The bottom of the bottle provides additional clues about its place of manufacture as "W.T. Co. U.S.A." It should be noted that neither bottle listed its ingredients. This omission provides a rough clue about their age. Starting in 1908, Canadian drug manufacturers were obliged to be licensed and to list "habit-forming" substances on bottle wrappers. It is far more difficult to determine what these bottles contained. One can quickly rule out castor oil, for the typical castor oil bottle was flat (unpanelled) with a tapered lip. The cod liver oil bottle also had a readily identifiable shape, with its sloping shoulder facilitating easy use.

J.D. Copeland ran a prominent Antigonish drugstore in the 1880s. He offered consumers an eclectic mix of items, including dyes, horse and cattle medicines, trusses, eye glasses and fishing tackle. Foster Brothers established a drug store in Antigonish in 1896 and sold a diverse selection of products, primarily toiletries, patent medicines and cigars. The 19th-century pharmacist spent the bulk of his time "rolling pills, folding powders, and making suppositories" as well as preparing toiletries and cosmetics. By the 1940s, this role had been transformed beyond all recognition as pharmacists were turned into "passive" dispensers of prescriptions and goods by legislation that prohibited trespassing on the physician's exclusive prerogative of prescribing medicine.

| BACK |

, HTML by Intern.