Drake’s Plantation Bitters and other Reproductions out in the market

DrakesReproTerry

"They are excellent repros and would easily pass to the unsuspecting as original bottles. The dealer had 10 or 15 of each type. And, guess the price of each… only $24.00.

RedFlag

REPRODUCTION ALERT

Ferdinand,

I was very interested in your response to my earlier inquiry regarding some excellent, hand made BIMAL, reproductions that I encountered recently.

I am new to your website and am very impressed with your exhibits and passionate knowledge of glass! Thank you for efforts with it!

I have not seen this before on the Internet but I wanted to ask you about it. Check the enclosed pictures of a light olive St Drakes Plantation Bitters and a tall cathedral pickle….which are definitely hand made, BIMAL beautiful bottles..that are both REPRODUCTIONS!

Were you aware of these being made and in the bottle market? These, along with a number of other reproductions, including scroll flasks, were recently acquired by me at a Civil War sutler’s booth in Spotsylvania, VA. They are excellent repros and would easily pass to the unsuspecting as original bottles. The dealer had 10 or 15 of each type. And, guess the price of each… only $24.00. I was very surprised to say the least…I do not know if the antique bottle collecting community is aware of these reproductions, but they are definitely out there. Please let me know what you may know about this!

I am a part time archaeologist with 40 years worth experience in the field and also have collected bottles for the same period. I am sure of what I am saying regarding these reproductions and their excellence in craftsmanship. If there is no interest in people being unscrupulous with passing these reproductions off as originals to an unsuspecting bottle collecting community, I would sincerely appreciate your forwarding this message to any of your bottle collecting friends that may know of or have interest in this timely topic.

Thank you for your time.

Sincerely,

Terry (Ludlow) 🙂

Apple-Touch-IconATerry: This quite frankly, concerns me and many others in the hobby greatly. I am getting all kinds of reports of repros being sold on ebay and even baked bottles of late showing up and selling for good money. It seems like the original sellers are noting that they are repros. I am worried about next generation sales down the line. Would you please purchase me a Drakes and send it to me? I will pay for the cost and shipping etc. I need to see one of these bottles first-hand. Thanks!

Does anyone have any thoughts on the reproduction Drake’s Plantation, and Hostetter’s labels being sold on ebay?

Brian Shultis (on facebook Bottle Collectors)

PickleReproTerry

Read More: More on Reproductions from Jim Bender and Bruce Silva

Read More: Dog River Glass Company

Read More: Repros. A legitimate place in the hobby?

DogRiverGlassCompanyREPRO

Posted in Advice, Bitters, Figural Bottles, News, Pickle Jars, Questions, Reproductions | Tagged , , , , , | 7 Comments

43rd Annual Atlanta Bottle Show & Sale Article

Ferd, this was in the Atlanta Journal this morning. Thanks Jack (Hewitt)

JackAtlantaConst

Jack Hewitt & John Joiner

08 June 2013 (Saturday) Atlanta, Georgia – 43rd Atlanta Antique Bottle Show & Sale, Smyrna Community Center, 200 Village Green Circle, Smyrna, Georgia, 30080, Saturday, 9:00 am to 3:00 pm, Early admission is 6:00 am to 9:00 am Saturday, Set-up: Saturday 6:00 am to 9:00 am, Admission: $3.00 regular and $10.00 for early admission, Contact: Jack Hewitt, Co-Chairman, 1765 Potomac Court, Lawrenceville, Georgia 30043, 770.963.0220, hewittja@bellsouth.net

AtlantaJournal

A show and sale where collecting enthusiasm is not bottled up

Posted: 12:00 a.m. Wednesday, June 5, 2013

By Howard Pousner – The Atlanta Journal-Constitution

From “Antiques Roadshow” to “American Pickers,” the airwaves are as jammed as an old South Georgia barn with people who are passionate collectors of stuff. But of all the things that the covetous covet, one basic collectible with enduring appeal is bottles….

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Posted in Advice, Article Publications, Bottle Shows, Club News, News | Tagged , , , , | Leave a comment

Bennet’s Celebrated Stomach Bitters – San Francisco

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Bennet’s Celebrated Stomach Bitters

San Francisco

ebaylogo

Apple-Touch-IconAA number of us were watching the western Bennet’s Celebrated Stomach Bitters from San Francisco that closed on ebay the other day. This is a wonderful bottle and I am sure the new owner will be happy. Note that the top, and next images are from the ebay post. A third image is also from the ebay sale and is captioned further below. The name Bennet’s and Bennett’s is frequent in Bitters but are not related.

Read: Bennett’s Stomach Bitters – A real puzzler

Read: Red Jacket Bitters – Another Chicago ‘Indian’ (Bennett, Pieters & Co.)

The ebay description for the Bennet’s Celebrated Stomach Bitters is as follows:

Western Square Bitters – Bennet’s

Here is a tough western square! This golden amber applied top bitters has a ton of embossing. “Bennet’s Celebrated Stomach Bitters, Jos. N. Souther & Co. Sole Proprietors, San Francisco” The “R”s are curved indicative of Pacific Glass Works. The condition is a sparkling gem with one light scratch and that is it. Pristine western glass! I am thinning out a few duplicates and therefore this example is being made available. It is so tough to turn loose of any good western bitters as they are rarely available for sale. This is a top example. Buyer to pay $10.85 postage in the continental US. Good Luck! westernglassaddict $521.99 BennettsCelebratedDale1

[From Warren Friedrich] Henry W. Bennet was a syrups and cordial manufacturer in S.F. His two bitters recipes were used by two business men named Chenery and Souther who put out two different bitters products.

The Carlyn Ring and W. C. Ham listing in Bitters Bottles is as follows:

B 73  BENNET’S CELEBRATED STOMACH BITTERS, Circa 1880 – 1890

BENNET’S / CELEBRATED / STOMACH BITTERS // f // JOS. N. SOUTHER & CO. / SOLE PROPRIETORS / SAN FRANCISCO. // f //
9 x 2 3/4 (6 7/8) 3/8
Square, Amber, LTCR, Tooled lip and Applied mouth, Rare
Lettering reads base to shoulder on brand name panel, Reverse reads shoulder to base as is usual.

Note: San Francisco Business Directory 1880, 1885 and 1890

There is also an earlier variant that is listed below. I have not seen this bottle nor do I have a good close-up picture. There is an example posted at the bottom of this post.

Example found on the surface of Mount Rose near Reno

B 74  BENNET’S WILD CHERRY STOMACH BITTERS

BENNET’S ( au ) / WILD CHERRY / STOMACH BITTERS  ( ad ) // f // CHENERY, SOUTHER & CO. ( au ) /  SOLE AGENTS / SAN FRANCISCO, CAL. ( ad ) // f //
9 x 3 (6 5/8) 3/8
Square, Amber, LTCR, Applied mouth, Very rare
Lettering reads base to shoulder on brand name panel, Reverse reads shoulder to base as is usual.

Note: Example found on the surface of Mount Rose near Reno.

[From Eric McGuire]

The firm of Chenery, Souther & Co. was dissolved in San Francisco on August 1, 1874. Joseph N. Souther then became the sole remaining partner. Richard Chenery had a long and notable career in San Francisco, being an early pioneer. He arrived in San Francisco on the Brig Acadian on August 14, 1849. Chenery was born in Montague, Franklin County, MA in 1817 and became one of the many who rushed for California gold. His wife was the daughter of the former governor of Maine, William G. Crosby.

By 1852 he became a successful business man and was an Alderman of the City of Sacramento, California. Offered the job of Mayor, he declined. He was, however, elected Treasurer. He soon became the head of a number of successful businesses in San Francisco and in 1861 he was one of the mounted guards who escorted President Lincoln to the Capitol at the time of his inauguration. Shortly thereafter, Chenery was appointed U.S. Naval Agent for the Port of San Francisco. When his term ended in 1865 Chenery entered into partnership with Joseph N. Souther as a wholesale liquor dealer. After terminating that partnership in 1874 he invested heavily in mining but returned to the East Coast in 1880, where he remained until his death in Belfast, Maine, on July 27, 1890. Much more can be said of Chenery, but this is the short version.

Henry W. Bennet

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Henry W. Bennet listingSan Francisco Directory – 1865

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Henry W. Bennet listingSan Francisco Directory – 1869

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Henry W. Bennet listingSan Francisco Directory – 1876

Joseph N. Souther

Souther, Joseph N. & Co. (Joseph N. Souther)
manufacturers flavoring extracts. 122-124 Market

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Joseph N. Souther listingLangley’s San Francisco Directory – 1890 (also 1880, 1886, 1888 Directories Souther was listed)

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B 73 – Bennet’s Celebrated Stomach Bitters, San Francisco – ebay

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B 73 – Bennet’s Celebrated Stomach Bitters, San Francisco – Meyer Collection (American Bottle Auctions | Grapentine III Auction 43 | Lot #874

Bennets&Henley's

B 74 [Warren Friedrich from a previous Western Bitters News post] I noticed over on the Western Glob Top Whiskies blogsite they had been posting several examples showing the various hues of amber those cylinders come in. I thought our followers on this blogsite might enjoy seeing some western squares in some contrasting colors. The photograph below shows a orange-amber colored Bennet’s Wild Cherry Stomach Bitters / Chenery, Souther & Co Sole Agents San Francisco, Cal. (I’ve also owned this bottle in an olive-amber coloration as well). Next to it is a Dr. Henley’s Wild Grape Root IXL Bitters in yellow w/slight amber hue. Quite the contrast between these two squares in color.

Posted in Bitters, Cordial, eBay, History, Liquor Merchant | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | 2 Comments

Young Children in Antique Trade Card Advertising

DukesDurhamTC

Young Children in Antique Trade Card Advertising

06 June 2013

Apple-Touch-IconAI really get a kick out of looking at the art on vintage advertising trade cards. Recently I spotted this odd looking little fellow with reading glasses below that really gave me a chuckle. Cute or ugly, who knows, but this happy tot was destined to be a bank president somewhere. I went thru my files and posted some of my favorites of similar content. We all know that if you put a child or animal in an advertisement you will have a much grater chance of connecting with your audience. Please send me any other examples you may have so I can add to the post. Thanks.

FUTURE BANK PRESIDENT

Unmarked Trade Card

BabyW:Glasses

BURDOCK BLOOD BITTERS

BBB_Child&Bottle

INDIAN WINE BITTERS

WineBittersChild_TC

HIRES ROOTBEER

Hires_Child&Dog

A. B. CHASE PIANO

ChasePiano_TCBaby

J. J. FOSTER CLOTHIERS

FosterClothiers_TCBlackChild

CLARK’S OUR NEW THREAD

MothersTreasures_Clarks

DeLAND SODA

DelandSodaTC_Child

HECKERS’ BUCKWHEAT

HeckersBuckwheatBaby_TC

BURDOCK BLOOD BITTERS

BBBGirlKitn_TCF

PROF HORSFORD’S BAKING POWDER

HorsfordsTC_Baby

COLGATE SOAP

ColgateBabyTC

SCOTCH OATS

ScotchOatsTC

QUAKER BITTERS

QuakerBitters_TCF

AMERICAN STOMACH BITTERS

AmericanStomachBitters_TC

MISHLER’S BITTERS

MishlersBitters_TCGirl

Posted in Advertising, Art & Architecture, Bitters, Ephemera, Humor - Lighter Side, Trade Cards | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

Look at Cody’s new Scroll Flask

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Look at Cody’s New Scroll Flask

Hi Ferdinand,

Cody Zeleny here, just wanted to share a unique flask I acquired. I believe the flask to be a GIX-14, but as you can see, has quite an odd feature. The lip treatment is something I have only seen on a few New England flasks! It is tooled and pinched in and is quite odd. The flask for a pint is quite plump, and I have included a picture of it compared to a normal scroll flask. Just wanted to share.

Also I have included a picture of a part of my collection. As an insulator collector, I had built a large back lighted cabinet for my collection. Well a few days ago I was bored so I emptied out the insulators and put some flasks in. I was pleased to see how great they looked.

Anyways,

Take care,

Cody Zeleny

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Apple-Touch-IconACody, your flask, shelves and pictures are ‘off the chart’ great. Thanks for sharing!  Read More: Who doesn’t love Scroll Flasks?

 

Posted in Collectors & Collections, Display, Flasks, Historical Flasks | Tagged , , , , , | Leave a comment

Fleury’s Wa-Hoo Tonic and the Mad Chinaman

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Fleury’s Wa-Hoo Tonic Trade Card – Smithsonian Institution, National Museum of American History

Fleury’s Wa-Hoo Tonic and the Mad Chinaman

Apple-Touch-IconAI do not know what would possess a merchant or doctor to opt for putting a mean Oriental midget, chop sticks, a rat and a cat eating a rat on any advertising to market their product. This totally escapes me. Another great reason to collect trade cards and to be part of this great hobby. Where else would you see stuff like this?

Frank Fleury, M. D.

Dr. Frank Fleury was born in Meadville, Pennsylvania on 28 September 1841. He was the son of Jacob and Margaret (Hamilton) Fleury. He served three years at the drug business of Carter & Brothers in Erie, Pennsylvania before moving westward. In 1865, Dr. Fleury established himself in the drug business in Springfield, Illinois, which he conducted for some years. He was located at 505 Washington Street, on the north side of the square. He was noted as having a fine store that carried a large stock of drugs and toilet goods, and having an extensive trade. His prescription business was a special feature of the house and was noted as being exceptionally large.

In 1881, Dr. Fleury began the manufacture of the “Wa-Hoo Tonic” and won a wide reputation for this medicine. Fleury’s Wa-Hoo Tonic was made at the Fleury Medicine Company in Springfield, Illinois where he was chief proprietor. They manufactured several valuable medicinal remedies of tried and valuable merit among them are “Indian Herbs of Joy“, a remedy for diseases, arising from impurities of the blood of which four thousand bottles were sold in Springfield, and Fleury’s Tasteless Cascarine, a remedy for biliousness, headache and torpid liver. Later studies actually said this concoction was put up in a small wooden cylinder, which contained 45 grains of yellowish-white powder. Examination proved it to be subnitrate of bismuth and calomel, triturated through powdered cane sugar. Dr. Fleury also manufactured DuFay’s Magic Fluids which was noted as selling ten thousand bottles at one time.

Dr. Fluery was married on June 25, 1868 to Miss Annie M. Herndon, of Springfield and they became the parents of one daughter. Dr. Fleury died on August 28, 1910 in Springfield.

I could find images for two trade cards that are represented in this post. A third trade card was described as a rectangular card, horizontal display, showing a little girl holding a large bowl in her lap with “Fleury’s/ Wa-Hoo/ Tonic” across the front; she holds her spoon up at begging dog to her right, as if scolding; back is vertical, details uses for this “great blood purifier & system renovator”. It is held at the North Carolina Department of Cultural Resources.

I could find no pictures of bottles of this brand.

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Fleury’s Wa-Hoo Tonic ingredients – Kansas State Board of Health, Biennial Report, Volume 4 – 1909

FleurysAd_Kramers

Full page advertisement for Fleury’s Wa-Hoo Tonic within Kramer’s general business directory : containing an accurately selected and classified list of the leading manufacturers, jobbers, wholesale and retail dealers, professional and business men of Northern Indiana (1885)

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Frank Fleury ObituaryHistorical Encyclopedia of Illinois, Volume 3 – Munsell Publishing Company, 1912

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Fleury’s Wa-Hoo Tonic Trade Card – Florida University Libraries

References: History of Sangamon County, Illinois: Together with Sketches of Its Cities … By Inter-state Publishing Company (Chicago, Ill.)

Posted in Advertising, Druggist & Drugstore, Ephemera, Liquor Merchant, Medicines & Cures, Remedy, Tonics, Trade Cards | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

Francis Newbery & Sons Brain Salt – London

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Francis Newbery & Sons, London

Apple-Touch-IconACruising around the Internet and world wide web, I jump across the pond today to look at F. Newbery & Sons Brain Salt from London. Yes you heard me right, Brain Salt. Certain words do not sound right together. In Houston there is a Thai restaurant next to a donut shop. The sign on the street says Thai Food & Donuts. Kind of like that. When I think of brain salt I think of putting salt on slugs. All bad kids heard of that right? Well salt on a brain? Doesn’t paint a very good picture.

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Francis Newbery and Sons Warehouse – Warehouse for Dr. Jame’s Powder – 1779 (Pharmaceutical Journal: A Weekly Record of Pharmacy and Allied Sciences)

The origin of the firm of Francis Newbery and Sons, Limited goes back to 1746 when Mr. John Newbery. “the philanthropic publisher of St. Paul’s Churchyard,” settled in London at the corner of Ludgate Hill as a publisher and patent medicine vendor. Prior to this, Mr. John Newbery had been in business at Reading. At this time the company was an agent for Hooper’s Pills and sold the famous Dr. Jame’s Fever Powder.

Francis Newbery, who, on the death of his father in 1767, left Sidney-Sussex College, Cambridge, and gave up the prospects of a medical career to carry on the business of publisher and patent medical vendor. His shop was situated on No. 45 St. Paul’s Churchyard which is illustrated above. Francis Newbery died in 1818 and his eldest son, Colonel John Newberry, succeeded him; at the death of the latter in 1854, Mr. Arthur Le Blanc Newbery and Mr. Lionel Newbery took over the business, which was removed in 1869 to 46 St. Paul’s Churchyard, again, in 1872, to Newgate Street, in 1888.

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Francis Newbery and Sons Warehouse – 1903 – (Pharmaceutical Journal: A Weekly Record of Pharmacy and Allied Sciences)

Shortly after the move (in 1904) the old house turned their business into a private limited company. As time went on and competition increased it was found necessary to meet the wants of the trade to add druggist’s sundries, photographic, and perfumery departments. To such an extent have these departments grown that they now take the premier place in the firm’s illustrated catalogue and occupy a major portion of the building (see above).

Reference: Pharmaceutical Journal: A Weekly Record of Pharmacy and Allied Sciences – J. Churchill, 1906
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Francis Newbery and Sons testimonial – The Lancet London: A Journal of British and Foreign Medicine, Surgery, Obstetrics, Physiology, Chemistry, Pharmacology, Public Health and News, Volume 1 – 1861

BRAIN SALT

F. Newbery & Sons Effervescent brain Salt

(TITLE REGISTERED) PRICE 2/9 PER BOTTLE

Cures headaches and indigestion

A POSITIVE RELIEF AND CURE FOR Brain Troubles, Headaches, Sea Sickness, Nervous Debility, Sleeplessness, Excessive Study, Mania, Over Brainwork, etc. etc.

F. NEWBERY & SONS.
1 and 3 King Edward St., London, E.C.

TRADE MARK REGISTERED IN U.S.
BY F. NEWBERY & SONS
FEB. 10, 1888

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Later Brain Salt advertisement when F, Newbery was on Newgate Street

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A rather well done Brain Salt bottle illustration

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Newbery & Sons Brain Salt advertisement – The Twentieth Century, A Monthly Review –  1894

 Other Newbery Products

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Sailing Boat Pictorial F. Newberry & Sons Cherry Tooth Paste Pot Lid & Base, London c1890s – ebay

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Cuticura ointment made in London, Cardiff and Liverpool, F. Newbery and Sons January 1899.

Posted in Advertising, Druggist & Drugstore, History, Medicines & Cures, Salt | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

P. Guillaume’s Mineral Water Bottle Mystery

bottle 006

P. GUILLAUME’S MINERAL WATER

POPE VALLEY, NAPA CO. CAL.

Apple-Touch-IconAHere is a puzzler for the Western collectors. I bet someone out there can provide information on this bottle. This is when I miss ole’ Michael Dolcini the most.

[e-mail #1] I have a bottle that even Jeff Wichmann at American Bottle Auctions could not identify. I have spent countless hours on the Internet trying to find out any information on this bottle, but I have found out absolutely nothing, this is why I am emailing you in desperation. Please help me! The bottle I am speaking of is 8 inches tall it has a crown top, aqua in color, the seam does not continue to the top, but ends approx. below the top, is approx. 2 3/8″ in diameter, has an uneven bottom. The label on it is heavily embossed on the glass : P. Guillaume’s MINERAL WATER POPE VALLEY, NAPA CO. CAL. Please contact me as I could find nothing about this bottle and you are my last hope.

Thank You Very Much, Albert Richenberger

[e-mail #2] Here are the pictures you requested. I purchased the bottle from a lady that told me her late husband dug it up at Gold City, Nevada. Gold City is approx. 5 miles from Virginia City, Nevada. Thank You for your help I really appreciate it. If you need other pictures I will take them.

Thanks again, Albert Richenberger

PS If you are going to the Reno bottle show I will be there helping a friend Mike Gerth who is going to display there I would like to meet you. I also will have the bottle there. Thanks again!

GuillaumeGrid

Responses

Material below provided by Marianne Dow

MinesandMineralsART

PopeMineralSpringListing

Listing for Pope Mineral Spring and Peter GuillaumeMines and mineral resources of the counties of Colusa, Glenn, Lake, Marin, Napa, Solano, Sonoma, Yolo – Walter Wadsworth Bradley, California State Mining Bureau – 1915

Posted in Digging and Finding, Mineral Water, Questions | Tagged , , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

Carter’s Liver Bitters and Carter’s Little Liver Pills

CartersLiver1_FM

Carter’s Liver Bitters and Carter’s Little Liver Pills

02 June 2013

C 67  CARTER’S LIVER BITTERS, Circa 1873 – 1899

CARTER’S / LIVER BITTERS / C. M. CO. NEW YORK // c // // b // WT&CO / 1
8 1/2 x 3 1/4 x 2 (6 1/4)
Oval – Philadelphia, Amber, LTC, Tooled lip, Scarce

The Connecticut Courant (Hartford) December 28,1882

Notes: J. P. Carter & Co., 179 South Street, Wholesale Wines Liquors & Bitters in 1873

Drug Catalogs: 1883 M&R, 1885 & 1892 Goodwin, 1887 Meyer BROS & Co., 1894 M&R, 1896-97, JP&K Co., 1899 Jayne & Co., 1901-02 JP&K Co.,

Trade Cards available.

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Carters Liver Bitters – Meyer Collection

Apple-Touch-IconACarter Medicine Company which was incorporated in 1880 by John Samuel Carter of Erie, Pennsylvania. Their most famous products were Carter’s Liver Bitters and Carter’s Little Liver Pills. Other products included Carter’s Back Ache Plasters and Carter’s Little Nerve Pill’s. John Carter died in 1884 and his son, Samuel Carter took over the business.

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Sarah Bernhardt was one of the first celebrities to endorse popular products of her time and used this as a way to promote herself. In the song, ‘Tour de Force,’ Dunitz playfully rattles off many commercial products from Pears Soap to Urbana Wine, Carter Liver Bitters to Marmon cars that ‘the most famous actress the world has ever known’ endorsed in an effort to continue to fill her coffers and satisfy her unbridled spending.

Your grandparents – maybe your parents – couldn’t take a trip 50 miles from their home without seeing livid red advertisements of Carter’s Little Liver Pills painted on numerous barns and outhouses. This caused a foreigner on a visit here to opine that the American people must be the most constipated in the world.

Carter’s advertising material claims to cure all the ills of your liver by waking up “your liver bile.” But it isn’t that simple. Again their advertisements will say “Laxatives are only makeshifts.” This is the most truthful part of the ad.

Carter’s Little Liver Pills will not solve the problem of liver conditions, which are usually caused by eating foods that are too rich for the sedentary habits of the eater. They wouldn’t cure them even if Carter’s pills were Big.

For they, too, are only makeshifts.

The Drug Story

Although legal action was slow, hampered by the continued efforts of the Association, most of the patent medicine companies were either forced out of business or required to modify their extravagant claims. In many cases, the process was protracted over long periods of time and cases had to be prosecuted on an individual basis. It reportedly took the government twenty years to get the word “Liver” out of Carter’s Little Liver Pills, but in the long run, the patent medicine industry died from an overdose of government regulation.

Patent Medicine History

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Carter’s Liver Bitters Trade Card – Carter Medicine Company – Daves Great Cards Galore

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Carter’s Liver Bitters “Will Make You Eat” Trade Card – Wikipedia Commons

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Reverse Carter’s Liver Bitters “Will Make You Eat” Trade Card – Flickr

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Carter’s Little Liver Pills “A Positive Cure For Sick Headache” Trade Card

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Reverse Carter’s Little Liver Pills “A Positive Cure For Sick Headache” Trade Card

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Carter’s Back Ache Plasters and Carter’s Little Nerve Pill’s Trade Cards

Posted in Advertising, Bitters, Ephemera, History, Medicines & Cures, Trade Cards | Tagged , , , , , | Leave a comment

Dr. Meyer, Echinacea and his Meyer’s Blood Purifier

QuackDoctor_LOC

A quack doctor at a fair – Library of Congress

Ferdinand,

I am hoping you could help me track down an antique bottle of Dr. Meyer’s Blood Purifier Syrup manufactured in 1880 to around 1910. I was made in Pawnee City, Nebraska as far as I can tell. An ad I saw said manufactured in Kansas City. Maybe manufacturing moved later on. It is an old herbal medicine formula.

I would pay top dollar for one in great condition. A super find would be one with liquid still in it.

Can you track down an item like this or do you have one to sell me.

Thanks,

Nicholas S.

Dr. Meyer & Echinacea

Apple-Touch-IconAIt is always nice to get a request or question about a bottle I am unfamiliar with, especially when it has your own name associated with it. In this case it is ‘Meyer‘ with the ‘Meyer’s Blood Purifier‘. This prompted a search to find out more about the brand and to find out, who was Meyer?

Snakeroot has been long known by the Plains Indians as a cure for snake bite

EchinaceaPurpureaMaxima

Echinacea is a genus, or group of herbaceous flowering plants in the daisy family, Asteraceae. The nine species it contains are commonly called coneflowers. They are endemic to eastern and central North America, where they are found growing in moist to dry prairies and open wooded areas. They have large, showy heads of composite flowers, blooming from early to late summer. The generic name is derived from the Greek word ἐχῖνος (echino), meaning “sea urchin,” due to the spiny central disk. Some species are used in herbal medicines and some are cultivated in gardens for their showy flowers. A few species are of conservation concern. [Wikipedia]

Native american tribes, including presumably the Sioux and Pawnee of Nebraska, generally shared their knowledge of Echinacea’s (also known as Kansas Snakeroot) healing properties with the European settlers, who quickly adopted the plant. Snakeroot has been long known by the Plains Indians as a cure for snake bite.

To prove the efficacy of echinacea, he offered to let himself be bitten by a rattlesnake in the presence of doctors and to treat himself only with echinacea.

Sometime in the early 1870s, Dr. H. C. F. Meyer, a German physician from Pawnee, Nebraska, concocted a patented herbal medicine made with Echinacea. He named it “Meyer’s Blood Purifier” and claimed it as a cure-all for a variety of ailments, including everything from snakebite to typhoid fever. Meyer also called Echinacea “Black Sampson, the Slayer of All Ailments”. Believe it or not, another name used was ‘Nigger Head of the West”.

He believed so strongly in the healing properties of Echinacea that in 1887, he tried to promote it to two prominent physicians of the time: Dr. John Uri Lloyd (a professor at the Eclectic Medical Institute and Cincinnati and later president of the American Pharmaceutical Association) (see article below) and Dr. John King (author of King’s American Dispensatory). To prove the efficacy of Echinacea, he offered to let himself be bitten by a rattlesnake in the presence of doctors and to treat himself only with Echinacea. The doctors declined his offer, surmising that he was a quack.

After Meyer’s persistence, Dr. King finally was persuaded to give Echinacea a try. Although he didn’t opt for the snakebite experiment, Dr. King did try Echinacea and became convinced of the herb’s healing properties. Dr. King reversed his previously negative opinion on Echinacea, proclaiming the herb useful for treating many illnesses, including the infectious diseases, that were so devastating at that time – diphtheria, scarlet fever, influenza, meningitis, measles, and chicken pox. With that, Meyer was off to the races and the business of ‘snake oil medicine’ got its credibility and start.

In 1910, the American Medical Association (AMA) declared Echinacea a “useless quack remedy” though many continued to use it. Echinacea then fell into disfavor among Americans in 1930, but became popular in Germany where the herb was widely documented. Dr. Gerhard Madaus of Germany developed a juice concoction made of Echinacea purpurea.  This became the most “frequently prescribed Echinacea preparation worldwide”. In the 1980’s, Echinacea made a comeback in the United States and took its place as one of “America’s best-selling herb extracts”.

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Discovery of Echinecea article – Homoeopathic News, 1888

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Testimonial of all the ailments Dr. Meyer’s concoction cured – Homoeopathic News, 1888

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History of Echinacea Angustifola by John Uri Lloyd – Midland Druggist – 1903

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History of Echinacea Angustifola by John Uri Lloyd – Midland Druggist – 1903

The Early Snake Oil Medicines

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The Meyer’s Blood Purifier was one of the first widely sold ‘snake oil patent medicines”. Many imitations would follow all telling the same folkloric tale of Indian herbal wisdom.

One can almost imagine the pioneering con-artist Meyer,taking his wagon of wares from town to town throughout the west, claiming his tincture of Echinacea was a secret remedy given to him by the Plains Indians. His carnival act on the back of his wagon included teasing rattlesnakes until they struck him (he’d secretly defanged them) then he’d rub Echinacea on the bite as proof of efficacy before offering the mesmerized audience bottles for sale.

Read: Snake Oil: A Guide for Connoisseurs

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Pure Rattlesnake Oil bottle

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Clark Stanley’s Snake Oil Liniment

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Clark Stanley’s Snake Oil Liniment – Etsy

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Dr. Jake Dawson’s Snake Oil bottle 39c

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Dr. Crooks Snake Oil

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