1840s advertising
Crossthwaite & Co’s Occult Lozenges
While I’m researching my posts, I find a lot of interesting ads that I put to one side to blog about one day. But sometimes it turns out that I can’t discover much about them, or they’re so famous that there’s not a lot I can add to the info already available online, or they’re […]
Read MoreMcAlister’s All-Healing Ointment
McALISTER’S ALL-HEALING OINTMENT OR WORLDS SALVE Has been an old family nurse for the past twenty years, and known all around the world as the most soothing and healing ointment in existence. McALISTER’S ALL-HEALING OINTMENT Never Fails to Cure. Salt Rheum, Scrofula, Ulcers, Small Pox, Sore Nipples, Mercurial Sores, Erysipelas, Carbuncles, Corns, Bunions, and all […]
Read MoreSwaim's Panacea – part 1
SWAIM’S PANACEA.—This Medicine has acquired a very extensive and established celebrity in Europe and America, and its virtues are known and acknowledged by many of the most respectable physicians of both countries. As an alterative, and in various diseases, particularly in cases of inveterate corruption of the blood descending to the second generation, it stands […]
Read MoreHance's Candy
Apologies for the lack of background information or ironic commentary on this one, but I’m too busy celebrating the launch of my first novel. For more info on that, have a look at my website. Otherwise, today’s ad has a suitably literary (or least vaguely poetic) section. H A N C E ‘ S C […]
Read MoreDr. Stolberg's Voice Lozenge
I don’t have much info on these lozenges, but other similar products of the time tended to be based on cayenne pepper. Later in the 19th century, cocaine also became a popular ingredient, albeit in very small amounts. In 1844, according to the Eclectic Magazine, Dr Stolberg “bequeathed the secret of his voice lozenge – with presents of which he […]
Read MoreClarkson's Specific for Bad Legs
Another very long advert today. Thomas Clarkson was a member of the Royal College of Surgeons, but his method of cure, which isn’t named in this ad, was a patent medicine by the name of Clarkson’s Specific for Bad Legs. Initially, Clarkson treated the afflicted in person, but because this often meant they had to find lodgings near his […]
Read MoreHolland's Balsam of Spruce
Holland’s Balsam of Spruce is in the tradition of other tree resin remedies, such as Solomon’s Balm of Gilead and the Balsam of Mecca. Given that nearly 170 years later, a cure for the common cold remains as elusive as ever, this medicine would have been worth a punt – if nothing else, it was probably […]
Read MoreDr. De La Motte's Sassafras Chocolate
The sassafras tree is native to North America, and its healing properties were valued by Native Americans long before it became an export to the Old World. This 1848 advertisement lifts most of its text verbatim from Dr Richard Reece’s book, The Medical Guide, published in 1828. Neither Dr De La Motte nor the retailer can therefore be blamed for the […]
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