19th century

Walter De Roos' Compound Renal Pills

Here’s another product from the enigmatic Dr De Roos, who once again uses the ploy of warning the punters against charlatans. The Renal Pills were still available in the early 20th century, when the results of analysis were reported in More Secret Remedies. The pills were made of sodium carbonate, soap, a resin that might have […]

The Guttae Vitae, or Vegetable Life Drops

Although no proprietor is shown in the following advertisement, the Vegetable Life Drops were one of several cures touted under the name Dr Walter De Roos. De Roos was an enigmatic character and the name was purported to be an alias for one John (or George) Robinson, who might well have bought the business in 1858 from brothers Alfred and Samuel Barker. […]

Dr Ball's Ivory Eye Cups

This device, invented by Dr Ball of Nassau Street, New York, was a small cup with a squeezy rubber balloon attached to it, as pictured left. The invention made its way to England in 1872, when Chichester minister Joseph Fletcher filed a British patent for it. The patient had to put the cup over the eye and […]

Mr. Lewis's Incomparable Sheep-Drench

Although Mr Lewis admits in this ad that the causes of sheep rot were imperfectly understood, he is on the right lines when he refers to “insects in the liver.” The liver fluke, Fasciola hepatica L. was often noticed in sheep that had died of the rot, but there was a lot of controversy as to whether they were a […]

Dr Scott's Aperitive Vase

The Aperitive Vase, a cure for constipation, is somewhat coyly advertised here, but adverts from earlier in the 1840s left less to the imagination: The apparatus is a fountain in miniature, so small that when filled it may be concealed in the pocket until it can be used conveniently; when, by an hydraulic double-action within it, the […]

Bell's Anti-Prandium

Image: Daguerreotype of the Duke of Wellington in 1844 Cashing in on the Duke of Wellington’s death in order to sell fart pills quite frankly seems a bit distasteful to me: VERBUM SAT.—Our Immortal Wellington clearly died from an attack of Indigestion. All who suffer from Dyspepsia, Indigestion, Cardialgia, Eructations, Fla- tulency, Torpidity of […]

Cross's Gout and Rheumatic Pills

This remedy was not widely advertised and I don’t have much information about it, but I like the way the typography is laid out in the original, so have tried to reproduce it as far as possible, within the limitations of WordPress formatting. There will be more from The Western Mail soon, as it’s an excellent […]

Kernick's Vegetable Worm Lozenges

S. P. Kernick had two main products – the worm lozenges advertised here and the “Vegetable Pills,” which were for headaches, bilious attacks and constipation. Although the medicines weren’t widely advertised beyond the Cardiff area, they were still going strong at the end of the 19th century. . K E R N I […]

Johnson's American Pig Spice

As well as the Pig Spice, Johnson’s also manufactured American Calf Spice, Johnson’s Prairie Sheep Spice and Johnson’s Horse, Cattle, Game and Poultry Condiment. All rather culinary-sounding in name, products like this were intended to fatten livestock or improve condition, and were more of a food than a medicine. This one, however, claims to prevent pig typhoid, […]

Weston's Wizard Oil

Weston was an entertainer who toured Australia and New Zealand from the 1860s to the 1880s, putting on free two-hour shows featuring jokes, songs and comic tales that incorporated lots of plugs for his products. A NZ correspondent to London’s The Era in August 1872 wrote of Weston as follows: FRANK WESTON, the Wizard Oil Prince, is here. He […]