19th century

Champion Damiana Wafers

Damiana is a shrub long reputed to have aphrodisiac effects, and is still used in herbal medicine to boost libido. P.N. George sold a variety of products that were despatched with the utmost discretion. As well as the “Rubber Goods” advertised below, there was also a “Male and Female Combined Preventive Appliance,” and if you were having trouble deciding, you […]

Crinilene

Image: Whiskerandos, by John Leech, 1854. Courtesy of the John Leech Sketch Archives from Punch LUXURIANT HAIR, WHISKERS, EYEBROWS, &c. THE TESTIMONIALS daily received by Miss DEAN establish the fact that CRINILENE is the only preparation that can be perfectly relied upon in producing those acknowledged orna- ments of manhood in three […]

Keating's Cough Lozenges

A 1s 1½d tin contained 50 lozenges, and the recommended dose was one or two lozenges at bedtime and up to 10 during the course of the day. The ingredients were morphine, ipecacuanha, extract of licorice, and sugar, held together by tragacanth gum. . KEATING’S COUGH LOZENGES. “94, Commercial Road, Peckham, July 12, […]

Taylor's Anti-Epileptic Medicine

Like other antiepileptic medicines of the time, the Taylors’ remedy contained potassium bromide and ammonium bromide, together with some tincture of iodine. These ingredients were topped up with water to make 12 fl. oz. that went on sale at 2s. 9d. – a good profit on the penny or so that it cost to make. . A […]

Clarkson'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 […]

Beetham's Corn & Bunion Plaster

It’s interesting that this advert uses the phrase “worth a guinea a box.” This slogan was plastered everywhere in the second half of the 19th century, advertising the famous Beecham’s Pills. Mr Beetham wasn’t necessarily copying his near-namesake, however. The phrase was around before Thomas Beecham adopted it in 1859, so the satisfied customer who is supposed to have […]

Alfred's Royal Composition

Image: Portrait of Madame Récamier, by François Pascal Simon Gérard FEMALE ATTRACTION TO obviate the unpleasant sensation experienced by those Ladies who may have SUPERFLUOUS HAIRS growing on the Face or Arms, and to render their persons more lovely and attractive, was the chief motive that […]

Cuticura Soap and Ointment

Skin “literally on fire”? Then you need Cuticura – or possibly a large bucket of water and a good plastic surgeon. Cuticura originated in the US in 1865 and had reached the UK by 1880. The famous company is, of course, still going strong with a wide range of top-quality skincare and haircare products, as […]

Abernethy's Pile Ointment

Today’s advert is rather long. The Mr Abernethy referred to was the eminent surgeon John Abernethy (1764-1831), pictured right. He wrote about piles in his Surgical Observations (1804-06), a work that according to his biographer, George MacIlwain, was known as “the My-Book” because “he not unfrequently recommended his patients” to read it. Although Abernethy advised patients with a […]

York Medicinal Soap

The one and only benefit of this product was that it made guys wash … BY ROYAL AUTHORITY GENERAL SAFETY, or YORK MEDI- CINAL SOAP, an infallible Prevention against Venereal Infection; a Preparation, though simple, yet so efficacious, as to render it of the utmost importance to every one who values Health; and from its peculiar pro- perties […]