19th century

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 […]

To Fat Persons

This is an interesting advert because there is nothing blatant about it. It doesn’t appear to be selling anything and it’s difficult to see what Mr. F. Russell has to gain. To the average reader, this could simply be a kind-hearted gentleman so excited about having lost weight that he wants to share the secret […]

I Cure Fits!

“Dr.” H. G. Root was a New York chemist whose remedy (not named in most of his adverts) was called Elepizone. According to Martindale’s Extra Pharmacopaeia of 1892, it was made of “bromide of sodium 30 grains, bromide of ammonium 30 grains, bromide of potassium 20 grains, tincture of nux vomica 15 minims, with caramel q.s. […]

Carrington's Life Pills

Carrington’s Life Pills were made principally of capsicum, so they might well have cured your cold — if having your entire head blown off could be said to constitute a cure. The Reverend Caleb Carrington was Vicar of Berkeley from 1799 until his death in May 1837, and his eventful incumbency included getting embroiled in a court […]

Monteet's Infallible Medicines

Monteet’s Medicines weren’t among the more famous of 19th-century remedies. The proprietor, R. Hodgson, advertised them quite heavily in the Northern Echo for a few months in 1880-81, but after that they disappear. There is no way to tell whether the various mixtures were all pretty much the same, but it wouldn’t be a surprise. My favourite […]

The Vital Regenerator

Balsam of Mecca was a prized substance in Arabian medicine and cosmetics, but it was very difficult to get hold of the real thing in Europe in the 19th century. The true balsam – a resin from the shrub then known as Balsamodendron Opobalsamum (now more commonly Commiphora gileadensis) – was rare, but an inferior form […]

Widow Welch's Pills for ladies

I like this one because there’s a real sense of feminine solidarity. Mrs Smithers, possessor of knowledge passed down through the generations, sounds like a better bet than the mortifying prospect of consulting a male doctor. TO LADIES.—THE ONLY GENUINE WIDOW WELCH’S PILLS are those prepared by MRS SMITHERS (Granddaughter to the WIDOW WELCH), from the real Family […]

Solomon's Drops

Happy New Year and welcome to The Quack Doctor! For more information about this new blog, please have a look at the About page. I’ll be posting transcripts of historical advertisements for all sorts of weird and wonderful patent medicines, with the aim of building up quite a collection. I’m hoping to post daily for the […]