19th century

The Cordial Balm of Rakasiri – part 2

For part 1 of this article, click here. There’s also a transcript of an 1818 Rakasiri advert here. In 1828, a ‘nervous young man’ who had wasted more than 10l. on the Cordial Balm of Rakasiri went to a magistrate and succeeded in getting his money back. During the proceedings, the Balm’s proprietors, Charles and […]

The Cordial Balm of Rakasiri – part 1

Source: The Morning Chronicle, Saturday 12 December 1818. For transcript, click here. On this site I include anything medical or surgical provided it was advertised, so not all the remedies were considered quackery in their time. Some were endorsed and prescribed by reputable doctors, and many were no worse than the orthodox medicines then available. […]

Letter from An Old Surgeon

A brief interlude from the usual style of post today, as I’m still attempting to erase the Yankee Rubber Baby from my brain. The following letter was printed in The Monthly Gazette of Health in June 1821. A surgeon, not the most modest fellow in the world, gives an explanation for quackery – it’s all […]

Allan's Anti-Fat

Source: The Belfast News-letter, Tues 3 June 1879 This ad is unusual in appealing not to the potential consumer but to her weedy, emasculated little husband. (Presumably he’s her husband, because he seems stuck with her.) Most ads for Allan’s Anti-Fat, however, were aimed directly at people wishing to lose weight. (N.B. the spelling ‘Allen’s’ […]

Laxora

Source: The Graphic, Sat 23 August 1879 Laxora was introduced to Britain by its French proprietor, P. Guyot, in 1877, and at once attracted positive attention from the medical press. It sounds a pleasant medicine to take – The Medical Times and Gazette described it thus: They consist of a core, or centre-part, of compound […]

Nelson's Mixture for Diseases of the Lungs

A MORE VALUABLE DISCOVERY was never made in Medicine than NELSON’S MIXTURE for DIS- EASES of the LUNGS.—Coughs the most inveterate, sleepless nights, wheezing, and shortness of breath, profuse spitting, pains in the chest, and spitting of blood, in short asthma and consumption is completely cured by it; it lessens excessive perspirations and amends the expectoration, […]

Swaim's Panacea – part 2

For part 1 about Swaim’s Panacea, click here. Within a few years of establishing his products, William Swaim was enjoying the benefits of endorsements from some of Philadelphia’s most eminent physicians, including Nathaniel Chapman, William Gibson, William Pott Dewees, Thomas Parke and James Mease – and he didn’t even have to make them up. For […]

Swaim'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 […]

Dr Junod's Exhausting Apparatus

Important Notice to the Afflicted ALL Persons suffering from PARALYSIS, SPINAL AFFECTIONS, RHEUMATISM, NEURAL- GIA, ASTHMA, Pain in the Head, or all cases of INFLAM- MATION or CONGESTION, should at once try Mr G. W. Gedney’s VACUUM APPARATUS, by Dr. Junod, which has been practised with great success for upwards of 40 years. Testimonials of […]

Wine of Cardui

WINE FOR WOMEN! Woman’s modesty and ignorance of danger often cause her to endure pains and suffer torture rather than consult a physician about important subjects. Pains in the head, neck, back, hips, limbs and lower bowels at monthly intervals, indicate alarming derangements. McELREE’S WINE OF CARDUI is a harmless Bitter Wine without intoxicating qualities. […]