Victorian

Tricosian Powder, Huile de Cachmere, etc.

As someone with a “countenance of moderate pretensions,” I can see the allure of some of these products … TRICOSIAN POWDER. For rendering Red or Grey Hair and Whiskers a beautiful Black or Brown. THIS POWDER, which is a very curious dis- covery in Chemistry, will be found, upon trial, much […]

Dr Williams' Pink Pills for Pale People

Here’s another big-business remedy, this time originating in Canada. “Dr Williams” was a brand name, and the pills were manufactured by George T. Fulford of Brockville, Ontario. Born in 1852, Fulford went into the patent medicine business in 1886 and four years later bought the rights to the Pink Pills recipe from Dr William Jackson for $53.01. The Pills […]

Dr. 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 […]

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 […]

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 […]