Victorian

‘Like a half-felled cow’ – a case of arsenic poisoning in Victorian Scotland

When you’re under the weather and you Google your symptoms in an attempt to convince yourself that you are about to die, spare a thought for Jean Landess, whose perusal of Chambers’s Encyclopaedia was the beginning of a tragic chain of events. In May 1868, 39-year-old Mrs Landess, of Paisley, had just weaned her youngest […]

Atkinson & Barker’s Royal Infants’ Preservative

Source: The Patriot (London) 12 September 1853 It is no misnomer Cordial! —no stupefactive, deadly narcotic! —but a veritable preservative of Infants! Regular readers of The Quack Doctor might be able to hazard a guess at the active ingredients of this product. Like other infant quieteners, it did contain a narcotic, and, like them, it […]

Munyon is ready…

Would you buy a homeopathic remedy from this man? Source: The Morning Times (Washington D.C.) 13 December 1896 James Monroe Munyon’s pompadour hairstyle was a familiar feature of American newspapers around the turn of the 20th century. Having tried his hand at teaching, law, social work, publishing and song-writing, he started his Homoeopathic Home Remedy […]

Gamjee’s Oriental Salve

During the next couple of weeks I’m featuring some of the ads that have slipped through the net – either I can’t find out much about them, or I’ve already written about something similar. The brief British season of thinking it might be nice to play tennis is now coming to an end. The crumbling […]

Professor Modevi’s Beard Generator

While some historical quacks and their remedies remain famous, I often find adverts for products that have faded into obscurity. Some were one-hit wonders that only appeared in the papers for a few weeks, while others were well known in their time but don’t have much extant background information associated with them. There are also […]

The ‘Instra’ Warmer

Source: The Sporting Times, 28 January 1899. Although this product isn’t solely medical, its advertising did claim that it could prevent chills, colds, rheumatism and lumbago, and alleviate toothache, neuralgia and sciatica. Whether or not it could effectively combat these ailments is doubtful, but it nevertheless sounds like a useful gadget for the depths of […]

Barrett’s Mandrake Embrocation

BARRETT’S Mandrake EMBROCATION CURES {HEADACHE! EARACHE! TOOTHACHE!} INSTANTLY. Unequalled for Sprains, Bruises, Overstraining of the Muscles, Cramp, Rheumatism, Sciatica, Lumbago, Gout, Neuralgia, Chilblains, Bronchitis. To be had retail of all Chemists, 1s. 1½d., 2s. 9d., and 4s. 6d., postage 3d. extra ; or direct from the Sole Proprietor, JOSHUA BARRETT, 21, Beresford Road, Highbury New […]

Vigor’s Horse-Action Saddle

Source: Country Life Illustrated, 8 Jan 1897 (this image from a later facsimile edition) Unusually for anything involving exercise, this contraption looks almost fun. Although perhaps not completely ‘a perfect substitute for a live horse’ – at least, not if you wanted to travel somewhere – it was well-received as an aid to fitness. The medical […]

Homeopathy made plain to the meanest capacity

Today marks the beginning of World Homeopathy Awareness Week. When homeopathy was introduced to Britain in the 1830s, not everyone was clear on what this new-fangled system was all about. Here’s an explanation from Mr Waggle, a character in Cornelius Webbe’s The Man About Town (1838). Waggle is a well-preserved 45-year-old bachelor who never stops […]

The Continued Adventures of Baron Spolasco

In the last post, we left Baron Spolasco recovering from a traumatic two nights on a storm-battered rock after a shipwreck claimed the life of his eight-year old son. . After writing his Narrative of the Wreck of the Steamer Killarney, the Baron at last made it to Bristol, where he only intended to stay […]