u/DrBeboutsCabinet

Bone surgery before electricity got involved!

These people weren't playing! Check out these ingredients:

Acetanilid — analgesic/antipyretic, but with the historical baggage of methemoglobinemia and other toxicity.

Belladonna + hyoscyamus — anticholinergic alkaloids. Dry things up, decrease secretions, etc., but hardly benign drugs.

Quinine hydrobromide — part of that enormous historical enthusiasm for quinine-containing cold preparations.

Then comes the bowel-cleansing artillery: podophyllin, colocynth and aloes. That's not “maybe you'll poop.” That's a group of old-school cathartics that explains why the manufacturer confidently promises you'll be moving your bowels within 8–10 hours.

Capsicum and caffeine round out the kitchen sink.

Throwback Thursday

Apparently you start with doctors, surgeons, nurses, “medical correctness,” and the reassurance that yes — single girls can wear them.

These four ads for Pursettes, Fibs, Meds, and Tampax all take a slightly different approach. Pursettes offered a “lubricated tip.” Fibs were “quilted” for comfort and safety. Tampax promised “baths as usual.” And Meds tackled the important question right up front: “Can Single Girls Wear Tampons?”

What really stands out is how heavily these ads leaned on medical authority. Doctors approved them. Surgeons developed them. Nurses used them. Tampax even advertised its acceptance by the Journal of the American Medical Association.

Four products. Four sales pitches. And a pretty good little snapshot of how feminine hygiene was marketed in the 1950s.

Sold for burns, cuts, wounds, and other minor injuries. The tin proudly says its germicidal power was “proven by recognized bacteriological tests”—without bothering to tell us what those tests were.

It also claims activity against “Micrococcus aureus,” the old name for Staphylococcus aureus.

This design dates to July 1931.

Long used as a general antiseptic, this product has been around a long time. This ad is from 1883.

If you had a headache, fatigue, indigestion, or were simply "bilious," there was a good chance your doctor—or the patent medicine salesman—would recommend a laxative.

Here are a few examples from my collection:

• Pierce's Pleasant Purgative Pellets
• Dilaxin Tablets
• Alotabs
• DeWitt's Little Early Risers
• Dr. Spiegel's Stomach & Liver Pills

Different companies, different packaging, but all aimed at the same problem. Looking through old medicine cabinets, it's surprising just how many products were designed to keep the bowels moving.

A patient gave me this empty Gilbert Microscope and Lab Set box because they knew I collect medical and scientific antiques.

It's missing the contents, but I still think it's a great piece. The box art is classic, and it's a fun reminder of when kids played with science kits instead of a cell phone!

The F.W. Ketterer Medicine co. said "Throw away your Calomel!"

There is no label so I haven't been able to actually verify that this is the graduating class but it looks authentic. All the pictures have the students names under them so I'm going to spend a little bit of time researching each one and seeing if I can verify who these people are.

This 1950 advertisement promotes Tolserol, Squibb's trade name for mephenesin (3-o-toloxy-1,2-propanediol). At this time, the benzos had not busted on to the scene. Barbiturates, paraldehyde and muscle relaxers like mephenesin were the standard of care. This ad promoted the improvement in tremor as evidenced by the comparison.

Boy, times have changed! This is a 1950's ad for Philip Morris in an Illinois Medical Journal!

1903 Quiz-Compend No. 19: Diseases of the Ear, Nose and Throat by John Johnson Kyle, M.D.

These little quiz-compends were the pocket study guides of their day—designed to help medical students review before examinations.

A few things that caught my eye:

• Beautiful anatomical engravings of the ear, nose, and throat.
• Early hearing aids ("otophones") and even an artificial eardrum.
• Period treatment formulas containing everything from tincture of iodine and creosote to cocaine hydrochloride and tincture of opium.

These Gold Medal Compound Pills from S. Pfeiffer Mfg. Co. of St. Louis were marketed to increase hemoglobin by supplying iron for iron deficiency anemia.

The directions even include a practical bit of advice: if the iron causes constipation, they recommend taking Schoenfeld Tea as a laxative.

This one is a little rough but finding a good early Gray's in pristine condition at affordable prices is getting increasingly difficult. This is my 3rd one. This is the American version of the English 15th edition - 1901.

Vintage cold remedies could be...interesting.

This tin of Hill's Cold Tablets contains acetanilid to reduce pain and fever, but it also contains podophyllin, cascara sagrada, and aloin—three ingredients whose main job was to get your bowels moving.

Victorian patent medicine advertising never disappoints. This MA-LE-NA trade card claims it's "the best remedy on earth" and then proceeds to list about every ailment imaginable. According to the advertising, it treated just about everything short of being run over by a train.

Finally got these back from the framer today. He did a fantastic job preserving and displaying them. They weren't easy projects—especially the medical diploma—but I couldn't be happier with how they turned out. These are definitely going on the wall in the new office and museum.

One of my favorite new trade cards advertises MA-LE-NA, a patent medicine from Warriorsmark, Pennsylvania.

The reverse is packed with claims that it could treat everything from burns and insect bites to catarrh, rheumatism, sore throats, dandruff, warts, and more. The company also marketed blood tablets, worm tablets, pills, and even chewing gum.

16 years old when shot in the chest with a British musket. Survived the wound and returned to active duty 6 weeks later.