r/DrBeboutsCabinet

Anyone recognize the label on this one? Near Liberty, North Carolina.

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.

Could not get better photos. This was in Isafordur.

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.