Patent medicines

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PastMidnight

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Does anyone have a recommendation of a good source (either print or internet) with information about 19th century patent medicines? I'd like to know what some of the popular ones were (the ones that most people kept on hand), as well as be able to find medicines used for specific ailments. Thank you!
 

HoosierCowgirl

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I Googled "laudanum" awhile back and found some interesting information. I think laudanum -- a combination of opium and alcohol -- was also called "bitters" because of the horrendous taste.
 

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One of these might be useful (they all focus on American patent medicines):

http://www.nlm.nih.gov/hmd/almanac/index.html (patent medicine almanacs)

http://www.mspong.org/cyclopedia/contents.html (an 1881 cyclopedia - the entries under "medicine" are mostly home remedies, but they might have something on patent medications)

http://www.pbs.org/now/science/drugads2.html (history of drug advertising)

http://www.folkmed.ucla.edu/ (if you search for "patent", you will get some references to books mentioning patent medications)

A couple original documents from the Making of America project:
"A Doctor and His Pills" (1852, The Whig Review)
"The Patent Medicine Business" (1867)
The Prairie Traveler (1863)

There are probably others too.

Hope this helps!
 

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PastMidnight said:
Thanks for all of the great links! It is American patent medicines that I was interested in. This will help a lot.
Based on your location, I wasn't sure if American was what you were looking for. Glad to help.

It's kind of funny to think of all the people who must have been walking around half-stoned or drunk after taking those tonics. I'm grateful that it's now regulated, so I'm not likely to inadvertently get a dose of antifreeze or radium.
 
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