Items

Title: Lydia Pinkham's Vegetable Compound
Description: Trade card advertising Lydia E. Pinkham's Vegetable Compound, Lydia E. Pinkham's Liver Pills, Lydia E. Pinkham's Blood Purifier, and Lydia E. Pinkham's Sanative Wash featuring a square image of a sailboat in profile with a shadowed fleet behind it. The foregrounded boat has a red flag at the tip of its mast. The square image is framed by overlaid leaves and red, white, blue, and purple flowers. The back describes the ailments the items can cure.
Conditions Cured (LC): Asthenia, Backache, Constipation, Depression, Headache, Indigestion, Inflammation, Insomnia, Neurasthenia, Peptic Ulcer, Tumors
Subjects (LC): Advertising—Medicine, Boats And Boating, Flowers, Nature, Ocean, Sailboats, Water
ID: WH327
Collection: William H. Helfand Collection of Pharmaceutical Trade Cards

Title: Dr. Thomas' Eclectric Oil: Mary Anderson
Description: Trade card advertising Dr. Thomas' Eclectric Oil featuring a portrait of a young woman. She is formally dressed in a gown with long gloves. She is wearing a hat that reads: "Dr. Thomas' Eclectric Oil" and has a feather in it. The back lists the ailments the Oil has cured.
Conditions Cured (LC): Asthma, Backache, Bronchitis, Burns And Scalds, Catarrh, Cough, Croup, Deafness, Diphtheria, Earache, Edema, Frostbite, Neuralgia, Rheumatism, Throat—Diseases, Toothache
Subjects (LC): Advertising—Medicine, Clothing And Dress, Costume, Ethnic Costume, Hats, Portraits, Women
ID: WH366
Collection: William H. Helfand Collection of Pharmaceutical Trade Cards

Title: I's All Right Now!: In Constant Use Since 1795
Description: Trade card advertising Dr. Isaac Thompson's Eye Water featuring two girls in a red armchair. The older of the two is holding a bottle of what seems to be Dr. Isaac Thompson's Eye Water in her right hand. Her left hand is around the shoulders of the younger girl who is holding a tissue. They are both in dresses and have brown-blond hair. The back describes the meritous reputation of the Eye Water.
Subjects (LC): Advertising—Medicine, Bottles, Chairs, Children, Children's Clothing, Clothing And Dress
ID: WH368
Collection: William H. Helfand Collection of Pharmaceutical Trade Cards

Title: Burdock Blood Bitters
Description: Trade card advertising Burdock Blood Bitters featuring a young boy sitting on a pedestal, smiling largely. He is holding a bottle of Burdock Blood Bitters, and is dressed in an exuberant outfit with a white, fanned collar, a blue tunic with a yellow-and-red-striped sash, and pink socks with black boots. The back cautions against doing various activities while suffering from various ailments that Burdock Blood Bitters helps cure.
Conditions Cured (LC): Asthenia, Biliary Tract—Diseases, Constipation, Indigestion
Subjects (LC): Advertising—Medicine, Bottles, Children, Children's Clothing, Clothing And Dress, Portraits
ID: WH129
Collection: William H. Helfand Collection of Pharmaceutical Trade Cards

Title: Dr. Mettaur's Headache Pills
Description: Trade card advertising Dr. Mettaur's Headache Pills featuring a young girl who seems to be praying on a bed. She is barefoot and wearing a nightgown. There is a pillow by her knees. The back has testimony from satisfied customers.
Conditions Cured (LC): Headache
Subjects (LC): Advertising—Medicine, Children, Children—Prayers And Devotions, Pillows, Portraits
ID: WH303
Collection: William H. Helfand Collection of Pharmaceutical Trade Cards

Title: Hood's Sarsaparilla Purifies the blood, creates an appetite, makes the weak strong, and builds up the system
Description: Trade card advertising Hood's Sarsaparilla featuring a cupid-like boy with small wings and a blue garment around his waist. He is marching while playing a golden horn and holding a yellow box of Hood's Sarsaparilla. The back lists the health benefits of blood purification, as well as the ingredients in Hood's Sarsaparilla.
Conditions Cured (LC): Asthenia, Body Fluids, Constipation, Furuncle, Headache, Indigestion, Salt Rheum, Scrofula, Syphilis
Subjects (LC): Advertising—Medicine, Angels, Cherubs, Folklore, Musical Instruments, Mythology
ID: WH143
Collection: William H. Helfand Collection of Pharmaceutical Trade Cards

Title

An Abstract of the Patent Granted by His Majesty King George…

Description

Patent medicines originated in England in the mid 17th century and were marketed with extravagant claims, offering cures for a host of maladies. Recommendations for dosage were vague, and ingredients (often including opium) were usually not specified. In 1726 Benjamin Okell was granted the royal patent for Dr. Bateman’s Pectoral Drops, a tincture of gambir (an astringent extract from an Asian plant) and opium. Advertisements published in the London Mercury as early as 1721 directed prospective customers to the warehouse and printing shop at Bow's Churchyard, where they could purchase the drops for one shilling. Our copy of the 1731 reprint by Peter Zenger is likely the first piece of medical printing in New York. Zenger, who would later become famous for printing seditious texts, was instrumental in establishing freedom of the press in America. The Academy has the only known copy. Bound with our copy of the abstract is a copy of A Short treatise of the virtues of Dr. Bateman's Pectoral Drops, also issued by Okell and his printing house partners. Here, Batemans efficacy as a treatment for numerous ailments are described in sections dedicated to each. The last section of the treatise offers testimonials from satisfied customers.

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