By Ann Hibner Koblitz

A controversial issue in modern medicine in America is the widespread prescription of powerful drugs such as Ritalin and Prozac to deal with psychological conditions. Contrary to what most people might think, this is not a new practice. Material in the Sharlot Hall Museum Archives reveals that the situation was not much different in Arizona in territorial and early statehood days. In fact, all that appears to have changed are the names of the drugs.

As early as the 1860s, Prescottonians were being exposed to advertisements for powerful tranquilizers. Area pharmacists routinely distributed free "almanacs" produced by the purveyors of so-called "patent" or "proprietary" medicines-- that is, mixtures of chemicals, herbs, alcohol, and often narcotics whose ingredients and proportions were a jealously-guarded secret. The almanacs contained useful information such as the phases of the moon and planting calendars, and entertaining tidbits such as anecdotes, catchy quotations and cartoons. But mostly the almanacs featured extended advertisements and testimonials for whatever proprietary medicine was being touted. 

Mrs. Winslow's Domestic Receipt Book for 1867 (Boston: Jeremiah Curtis & Sons, 1866), for example, advertised Mrs. Winslow's Soothing Syrup. Highly narcotic, the preparation contained laudanum (an opium derivative popular in the 19th century) and probably codeine. In one testimonial a grateful father expressed his delight that the syrup had quieted his crying baby so that he could get some sleep. He confessed that he had first administered the concoction to his infant in secret from his wife, presumably because of her scruples about giving laudanum to small children. The producers of Mrs. Winslow's admonished such mothers that the syrup was "perfectly safe in all cases. We would say to every mother who has a suffering child, Do not let your prejudice, nor the prejudices of others, stand between you and your suffering child..." 

At the turn of the 19th into the 20th century, the focus of some patent medicine purveyors turned from suffering children (and their sleepless parents) to adults with "nervous" conditions brought on by the tensions of life in an increasingly urbanized society. Many of us today think of a hectic pace of life as a development of the late 20th century. But as early as 1899 Prescott pharmacists were offering Hostetter's Stomach Bitters (probably a paregoric or codeine preparation) as an antidote for the nervousness and sleeplessness experienced "in this busy land of ours, where the battle of life is fiercely waged, where all is bustle and commotion..." 

Similarly, Dr. Miles' Nervine promised "effective relief for nervous headache, sleeplessness, nervous indigestion, and similar nervous troubles." A 1931 ad for the medicine emphasized the "hectic days, sleepless nights" that plagued Americans in the modern age: 

Today-- we are living under an intense pressure, unheard of and unthought of in past years. Aeroplanes and Zeppelins-- radios and television-- skyscrapers and subways-- traffic jams and bright lights..... is it any wonder in this modern high-speed era, that most of us are frequently troubled with aggravating attacks of `NERVES'? 


So how did Prescottonians respond to the frenetic pace of early 20th-century life? We know that there was a fair amount of drug addiction in late 19th-century Arizona. In 1899 the territorial legislature limited the sale of laudanum, morphine, and other opiates. Naturally, addiction did not cease merely because of more restrictive laws. Rather, "respectable" persons in search of strong substances to calm their nerves found ways around the law. In the first decade of the 20th century patent medicines such as Mrs. Winslow's Soothing Syrup, Hostetter's Stomach Bitters and others helped fill the gap because they included either narcotics or relatively large amounts of alcohol among their "secret" ingredients. After a series of national and state food and drug laws were passed in 1912 and subsequent years, most (though not all) of the patent medicine manufacturers changed their formulas or went out of business. 

There was, however, an acceptable alternative for those fortunate enough to be able to afford the services of a sympathetic and accommodating private physician: legally prescribed and obtained narcotics. 

The Sharlot Hall Museum Archives contain a thick ledger book with the prescription records for Prescott's Owl Drug & Candy Company from June to November 1921. Represented are some of Prescott's most eminent physicians-- Drs. Burdick, Carmichael, Flinn, Linn, Looney, McNally, Southworth, and all three Younts. The ledger gives us a fascinating glimpse into the illnesses and preoccupations of Prescottonians of the period, and it provides clues about what the more desperate (and affluent) were doing about their various "nervous" conditions. 

What I found most striking in the 1921 Owl Drug records was how many of the prescriptions were for narcotics. Even if we omit refill requests, which do not name the drug being refilled and are about one-third of the items logged, narcotics constitute one-fifth to one-third of all the prescriptions registered. Some doctors express a preference for belladonna, a few like valerian, and occasionally morphine makes an appearance. More typically, however, the prescription just reads "narc.," with the physician leaving the choice up to the pharmacist or possibly the sufferer him/herself. 


Now, in the first part of the 20th century Prescott was well known for its sanitoria, and it might be argued that the narcotics were necessary for patients in the last stages of tuberculosis. But several of the sanitoria appear to have had their own dispensaries, and so their patients' needs would not normally have been included in Owl Drug's records. And most of the prescriptions for narcotics are made out for individuals at private addresses rather than in hospital or sanitoria rooms. 

Moreover, several of the medicines in the Owl ledger have names that refer to nervous conditions. We see Neuralgia Pill (only Dr. Looney specifies the kind without morphine), Neuromidia, and especially Neurosine. Neurosine, in fact, seemed to be the drug of choice for many "nervous" Prescottonians. Prescriptions for Neurosine include comments such as: "to relieve nervousness," "for nerves," "quieting medicine," and "to relieve nerve tension." These drugs appear to have served the same need that forty years later would be served by Valium and eighty years later by Prozac. 

Sources: 
Melvin W. Phillips, Mile Hi Docs (Prescott: M & J Publishing Company, 1996). 
Owl Drug & Candy Company ledger for 1921 and other records, Sharlot Hall archives. 
Collection of patent medicine company yearly almanacs, Sharlot Hall archives. 


(Ann Hibner Koblitz has her Ph.D. in History and is a Professor of Women's Studies at Arizona State University. She is the author of two books on Russian women scientists and is currently working on a cross-cultural study of sexuality and fertility control.) 



Sharlot Hall Museum Photograph Call Number: (pb150f3i7). Reuse only by permission.
A ledger book from the Owl Drug gives us a fascinating glimpse into the illnesses and preoccupations of Prescottonians of 1921, and it provides clues about what the more desperate (and affluent) were doing about their various "nervous" conditions. This is the interior of the store in about 1910.