By Judy Stoycheff

Recently, two boxes of what appeared to be old medicine bottles, tins, and tubes were donated to the Sharlot Hall Museum. They were collected several years ago from the building that the Eagle Drug Store occupied at 102 West Gurley Street, on the northwest corner of Gurley and Cortez Streets from 1933 to 1981. As it turns out, most of the original contents of the bottles were not prescription medicines, but "patent" medicines issued before and near the time of the Pure Food and Drug Act of 1906. Basically, this Act required ingredients, particularly dangerous and addictive ones, to be listed on the labels for tonics and other "medicinal" concoctions.

Prior to the Pure Food and Drug Act, many manufacturers kept their ingredients secret and actually patented them, hence the term "patent" medicine. Many of them, undoubtedly, had some soothing effects since alcohol, cocaine, and cannabis (similar to marijuana) were the base for them! Some tonics professed to cure such conflicting complaints as diarrhea and constipation simultaneously, while others, such as John Lauro’s Majestic Rheumatism Liniment promised "Chronic Rheumatism Instantly Relieved, no fixed date for the cure" and "30-day cases cured in 6 hours." The Sherley Amendment of 1913 forbade any false claims regarding the concoctions ability to cure. Consequently, Mr. Lauro had to change his advertising!

Mr. Fredrick J. Heil established the Heil’s Drugstore at 111 N. Cortez Street in 1912 and sold it to Charles Freericks in October 1918. Mr. Freericks changed the name to Eagle Drug Store. He advertised that he sold no tobacco products and did not have a lunch or soda fountain. Instead, he sold drugstore sundries and sickroom supplies and would also handle mail order drug requests. According to the 1933 Prescott City Directory, he and his partner, E. Link, moved the store to 102 West Gurley Street. From 1937 to 1948, the proprietors were C.E. and C.W. Lawrence, but by 1965 only C.E. Lawrence is listed. From 1967 to 1981, the owner was H. Duane Jackson. During these times, "Good old Eagle Drug Store ….had the greatest soda fountain!" Mr. Jackson moved the store to 1000 Willow Creek Road in 1982 and by 1985, the Eagle Drug Store name was no longer in use in Prescott. The old location at 102 West Gurley Street had been a drug store, under various names, from the mid-1890s until 1981. It is presently occupied by the National Bank of Arizona.

So what makes these particular bottles from the Eagle Drug Store of interest to the museum? They are old, have interesting labels or embossing and can tell us a great deal about the illnesses and "cures" of that particular era and this community. The majority of the donated bottles are well labeled, either by paper label or the glass bottle was embossed, or both. Embossing is a technique of creating raised images on material, such as glass, for a design or a trademark. The 1906 Act allows us to see what is actually in some of the medicines; however, the actual formula is frequently much older. A few, for example, Pettit’s Pile Salve, while its use is obvious, didn’t need to list ingredients and could keep the formula a secret. Stiles Galvanic Oil advertised in 1900 "may be applied to the skin…don’t rub it in," for muscle aches and "taken internally for cramps and colic." Now, that’s a scary thought! Again, prior to 1906, ingredients did not need to be listed.

The Eagle Pharmacy bottle collection has 18 cork closure bottles, one glass closure and one with continuous thread screw cap. The bottles probably date from the late 1880s to the mid-1920s with one bottle coming from the 1930s. The "medicines" of that era, unlike today, were not dated and had no expiration date on the product. But there are ways of establishing the approximate dates. The concoctions in most of these bottles were probably originally formulated during the late 1880s.

In Part II next week, we will examine some of the bottles and their contents, how dating of the product is established and revelation of some surprising ingredients.

(Judy Stoycheff has written other articles for Days Past.)

Sharlot Hall Museum Photograph Call Number:(pb088f6bi82) Reuse only bypermission.

Heil’s Drug Store, owner Fredrick Heil, was located at 111 N. Cortez Street shown here in 1916. Two years later, Mr. Heil sold the store to Charles Freericks, who changed the name of the store to Eagle Drug Store. He moved the business to 102 W. Gurley Street in 1933 where it remained until 1981. The name remained the same from 1918 through 1981, though several owners were involved during those years.

Sharlot Hall Museum Photograph Call Number:(bub8079p) Reuse only bypermission.

This postcard from the late 1940s shows Eagle Drug Store on the northwest corner of Gurley and Cortez Streets, at 102 W. Gurley Street. It was at this location from 1933 until 1981, offering drugs, sundries, cosmetics and, in the 1970s, "the greatest soda fountain." Currently, the space is occupied by the National Bank of Arizona.