By Judy Stoycheff

By 1933, the Eagle Drug Store had been relocated to the northwest corner of Gurley and Cortez Streets where it would remain until 1981. A collection of old medicine bottles, tins and tubes were saved and recently resurfaced when donated to the Sharlot Hall Museum. The majority of the donated bottles are well labeled, either by paper label or the glass bottle was embossed or both. The contents were "patent" medicines and not prescription medications. The manufacturers basically kept their ingredients secret and actually patented them.

It would be unrealistic to think that these bottles always contained what is on the label as bottles were always being reused. Therefore, it makes sense to attempt to date the bottles themselves. One way is by the evenness of the bottle and lack of bubbles in the glass. By the 1920s, most bottles lacked bubbles in the glass and were of uniform thickness. Many of the manufacturers of patent medicines, liniments and tonics made their own bottles and uniformity would be questionable for a longer period of time as they would use them over and over. Local or regional manufacturers and pharmacies would also make their own bottles. For larger distributions, manufacturers might contract with a bottle maker who would probably have their ‘mark’ embossed on the base or sides of the bottle. These would be registered and datable.

Another dating technique is to examine the closure method. Corks and glass stoppers were common until about 1924 when continuous thread screw cap was widespread and more reliable. The Eagle Pharmacy collection has 18 cork closure bottles, one glass closure and one with a screw cap. The base of the latter was also ‘stippled,’ which means that it has small raised glass dots or strips on the bottom. This began in the late 1930s and is the norm for glass jars and bottles today. This technique tends to stabilize the glass jar or bottle even when on the shelf.

The screw cap bottle contained McLean’s Tar Wine Compound, a cough medicine. Originally conceived in 1841, it is an astringent and sedative designed to stop your cough due to a cold. It was manufactured by the McLean Medicine Company in St. Louis, Missouri. At one time it contained 5% alcohol, ammonium chloride, ipecac(a root that causes vomiting), wild cherry, wine of tar, licorice, anise and glycerin. It is also one of the many patented medicines listed in the 1936 book, "Nostrums and Quackery and Pseudo-Medicine," written by the American Medical Association. A nostrum is defined as a favorite but untested remedy for an illness or evil; a quackery. This particular bottle was made later than the others but it does show the longevity of some of the patent medicines of the time.

In summary, the bottles themselves probably date from the late 1880s to the mid 1920s and one bottle coming from the 1930s. The contents of most of bottles were originally formulated during the late 1880s and a few are still in use today. Many of the individual herbs, roots, syrups, etc., were derived from plants that were known for their medicinal value since the time of the Greeks. Some are still in use in their natural form such as ipecac, thymol (antiseptic oil) and others. Bell’s Cough Syrup contained ipecac and thymol as well as heroin, codeine phosphate and terpin hydrate. Modern science has refined some of them to make it more plausible to give a measured dose such as Pilocarpine (from Jaborandi, an essential oil from a tree leaf in the Amazon) to treat glaucoma. Others, such as Terpin Hydrate, have been discontinued as being "ineffective."

It is impossible to ignore the fact that at least seven of the labeled bottles donated contained alcohol as a solvent which possibly increased its value as a tonic. Cannabis (plant similar to marijuana) was proudly listed on the label of Bliss Native Balsam, a cough syrup manufactured by Alonzo Bliss Medical Company in Washington D.C., Kansas City and Montreal. The label also proclaimed that it had "no habit forming drugs, safe for children." Dill’s Blood and Nerve Tonic label shows a whopping 20% alcohol content! It was prepared by the Dill Company in Norristown, PA and the bottle was embossed on the side (see photo). Nelson, Baker and Company manufactured cold tablets containing quinine and capsicum (from chili peppers….today’s pepper spray) and the label states it is "poison in excessive doses"! Dr. Schenck’s Tonic for indigestion with a "revised formula" in 1920 was manufactured by J. H. Schenck & Son of Philadelphia and had an alcohol content of 19%.

Heroin, codeine, morphine, alcohol and marijuana were common ingredients of the day, and made the ‘tonic’ something that settled Grandma’s upset digestive system quickly and allowed her to get a good nights sleep!

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

Sharlot Hall Museum Photograph Call Number:(photo by K.Krause) Reuse only bypermission.

Here are a few selected bottles recently donated to Sharlot Hall Museum which were collected several years ago from the building where the Eagle Drug Store was located at the northwest corner of Gurley and Cortez Streets. Ingredients for these "tonics" and concoctions are given in the article. The eyewash insert is particularly interesting, dating itself with the first open motor cars of the early 1900s.

Sharlot Hall Museum Photograph Call Number:(photo by K.Krause) Reuse only bypermission.

A small portion of the drugstore display at Sharlot Hall Museum shows various old medicine bottles that have been donated to the museum in previous years. Notice the embossed glass identifying the company who made the bottle and/or medicinal product contained inside.

Sharlot Hall Museum Photograph Call Number:(photo by K.Krause) Reuse only bypermission.

This cold tablet, manufactured by Nelson, Baker and Co. in Detroit, MI, contained quinine and capsicum (pain reliever and circulatory stimulant made from chili peppers) and the label states that they are "poison in excessive doses."