Matt's Collectibles - Herb Based Patent Medicines

Since ancient times medicines were made from the natural plants found on the earth. The earliest medicines were herbal remedies. In the 19th century much of the medicine was still concocted from plant extracts. Many of the medicinal herbs seem strange to us today but would have been fairly well known to the early settlers of America. Patent medicine makers took advantage of herbal medicines for their elixirs at least in name , if not in substance. While some of the early herbal medicines did provide positive treatments for various illnesses they have also often been found to contain additional compounds toxic or carcinogenic to humans. This page shows some of the medicines with specific herb names embossed on them.
Aimar's Sarsaparilla & Queens Delight Charleston SC Queen's Delight This medicine was sold by G W Aimar in Charleston SC. He established a drug store in 1852. He also sold AIMAR'S SARRACENIA BITTERS, Aimar's Neurotic Oil, and Aimar's Pearl Cement. During the Civil War the drug store was a CSA dispensary. The store eventually became the Aimar Drug Company which lasted until 1978. http://www.globalherbalsupplies.com/ herb_information/queens_delight.htm 1869 Ad

ST. ANDREW'S WINE OF LIFE ROOT Life Root This medic was originated by Earnest Linwood Andrews in the 1880s. He later started the Andrews Manf Co. in Bristol TN. The company was in business until around 1930. Liferoot (Senecio aureus) also called ... Cocashweed Coughweed False Valerian Golden Ragwort Golden Senecio Liferoot See ... http://www.bristol-tenn-va-bottles.com/id14.html - Another Life Root Medicine - DR J.CHEEVER'S LIFE ROOT MUCILAGE CHARLESTOWN MASS Boston office destroyed by fire in 1852. Dealer in Botanic medicines and trusses.
SLOCUM'S COLTSFOOT EXPECTORANT Coltsfoot Thomas A Slocum made this popular product in New York beginning around 1888. The company stayed in business about half way into the 20th century. The herb Coltsfoot gets it name from its hoof shaped leaves. It also is called Coughwort and its Latin name Tussilago farfara implies it is a treatment for coughs. It has been found that the plant contains some compounds which are liver toxins. Another Coltsfoot medicine what put out by the Brooklyn pharmacist R C Knipe in the 1890s. KNIPE'S WILD CHERRY & COLT'S FOOT R. C. KNIPE BROOKLYN
DR BROWDER'S COMPOUND SYRUP OF INDIAN TURNIP Indian Turnip Indian Turnip also known as Jack-in-the-pulpit, Dragon-root, Wake-robin.	Labeled Browder's bottle sold at Glass Works Auction
CARTER'S EXTRACT OF SMART WEED ERIE Smartweed Also called ... Water Pepper. Biting Persicaria. Bity Tongue. Arcmart. Pepper Plant. Smartass
CLARIDGE'S COMPOUND SYRUP OF BUCKTHORN PHILADa Buckthorn Buckthorn (Rhamnus) is found as a small shrub or tree. Also known as Highwaythorn. Waythorn. Hartsthorn. Ramsthorn. http://www.botanical.com/botanical/mgmh/b/buckth80.html Until late in the nineteenth century, syrup of Buckthorn ranked, however, among favourite rustic remedies as a purgative for children, prepared by boiling the juice with pimento and ginger and adding sugar, but its action was so severe that, as time went on, the medicine was discarded. It first appeared in the London Pharmacopceia of 1650, where, to disguise the bitter taste of the raw juice, it was aromatized by means of aniseed, cinnamon, mastic and nutmeg. It was still official in the British Pharmacopoeia of 1867, but is no longer so, being regarded as a medicine more fit for animals than human beings, and it is now employed almost exclusively in veterinary practice, being commonly prescribed for dogs, with equal parts of castor oil as an occasional purgative
DR LARBOR'S EXTRACT OF LUNGWORT C.J. Roosevelt & Co. New York Lungwort http://www.botanical.com/botanical/mgmh/l/lungwo49.html
DR LATHE'S YELLOW DOCK SYRUP NEW YORK Yellow Dock Many Yellow Dock remedies were sold in the 19th century often combined in Sarsaparillas. Typically used for blood and liver cleansers. http://www.herbs2000.com/herbs/herbs_yellow_dock.htm
MYERS’ ROCK ROSE NEW HAVEN Rock Rose Formulated by the Rev. A L B Myers in New Haven Conn. Cistus Canadensis. (Rock Rose.) Specific Medication and Specific Medicines, 1870, written by John M. Scudder, M.D. The Cistus has a direct and positive influence on the processes of waste and nutrition, and hence possesses the properties known as alterative. It has been used with especial advantage in scrofula, and in chronic diseases dependent upon an enfeebled nutrition, or deposit of imperfectly formed plasma. It is also reported to have a specific influence upon the intestinal canal, curing chronic diarrhoea and dysentery. 1852 Ad
NOWILL'S PECTORAL HONEY OF LIVERWORT james d nowill (nowell) 1838-1841 NYC Liverwort 1844 Ad
RED THYME PAIN CURE S. E. DUBBEL WAYNESBORO, PA Red Thyme
DR CROOK'S COMPOUND SYRUP OF POKE ROOT Poke Root Made by Oliver Crook in Dayton Ohio. Crook was more famous for his Wine of Tar. Advertised around 1871 -. “For the Cure of Cancer, Scrofula in any form, Tumors, Diseases of the Eyes, Liver, Skin or Blood, Rheumatic pains in Bones, Syphilis, Broken Down Constitution, Mercurial Diseases, Scald-Head Tetter, Pimples, Body Blotches, Ulcers, Gum Sores or any Diseases arising from an impurity of the Blood”. http://www.glswrk-auction.com/mc11.htm
BAKER'S BAMBOO BRIAR COMPOUND OWEGO TIOGA CO. N.Y. BAKER'S BAMBOO BRIER COMPOUND S. B. WILCOX BINGHAMTON, N.Y. U.S.A. Bamboo Briar
DOCTOR BANNON'S RED ROOT BALSAM Red Root THOMAS J. Bannon Westerly RI http://www.henriettesherbal.com/eclectic/kings/ceanothus.html "DOCTOR BANNON'S RED ROOT BALSAM The King of Cough Killers" Bannon ran a drug store in Westerly.
GINSENG PANACEA Thomas Salter Cincinatti Ohio 1848
BARRETT’S COMPOUND EXTRACT OF STILLINGIA FOR THE LIVER AND KIDNEYS Stillingia AKA Queen's Delight May be related to this English herb based medicine ... Barrett's Mandrake Embrocation
MALE FERN VERMIFUGE O. P. B. O.Phelps Brown Jersey City NJ Male Fern Male Fern (Aspidium Filix Mas) was described in O Phelps Brown's 1879 book The Complete Herbalist. http://www.herbs2000.com/herbs/herbs_male_fern.htm
LOG CABIN HOPS and BUCHU REMEDY Risley's Extract Buchu New York RUSH`S BUCHU AND IRON A.H. FLANDERS M.D. NEW YORK Buchu http://www.glswrk-auction.com/069.htm
J L Curtis Syrup of Sassafras Sassafras J L Curtis Elba, NY



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Male Fern (Aspidium Filix Mas) was described in O Phelps Brown's 1879 book The Complete Herbalist.