Medicinal Advertisements
This week is focused on medicinal advertisements from the last quarter of the 19th century, some of which hid their questionable cures behind the bright images of trade cards. Much like television commercials today, these Victorian era trade cards allowed for the public to learn about new remedies for all sorts of aches and pains in an entertaining, accessible manner. Trade cards caught the eye of the shopper with their colorful illustration and gave a brief description of the drug’s intended use.
Oftentimes, the illustration had little correlation to the medicine; such is the case for Dr. C. McLane’s Liver Pills and Vermifuge. The cheerful, colorful pansies contrast with the advertisement for Vermifuge, an antiparasitic drug used to expel intestinal tape worms. The front of the card for North Carolina Tar Syrup features a speckled green background with an illustration of reddish pink and white roses; meanwhile, the medication claimed that ingesting syrup made from pine tar would clear the lungs of consumption.
Perhaps the most mundane features an illustration of a Mrs. Lydia E. Pinkham. However, her products did not need colorful gimmicks to fly off the shelf, as Lydia Pinkham’s Vegetable Compound was a popular remedy for “All Female Complaints”, namely issues that arose from menstruation and menopause. Touted as a medicine by women for women, the compound gave a renewed sense of control over one’s wellbeing at a time when reproductive health was a taboo subject. A simple image of Mrs. Pinkham was all that was needed to grab the attention of female shoppers.
Who knows?
In 100 years, will the items we have in our medicine cabinets fascinate a new generation?