The U.S. comprises less than 5% of the world's population and one third of the world's spending on pharmaceuticals.

Monday, September 16, 2013

The Kickapoo Indians Tape-Worm Secret

"Sure to Get Head, Body, and All."

This remedy was made by the Kickapoo Indians Medicine Company, but it was not invented or made by Kickapoo Indians. A 1907 list of ingredients included the following:
Santonin - powdered wormwood - stuns or kills worms
Podophyllin - dried root of American Mayapple (also useful in removing genital warts)
Sugar - to make the mess palatable?
Rice Flour - probably the base everything else mixed into
Licorice - a root - a soothing coating agent & expectorant so you can cough up the worm
Oil of Anise - another expectorant, also a diuretic & appetite stimulant
Hydragyri Subchloridum - chloride of mercury - if it doesn't kill the worm, it'll kill you.

Monday, August 26, 2013

Asper-Lax

Asper-lax was based in Charleston, West Virginia, and while it advertised itself as a remedy "since 1916", it was only legally able to distribute its product beginning in 1920 after some litigation with the Bayer company. Why aspirin should also contain a laxative is a mystery to me, except that Americans love their laxatives. I can't recall needing a laxative for most headaches or colds I've suffered. Alas for sufferers of the deadly influenza, Asper-Lax might give a bit of relief, but no cure. The product was promoted mainly in West Virginia but did spread to Pennsylvania and New York. You could buy shares in the company for only $10 in 1920 but I could find no info for the company after 1933, so it may have gone belly up during the Great Depression.

Wednesday, July 10, 2013

Nembutal and Aspirin


Did folks buy this for the aspirin or for the phenobarbital? Oh wait, this was a FREE sample.

I think William S. Burroughs mentioned "nembies" in his classic work "Junky"; musta been some mighty good stuff, because it's a controlled substance now. It's what veterinarians use to euthanize pets. You have to go to Mexico or Switzerland to buy it if you are regular folk. My, how time changes things.

Wednesday, August 1, 2012

BRONCOLA


Got a cold? Got a cough? 


Sanguinarie - Bloodroot - homeopathic remedy & emetic with no proven safe or effective dose for either adults or children
Lobelia - "puke weed" is still recommended by some herbalists as a treatment for asthma
Ipecac - makes you throw up
Squill - from the bulb of pretty flower, considered unsafe, used to manufacture rat poison

Umm, yeah, well the alcohol sounds good.


Wednesday, July 25, 2012

CASCARETS LAXATIVE TABLETS


Distributed by The R.L. Watkins Co., New York, NY
for Sterling Remedy Company

Manufacture began in 1896. Active ingredients: phenolpthalein and cascara. Cascara Sagrada is a tree native to British Columbia, and its bark was long used by Native Americans as a laxative. By 1877 the Parke-Davis Company was marketing its preparations of cascara to the masses. Cascara was so popular the trees became overharvested during the 1900s. In 1999, according to Wikipedia, Cascara made up more than 20% of the laxative market, and was found in more drug preparations than any other natural product in North America. In 2002, however, the FDA issued a ruling banning cascara, senna, and biscodyl (more on these other two later) from over-the-counter products, citing safety concerns which included potential for colorectal cancer and liver damage.
Ironically, ads from 1899 cited a "lazy liver" as the cause of constipation and said that Cascarets stimulated the liver and thus cured constipation. It was even suggested that people carry a box of Cascarets in their vest pocket so they could pop one as desired for good health. Nowadays we know the use of any laxative for more than a few days isn't a good idea, and most modern preparations issue cautionary instructions.
 OK, so people didn't have a good grasp of just how the human body worked, and it took over a hundred years to discover the bad stuff about cascara. Cascarets became snake oil when its manufacturer began issuing outrageous claims.

"A tape worm eighteen feet long at least came on the scene after my taking two Cascarets. "
"My wife had pimples on her face, but she has been Cascarets and they have all disappeared."

I love that euphemism "came on the scene". Did people really speak that way?

In 1906 Sterling took another tack with an illustration of the digestive system and an explanation of its workings. This time they cited lazy intestines due to lack of exercise because of indoor employment and said one Cascaret had an effect equivalent to a six mile walk. I can see these tablets would be a hit in the weight loss industry.  By 1913 Cacarets could "insure you for months against a sick headache, biliousness, coated tongue, and indigestion" as well as constipated bowels. Cascarets continued to be heavily advertised through the early 1930s and more sporadically until about 1945. So far I've not seen an ad posted beyond 1946.

Above: three ads, from 1898, 1899 and 1902, aiming at a variety of targets.
Below: dosing instructions from the tin at the top of the page. The slogan "they work while you sleep" now appears on the back of the tin instead of being incorporated into the logo itself.  Also "Candy Cathartic" has become "Laxative Tablets".



Another version of the Cascarets tin, probably quite a bit later than the top one. The logo now has a drop shadow effect, and the specific amounts of each ingredient is listed. Sterling Remedy Co. now has a home town, Jersey City, NJ.

Not least, there are more specific dosing instructions for children and a caution about the habitual use of laxatives.


Tuesday, July 24, 2012

DIME-LAX

Laymon's Chocolate Flavor Dime-Lax 

Each tablet contained 1.5 grains Yellow Phenolphthalein, a suspected carcinogen, which was withdrawn from the U.S. market about 1997. This tin would have been made quite a bit earlier, probably from the 1930s to 1960s. The chocolate flavor was probably to cover a really bad taste.

Made for and packed by World's Products Co. of Spencer, Indiana. I suspect "Laymon's" is a play on the word "layman".
When It Hurts Try Laymon's



Monday, July 23, 2012