Balm of America: Patent Medicine Collection

Balm of America Banner image, a collection of medicine

About the Collection
The Smithsonian Institution began to collect objects related to health and medicine in 1881. It first obtained examples of patent medicines in 1930, acquiring packages of Haarlem Oil (or Dutch Drops), Dr. John Hooper’s Female Pills, and Roche’s Herbal Embrocation. Since then the Smithsonian’s collection of patent medicines has expanded to over 4,000 products, dating from the 19th century to the present day.

About this Object Group
This group of objects features examples from this collection, found in the Division of Medicine and Science at the National Museum of American History. Each entry includes a photo of the object, the product’s name, maker’s name, place of manufacture, and a date range. Ingredients and therapeutic claims are included when indicated on the product packaging.

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Browse the collection by therapeutic category. You can also use the keyword search (at right) which searches all fields of information.

More Information
Learn more about patent medicine history and how this history is revealed in examples from our collection. Questions or comments? Contact us.

Topic: Indigestion & Nausea Drugs

Peptenzyme Tablets

The indications or uses for this product as provided by the manufacturer are: For every digestive disturbanceCurrently not on view
Description
The indications or uses for this product as provided by the manufacturer are: For every digestive disturbance
Location
Currently not on view
Date made
1908-1918
maker
Reed & Carnrick
ID Number
1984.0782.149
accession number
1984.0782
catalog number
1984.0782.149

Salvitae

The indications or uses for this product as provided by the manufacturer are: A palatable, pleasant laxative, diuretic and antacid; Used in gastric hyperacidity, sluggish action of the bowels and headache due to constipation; helpful where a cooling aperient and antacid is requir
Description
The indications or uses for this product as provided by the manufacturer are: A palatable, pleasant laxative, diuretic and antacid; Used in gastric hyperacidity, sluggish action of the bowels and headache due to constipation; helpful where a cooling aperient and antacid is required
Location
Currently not on view
Associated Name
Sherman Pharmacy
maker
American Apothecaries Company
ID Number
1985.0460.094
accession number
1985.0460
catalog number
1985.0460.094

Dr. Hobb's Little Liver Pills (Takeapill)

The indications or uses for this product as provided by the manufacturer are: On liver, stomach, and bowels, dispelling headaches, fevers, and coldsCurrently not on view
Description
The indications or uses for this product as provided by the manufacturer are: On liver, stomach, and bowels, dispelling headaches, fevers, and colds
Location
Currently not on view
Date made
after 1896
maker
Hobbs Remedy Company
ID Number
1984.0782.081
accession number
1984.0782
catalog number
1984.0782.081

Wright's Indian Vegetable Pills

The indications or uses for this product as provided by the manufacturer are: Recommended as a laxative treatment for disorders of stomach, liver, and bowels.Currently not on view
Description
The indications or uses for this product as provided by the manufacturer are: Recommended as a laxative treatment for disorders of stomach, liver, and bowels.
Location
Currently not on view
Date made
c. 1906-1908
date made
before December 31, 1906
maker
Wright's Indian Vegetable Pill Company, Inc.
ID Number
1984.0782.214
catalog number
1984.0782.214
accession number
1984.0782

Children's Comfort Medicinal Compound

The indications or uses for this product as provided by the manufacturer are: Vomiting, dysentery, winds and colics, and stomachCurrently not on view
Description
The indications or uses for this product as provided by the manufacturer are: Vomiting, dysentery, winds and colics, and stomach
Location
Currently not on view
date made
ca 1910
maker
Corey Klein Company
ID Number
1984.0782.040
accession number
1984.0782
catalog number
1984.0782.040

Mayr's Wonderful Remedy

The indications or uses for this product as provided by the manufacturer are: aliments such as gastric dispepsia and resulting indigestion, gases in the stomach and intestines, dizziness, and fainting spells, colic attacks torpid liver, constipationCurrently not on view
Description
The indications or uses for this product as provided by the manufacturer are: aliments such as gastric dispepsia and resulting indigestion, gases in the stomach and intestines, dizziness, and fainting spells, colic attacks torpid liver, constipation
Location
Currently not on view
Date made
after 1910
maker
George H. Mayr's Manufacturing Chemist
ID Number
1984.0782.120
accession number
1984.0782
catalog number
1984.0782.120

Dr. Pierce's Golden Medical Discovery

Currently not on view
Location
Currently not on view
date made
ca 1900 - 1930
maker
World's Dispensary Medical Association
ID Number
1984.0782.150
accession number
1984.0782
catalog number
1984.0782.150

Wright's Indian Vegetable Pills

The indications or uses for this product as provided by the manufacturer are: Recommended as a laxative treatment for disorders of stomach, liver, and bowelsCurrently not on view
Description
The indications or uses for this product as provided by the manufacturer are: Recommended as a laxative treatment for disorders of stomach, liver, and bowels
Location
Currently not on view
Date made
1906-1908
date made
1906-1908
maker
Wright's Indian Vegetable Pill Company, Inc.
ID Number
1984.0782.215
catalog number
1984.0782.215
accession number
1984.0782

Dr. Pierce's Pleasant Purgative Pellets

The indications or uses for this product as provided by the manufacturer are: anti-biliousnessCurrently not on view
Description
The indications or uses for this product as provided by the manufacturer are: anti-biliousness
Location
Currently not on view
Date made
after 1906
ID Number
1984.0782.152
accession number
1984.0782
catalog number
1984.0782.152

Dr Herrick's Sugar Coated Pills

Currently not on view
Location
Currently not on view
maker
L.W. Warner & Co., Inc.
ID Number
MG.M-10239.01
catalog number
M-10239.01
accession number
241520

Moses Dame's Wine of the Woods

The indications or uses for this product as provided by the manufacturer are:Remedy for dyspepsia, biliousness, costiveness, headache, worms, jaundice, liver complaint, debility, loss of energy, feebleness and all other diseases arising from derangement of the stomach, liver or b
Description
The indications or uses for this product as provided by the manufacturer are:
Remedy for dyspepsia, biliousness, costiveness, headache, worms, jaundice, liver complaint, debility, loss of energy, feebleness and all other diseases arising from derangement of the stomach, liver or blood. Indigestion, heart burn, distress, or a sense of fullness after eating, pains in the bowels, back, sides, or under the shoulders, female weakness and irregularities, piles, sick headache, boils, ulcers, eruptions, weakness, flatulence, sour stomach, fever and ague, disturbances of the bowels, nausea, diarrhea, dysentery, colds, palpitations, asthma, kidney complaint, erysipelas, painter's colic [chronic intestinal pains and constipation caused by lead poisoning]
Location
Currently not on view
date made
1872-1883
maker
Moses Dame Company
ID Number
MG.293320.1323
catalog number
293320.1323
accession number
293320

Steele & Richardson's Nature's Herbs of Life Remedy

The indications or uses for this product as provided on its packaging:For all diseases arising from the stomach, liver and bloodCurrently not on view
Description
The indications or uses for this product as provided on its packaging:
For all diseases arising from the stomach, liver and blood
Location
Currently not on view
Date made
after 1906
maker
Red Syns Indian Medicine Company
ID Number
MG.M-10426.33
catalog number
M-10426
accession number
246707

Uncle Ben Jo's Bell Tongue Syrup

The indications or uses for this product as provided on its packaging:A blood purifier, purgative, diuretic alterative, cures all liver, stomach, bowels and kidney diseases, nervous debility, dropsy, scrofula, salt rheum, all skin diseases, worms, gravel and other bladder disease
Description
The indications or uses for this product as provided on its packaging:
A blood purifier, purgative, diuretic alterative, cures all liver, stomach, bowels and kidney diseases, nervous debility, dropsy, scrofula, salt rheum, all skin diseases, worms, gravel and other bladder diseases, ague, cough, cold, heart disease, rheumatism, asthma, bilious and intermittent fevers, jaundice, chronic diarrhea, flatulency, internal inflammation, erysipelas, constipation, dyspepsia, brain diseases, vertigo or dizziness, gout, lumbago, leuccorrhea and all female diseases, epilepsy, swollen feet and limbs, boils, tumors, tetters, scaldhead, ringworm, ulcers and general debility
Location
Currently not on view
Date made
ca 1900
ca 1880
maker
F. Rumsey Gridley
ID Number
MG.M-10426.66
catalog number
M-10426
accession number
246707

Dr. Flint's Quaker Bitters

The indications or uses for this product as provided on its packaging:A stomach tonic. For nervousness, catarrh of the head and stomach, scrofulous humor, canker, pimples and humors on the face, summer complaints, female weaknesses. Restores the appetite, purifies the blood.
Description
The indications or uses for this product as provided on its packaging:
A stomach tonic. For nervousness, catarrh of the head and stomach, scrofulous humor, canker, pimples and humors on the face, summer complaints, female weaknesses. Restores the appetite, purifies the blood. For dyspepsia, constipation, sick headache, dizziness, low spirits caused by disordered stomach, rheumatism, neuralgia, kidney and liver complaints, bilious attacks, piles, malaria, torpidity of the system, languor, general debility, fever and ague.
date made
1885-1908
maker
Quaker Bitters Company
ID Number
MG.M-12151.01
catalog number
M-12151.01
accession number
271464

Mother Seigel's Curative Syrup for Dyspepsia

The indications or uses for this product as provided on its packaging:DyspepsiaCurrently not on view
Description
The indications or uses for this product as provided on its packaging:
Dyspepsia
Location
Currently not on view
Date made
1908-1918
Associated Name
A. J. White, Limited
maker
A. J. White, Limited
ID Number
MG.M-10426.56
catalog number
M-10426
accession number
246707

Milk of Magnesia

The indications or uses for this product as provided by the manufacturer are: Laxative, sour stomachCurrently not on view
Description
The indications or uses for this product as provided by the manufacturer are: Laxative, sour stomach
Location
Currently not on view
Date made
After 1906
maker
National Pharmacy Company
ID Number
MG.274347.219
catalog number
274347.219
accession number
274347

Dr. J. Walker's Vinegar Bitters

The indications or uses for this product as provided by the manufacturer are:Dyspepsia, indigestion, rheumatism, diarrhea, consumption, catarrh, bronchitis, neuralgia, headache, boils, ulcers, sore eyes, dropsy, scald head, paralysis, erysipelas, scrofula, tetter, skin diseases,
Description
The indications or uses for this product as provided by the manufacturer are:
Dyspepsia, indigestion, rheumatism, diarrhea, consumption, catarrh, bronchitis, neuralgia, headache, boils, ulcers, sore eyes, dropsy, scald head, paralysis, erysipelas, scrofula, tetter, skin diseases, bilious, remittant and intermittant fevers, pains in the back, shoulders, heart and chest, liver and kidney troubles, stomach ache, jaundice, gout and fits, dizziness, colds and coughs, croup, palpitation of the heart, lead colic, nausea, biliousness, constipation, piles, worms
Location
Currently not on view
Date made
1870-1890
maker
R. H. McDonald Drug Company
ID Number
MG.293320.1284
catalog number
293320.1284
accession number
293320

Kodol Dyspepsia Cure

The indications or uses for this product as provided by the manufacturer are: For the cure of dyspepsia, Indigestion, Heartburn, Flatulence, Sour Stomach, Nausea, Sick Stomach, Headache, Gastralgia, cramps and other results of imperfect digestion.Currently not on view
Description
The indications or uses for this product as provided by the manufacturer are: For the cure of dyspepsia, Indigestion, Heartburn, Flatulence, Sour Stomach, Nausea, Sick Stomach, Headache, Gastralgia, cramps and other results of imperfect digestion.
Location
Currently not on view
Date made
before 1906
maker
E. C. DeWitt and Company
ID Number
MG.M-10426.42
catalog number
M-10426
accession number
246707

Adler-I-Ka Intestinal Evacuant

The indications or uses for this product as provided on its packaging:For gas in stomach or bowel and for occasional constipation and heartburnCurrently not on view
Description
The indications or uses for this product as provided on its packaging:
For gas in stomach or bowel and for occasional constipation and heartburn
Location
Currently not on view
Date made
after 1930
after 1902
maker
Adlerika Company
ID Number
MG.M-10426.71
catalog number
M-10426
accession number
246707

Mother Gray's Sweet Powders for Children

The indications or uses for this product as provided by the manufacturer are: Act on the Stomach, Liver and Bowels. Mothers should give them occasionally through the year when symptoms indicate.Currently not on view
Description
The indications or uses for this product as provided by the manufacturer are: Act on the Stomach, Liver and Bowels. Mothers should give them occasionally through the year when symptoms indicate.
Location
Currently not on view
maker
Allen S. Olmsted
ID Number
MG.313462.009
catalog number
313462.009
accession number
313462

Udga Tablets

The indications or uses for this product as provided by the manufacturer are: Intended for the temporary relief from distress after eating caused by excess stomack acidity; sour stomack; heartburn.Currently not on view
Description
The indications or uses for this product as provided by the manufacturer are: Intended for the temporary relief from distress after eating caused by excess stomack acidity; sour stomack; heartburn.
Location
Currently not on view
maker
Udga, Inc.
ID Number
MG.313462.087
catalog number
313462.087
accession number
313462

D & H Little Liver Pills

The indications or uses for this product as provided by the manufacturer are:For torpid liver, dyspepsia, indigestion, sick headache, constipation and biliousnessCurrently not on view
Description
The indications or uses for this product as provided by the manufacturer are:
For torpid liver, dyspepsia, indigestion, sick headache, constipation and biliousness
Location
Currently not on view
Date made
ca 1920
maker
Doty and Humphrey Drug Company
ID Number
MG.293320.1317
catalog number
293320.1317
accession number
293320

Jayne's Vermifuge

The indications or uses for this product as provided by the manufacturer are: For the removal of round worms, neutralizing hyperacidity of the stomach, flatulance, wind colicCurrently not on view
Description
The indications or uses for this product as provided by the manufacturer are: For the removal of round worms, neutralizing hyperacidity of the stomach, flatulance, wind colic
Location
Currently not on view
Date made
after 1938
maker
Dr. D. Jayne and Son
ID Number
MG.293320.1215
accession number
293320
catalog number
293320.1215

Mountain Herb Bitters

The indications or uses for this product as provided on its packaging:For dyspepsia, liver complaint, fever and ague, and general debility of the systemCurrently not on view
Description
The indications or uses for this product as provided on its packaging:
For dyspepsia, liver complaint, fever and ague, and general debility of the system
Location
Currently not on view
Date made
ca 1900
maker
Dr. J. W. Wengert and Company
ID Number
MG.M-10426.52
catalog number
M-10426
accession number
246707

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