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: Laxatives

Hill's Cascara Quinine Cold Tablets

The indications or uses for this product as provided by the manufacturer are: Recommended for the relief of nasal stuffiness and discharge, headaches, muscular aches and pains, neuralgia and neuritic pains, constipation, and that hot, flushed feeling associated with colds.Current
Description
The indications or uses for this product as provided by the manufacturer are: Recommended for the relief of nasal stuffiness and discharge, headaches, muscular aches and pains, neuralgia and neuritic pains, constipation, and that hot, flushed feeling associated with colds.
Location
Currently not on view
maker
Whitehall Pharmacal Company
ID Number
MG.313462.027
catalog number
313462.027
accession number
313462

Liquozone Laxative

The indications or uses for this product as provided by the manufacturer are: Relief of constipationCurrently not on view
Description
The indications or uses for this product as provided by the manufacturer are: Relief of constipation
Location
Currently not on view
maker
Liquozone Company, The
ID Number
MG.M-10413.10
catalog number
M-10413.10
accession number
246707

Simmons Liver Purifier - A Regulator

The indications or uses for this product as provided by the manufacturer are: Regulator for constipation, fever, ague, biliousness, jaundies (sic), colic, and all diseases that arise from a torpid liverCurrently not on view
Description
The indications or uses for this product as provided by the manufacturer are: Regulator for constipation, fever, ague, biliousness, jaundies (sic), colic, and all diseases that arise from a torpid liver
Location
Currently not on view
Date made
Before 1906
maker
A. C. Simmons, Jr. Medicine Company
ID Number
MG.274347.266.B
catalog number
274347.266.B
M-12140
accession number
274347

Dr. Burkhart's Vegetable Compound

The indications or uses for this product as provided by the manufacturer are: In chronic cases of Constipation, Torpid Live, Stomach trouble, the patient should take two tablets the first night and one thereafterCurrently not on view
Description
The indications or uses for this product as provided by the manufacturer are: In chronic cases of Constipation, Torpid Live, Stomach trouble, the patient should take two tablets the first night and one thereafter
Location
Currently not on view
maker
Burkhart, Dr. W. S.
ID Number
MG.313462.022
catalog number
313462.022
accession number
313462

Quinlax

The indications or uses for this product as provided by the manufacturer are: For colds and simple headaches; mildly laxative.Currently not on view
Description
The indications or uses for this product as provided by the manufacturer are: For colds and simple headaches; mildly laxative.
Location
Currently not on view
date made
ca 1937
maker
Vadsco Sales Corporation
ID Number
MG.313462.096
catalog number
313462.096
accession number
313462

Hall Family Pills

The indications or uses for this product as provided on its packaging:For sick headache, vertigo or dizziness, constipationCurrently not on view
Description
The indications or uses for this product as provided on its packaging:
For sick headache, vertigo or dizziness, constipation
Location
Currently not on view
Date made
after 1871
maker
F. J. Cheney & Company
ID Number
MG.M-10413.11
catalog number
M-10413.11
accession number
246707

Neurosine

The indications or uses for this product as provided by the manufacturer are: Hypnotic, Antispasmodic, Sedative, and AnodyneCurrently not on view
Description
The indications or uses for this product as provided by the manufacturer are: Hypnotic, Antispasmodic, Sedative, and Anodyne
Location
Currently not on view
Date made
c. 1906
c. 1915
c.1915
maker
Dios Chemical Company
ID Number
MG.M-11218
catalog number
M-11218
accession number
259750

Atwood's Physical Jannaice Bitters

The indications or uses for this product as provided by the manufacturer are:For biliousness due to constipation. Recommended as a laxative, stomachic and carminative, for use in constipation and sour stomach resulting in headache.Currently not on view
Description
The indications or uses for this product as provided by the manufacturer are:
For biliousness due to constipation. Recommended as a laxative, stomachic and carminative, for use in constipation and sour stomach resulting in headache.
Location
Currently not on view
Date made
1931-1939
maker
Wyeth Chemical Company
ID Number
MG.293320.1172
catalog number
293320.1172
accession number
293320

Emerson's Modern Treatment

The indications or uses for this product as provided on its packaging:To assist nature in all the many diseases that originate in a disordered system, impure blood, poor circulation, indigestion and constipationCurrently not on view
Description
The indications or uses for this product as provided on its packaging:
To assist nature in all the many diseases that originate in a disordered system, impure blood, poor circulation, indigestion and constipation
Location
Currently not on view
Date made
ca 1906
1906-1908
maker
Modern Remedy Company
ID Number
MG.M-10413.47
catalog number
M-10413
accession number
246707

Primley's Iron Of Wahoo Tonic

The indications or uses for this product as provided by the manufacturer, or as found in contemporary medical literature, are:For Burning Bush (Euonymus atropurpureus) also known as Wahoo: It is tonic, laxative, alterative, diuretic and expectorant.
Description
The indications or uses for this product as provided by the manufacturer, or as found in contemporary medical literature, are:
For Burning Bush (Euonymus atropurpureus) also known as Wahoo: It is tonic, laxative, alterative, diuretic and expectorant. It is serviceable in dyspepsia, torpid liver, constipation, dropsy, and pulmonary diseases. In intermittents [fevers] it serves a good purpose. [source: The Complete Herbalist; Or, The People Their Own Physicians by Oliver Phelps Brown, 1885]
Location
Currently not on view
date made
1884-1920
maker
Jones and Primley Company
ID Number
MG.293320.1066
accession number
293320
catalog number
293320.1066

Villacabbas Natural Mineral Purgative Water

Currently not on view
Location
Currently not on view
ID Number
MG.M-07252
catalog number
M-07252
accession number
220009

Week's Break-Up-A-Cold Tablets

The indications or uses for this product as provided by the manufacturer are: Colds, la grippe, constipation and headacheCurrently not on view
Description
The indications or uses for this product as provided by the manufacturer are: Colds, la grippe, constipation and headache
Location
Currently not on view
Date made
1913-1918
maker
D. Weeks and Company
ID Number
MG.293320.3015
catalog number
293320.3015
accession number
293320

Crane's Quinine and Tar Compound

The indications or uses for this product as provided by the manufacturer, or as found in contemporary medical literature, are:An expectorant for coughs, colds, hoarseness, tickling in throat, bronchial coughs, and coughs resulting from la grippe [influenza]Currently not on view
Description
The indications or uses for this product as provided by the manufacturer, or as found in contemporary medical literature, are:
An expectorant for coughs, colds, hoarseness, tickling in throat, bronchial coughs, and coughs resulting from la grippe [influenza]
Location
Currently not on view
date made
1921 -1938
maker
Crane Medicine Co.
ID Number
MG.M-10426.43
catalog number
M-10426
accession number
246707

Electric Brand Laxative

The indications or uses for this product as provided by the manufacturer are:LaxativeCurrently not on view
Description
The indications or uses for this product as provided by the manufacturer are:
Laxative
Location
Currently not on view
Date made
after 1938
after 1917
ID Number
MG.293320.1321
catalog number
293320.1321
accession number
293320

Dr. W. B. Caldwell's Syrup Pepsin

The indications or uses for this product as provided by the manufacturer are: For constipation and conditions resulting from it.
Description
The indications or uses for this product as provided by the manufacturer are: For constipation and conditions resulting from it. Owing to its mild action and pleasant taste the ideal laxative for children, women and old folks, and all those who cannot stand a harsh purgative.
A pleasant laxative compound composed of drugs known to be beneficial when an evacuant is indicated, acting gently on the bowels as a flushing agent to relieve conditions due to constipation. Disturbances arising from sluggish bowels may be helped by its use.
Location
Currently not on view
Date made
c. 1908 - 1918
maker
Pepsin Syrup Company
ID Number
MG.M-10766.03 [dup1]
catalog number
M-10766.03
accession number
256193

Weismann's Bitterer Ansatz

The indications or uses for this product as provided on its packaging:For constipation, dyspepsia, fever and ague, piles, jaundice, headache, female irregularities, malaria, impurities of blood, rheumatismCurrently not on view
Description
The indications or uses for this product as provided on its packaging:
For constipation, dyspepsia, fever and ague, piles, jaundice, headache, female irregularities, malaria, impurities of blood, rheumatism
Location
Currently not on view
Date made
ca 1890
maker
A. W. Weismann
ID Number
MG.M-12151.26
catalog number
314016.30
M-12151
accession number
271464

Dr. W. B. Caldwell's Syrup Pepsin

The indications or uses for this product as provided by the manufacturer are: For constipation and conditions resulting from it.
Description
The indications or uses for this product as provided by the manufacturer are: For constipation and conditions resulting from it. Owing to its mild action and pleasant taste the ideal laxative for children, women and old folks, and all those who cannot stand a harsh purgative.
A pleasant laxative compound composed of drugs known to be beneficial when an evacuant is indicated, acting gently on the bowels as a flushing agent to relieve conditions due to constipation. Disturbances arising from sluggish bowels may be helped by its use.
Location
Currently not on view
maker
Pepsin Syrup Company
ID Number
MG.M-10766 [dup39]
catalog number
M-10766
accession number
256193

Dr. Edwards' Olive Tablets

The indications or uses for this product as provided by the manufacturer are: A Pleasant LaxativeCurrently not on view
Description
The indications or uses for this product as provided by the manufacturer are: A Pleasant Laxative
Location
Currently not on view
maker
The Olive Tablet Company
ID Number
MG.313462.057
accession number
313462
catalog number
313462.057

Dr. Pierce's Alterative Extract or Golden Medical Discovery

The indications or uses for this product as provided on its packaging:For the cure of all severe, chronic or lingering coughs, bronchitis, laryngitis, weak lungs, bleeding from lungs, public speaker's sore throat, hoarseness and suppression or loss of voice.
Description
The indications or uses for this product as provided on its packaging:
For the cure of all severe, chronic or lingering coughs, bronchitis, laryngitis, weak lungs, bleeding from lungs, public speaker's sore throat, hoarseness and suppression or loss of voice. A remedy for torpor of liver (generally termed "liver complaint" or "biliousness") and for habitual constipation of the bowels. For loss of appetite, indigestion and dyspepsia, and for general nervous disability or prostration, in either sex. An alterative, or blood purifier; valuable in all forms of scrofulous and other blood diseases. For skin diseases, eruptions, pimples, rashes and blotches, boils, ulcers, sores, and swellings, arising from impure blood.
Location
Currently not on view
Date made
ca 1890-1906
ca 1898
ca 1900
ID Number
MG.M-10766 [dup11]
catalog number
M-10766
accession number
256193

Wright's Indian Vegetable Pills

[No indications or uses for this product are provided on its packaging.]Currently not on view
Description
[No indications or uses for this product are provided on its packaging.]
Location
Currently not on view
Date made
after 1901
maker
Wright's Indian Vegetable Pill Company, Inc.
ID Number
MG.M-10413.54
catalog number
M-10413.35
accession number
246707

Chelf's C. C. Comp'd

The indications or uses for this product as provided on its packaging:A mild laxative; efficacious in flatulence, excessive gas in stomach, headaches, neuralgia, head coldsCurrently not on view
Description
The indications or uses for this product as provided on its packaging:
A mild laxative; efficacious in flatulence, excessive gas in stomach, headaches, neuralgia, head colds
Location
Currently not on view
Date made
after 1929
maker
Chelf Chemical Company
ID Number
MG.M-10410.05
catalog number
M-10410
accession number
246707

Ramon's Pink Pills

The indications or uses for this product as provided by the manufacturer are:Sluggish liver, biliousness, constipationCurrently not on view
Description
The indications or uses for this product as provided by the manufacturer are:
Sluggish liver, biliousness, constipation
Location
Currently not on view
Date made
ca 1930
ID Number
MG.293320.1351
catalog number
293320.1351
accession number
293320

Cascasweet

The indications or uses for this product as provided by the manufacturer are: For Your Baby for diarrhoea, dysentery, summer complaints, constipation, worms, convulsions, teething, wind colic, vomiting of sour curd, mal-assimilation of food, sour stomach, feverishness and want of
Description
The indications or uses for this product as provided by the manufacturer are: For Your Baby for diarrhoea, dysentery, summer complaints, constipation, worms, convulsions, teething, wind colic, vomiting of sour curd, mal-assimilation of food, sour stomach, feverishness and want of sleep.
Location
Currently not on view
Date made
ca 1908
maker
E. C. DeWitt and Company
ID Number
MG.M-10766 [dup35]
catalog number
M-10766
accession number
256193

Cascarets

Currently not on view
Location
Currently not on view
maker
R. L. Watkins Company
Sterling Remedy Company
ID Number
MG.313462.093
catalog number
313462.093
accession number
313462

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