Antique Medicine Bottles Dr Cannon's Medicine Chest

ANOTHER "PATENT MEDICINE ARTICLE" FROM THE PAGES OF

ANTIQUE BOTTLE AND GLASS COLLECTOR MAGAZINE

THE MAGAZINE OF THE ANTIQUE BOTTLE COLLECTING HOBBY

Tending to the health needs of infants and children these 40 years has probably both kept me young and hastened the aging process. It’s been a challenge to say the least. Along the way, I’ve accumulated a number of old books and bottles on the subject. Some of these form the basis for this article.

Dalby's Carminative and Mrs. Winslow's Soothing Syrup, both pontiled. nasa

L. Emmett Holt, M.D., in The Diseases of Infancy And Childhood, 1897, writes this about colic: “The special and peculiar colic of infancy is that which is associated with flatulence, and is due to indigestion. This form of colic belongs essentially to the first six months of life, and is more

frequent during the first three months.---The purpose of treatment during the attack is to assist the child to get rid of the gas; as this is usually in the colon, the most efficient means is by enemata. At first an injection of four or five ounces of lukewarm water should be used.” He goes on to recommend a hot-water bag and opium in some form.
With all due respect to Dr. Holt, a great pioneer in pediatrics, the water enema as well as the opium could be dangerous to an infant. Water intoxication, convulsions, and even death can result from an overdose of the former.

Dalby’s / Carminative, blowpipe pontil, aqua, cone shaped, 3 1/2 inches tall, was for “infants afflicted with wind, watery gripes, fluxes and other disorders of the stomach and bowels”. The medicine was originated by James Dalby of London, England, about 1780. The ingredients included opium. The product was in the United States by 1804, and was still being sold after the turn of the century. E. Fougera & Co. of Brooklyn, N.Y. were the general agents.

Mrs. Winslow’s / Soothing Syrup / Curtis & Perkins / Proprietors, bbp., aqua. round, 5 inches tall; also smooth base with The Angelo American Drug Co. / Successor To / added. Mrs. Charlotte N. Winslow, mother-in-law of Jeremiah Curtis, for about 30 years was a physician and nurse, principally among children. She compounded a soothing syrup consisting of sulfate or morphia, sodium carbonate, spirits foeniculi, and aqua ammonia, likely to sooth any human or animal, regardless of age. In 1848, Curtis and Benjamin A. Perkins became partners in Bangor, Maine, and started bottling Winslow’s Soothing Syrup in 1849.
In 1911, the American Medical Association put out a publication called Nostrums And Quackery. One section called “Baby Killers” and incriminated Mrs. Winslow’s Soothing Syrup, Monell’s Teething Syrup, and others.

Other 19th century colic remedies on my shelves included: Baby Ease, aqua, rectangular, 5 1/2 inches tall; Bower’s / Infant Cordial, aqua, round, 5 inches tall; Dr. J.W. Bull’s / Vegetable / Baby Syrup / Trade Mark, aqua, round, 5 inches tall; DeWitt’s / Colic & Cholera Cure // E.C. DeWitt & Co. // Chicago U.S.A., aqua, rectangular, 4 7/8 inches tall; Dr. Groves / Anodyne / For Infants / Philada., aqua, rectangular, 5 1/2 inches tall; Dr. Harter’s / Soothing Drops, aqua, round, 5 1/8 inches tall; Hollis Balm / Of America, aqua, round, 5 inches tall; Hooper’s Anodyne / For Infants, clear, rectangular, 4 inches tall; Mrs. J.A. Kopp / Kopp’s Baby’s Friend / York, Pa U.S.A., aqua, rectangular, 4 3/4 inches tall; Mother Kroh’s Soothing Syrup For Babies And Children, clear, rectangular, 4 1/2 inches tall, label only; No.

1 / Labaree’s / Colic / Cure, clear, square, 3 1/2 inches tall; and Mrs. Wheeler’s / Nursing Syrup / J.H. Wheeler / Elmara, N.Y., aqua, round, 4 7/8 inches tall.

Mrs. Wheeler's Nursing Syrup, Holt's Balm and Dr. Winchell's Teething Syrup.

Dr. Holt about teething continues: “The symptoms most commonly seen are disturbed sleep, or wakefulness at night and fretfulness by day---. There is loss of appetite---. There is often, but not always, and increase in salivary secretion, a slight amount of catarrhal stomatitus, and a constant disposition on the part of the child to stuff the fingers into the mouth. The bowels are constipated or there may be a slight diarrhea. The thermometer may show a slight elevation of temperature to 100 to 101.5.”

Dr. / W. Evan’s / Teething Syrup, bbp., aqua, round, 2 3/8 inches tall. This was a product of Dr. William Evans of New York, N.Y., and advertised in the Westchester & Putnam Republican, Peekskill, N.Y., on January 14, 1840. For teething I also find: Dr. D. Fahrney & Son / Hagerstown, Md. // Teething Syrup // For Babies, aqua, rectangular, 5 3/8 inches tall; Monell’s / Teething Cordial / N.Y., aqua, 6 sided, 5 inches tall; and Dr. Winchell’s / Teething Syrup / Emmert / Proprietary Co. / Chicago, Ills., aqua, round, 5 1/4 inches tall.
I should add that a number of the colic remedies were also used for teething. I know that Mrs. Winslow’s was.

J. Lewis Smith, M.D. , in The Diseases Of Infancy And Childhood, 1886, has this to say about bathing: “Bathing is now recognized in all civilized countries as one of the chief promoters of bodily comfort and health. The first bathing of the infant, which is immediately after birth, should be in water at a temperature a little below that of the blood, namely about 96 degrees. In the infant, reaction of the surface when chilled is tardy and uncertain, and therefore there is great danger of catching cold when the surface is cooled by water, and does not quickly react.---Therefore they are liable to contract bronchitis, sore throat, intestinal catarrh, or other inflammation, from very slight exposures.”

I even have a bottle to illustrate bathing. It’s probably not a medicinal, and I’ve found no background information. The embossing is: Mrs. C.H. King’s / Trade Mark / Cleanser / Registered / For Cleaning / Kids / Silks & Satins, aqua, rectangular, 5 inches tall. It came from a long time friend and collector from the state of Washington.....

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