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

Tonic has been defined as “an agent which augments gradually and permanently the strength and vital activity of the body or its parts”. Dr. D. Jayne’s Tonic

Vermifuge is an example of a

pontilled embossed tonic. In the early 1960s in rural Texas I was still frequently asked for a “tonic” for the poor eating or sickly child. Tonics then were mostly vitamin and iron combinations. Bimal embossed “tonics” are numerous and of interest. I will present ten from my collection.

Grove’s Tasteless / Chill Tonic Prepared By / Paris Medicine Co. / St. Louis, aqua, oval, 5 7/8 inches tall. This preparation was still being sold when I first became interested in “patent” medicines thirty years ago. E.W. Grove, in his small drugstore in Paris, Tenn., compounded many prescriptions “to aid his fellowmen”. Among them was Grove’s Chill Tonic which introduced in 1878. Bromo Quinine Cold Tablets, Dr. Porter’s Oil, Porter’s Cough Balsam, and Pazo Ointment were additional and later products. The Paris Medicine was established in 1889, and in 1891, was moved to St. Louis, first at Main St., then to Chestnut, and later, Pine Streets. Grove died in 1927, and E.W. Grove, Jr., took over. He died in 1934, the year the firm became Grove Laboratories.

Dr. Harter’s // // Iron Tonic, amber, rectangular, 9 1/8 inches tall. Milton G. Harter claimed to be a graduate of six medical schools from 1844-1866. He began to manufacture medicines with Robert S. Drake of St. Louis in 1873.

Iron Tonic was originally called Iron Magic, and Wild Cherry Bitters was first called Elixir Of Wild Cherry. Harter died in 1890, and his daughter, who married a Mr. Hayner of Troy, Ohio, moved the Harter Medicine Co. to Dayton, near Troy. Some time in the 1890s, C.I. Hood of Lowell, Mass., bought the controlling interest. By 1935, it belonged to Wm. R. Warner of New York City.

Johnson’s Chill & Fever Tonic / Guaranteed To Cure / A.B. Girardeau, Savh., GA., clear, square, 5 7/8 inches tall. This tonic was first marketed in 1884, and patented in 1886, by Alexander B. Girardeau and W.B. Johnson in Monticello, Florida. It was referred to was the “Texas Cure”. There is an aqua square band collar variant and a clear one embossed only Johnson’s Chill / And Fever Tonic. W.H. Schieffeln & Co., New York, listed the product in 1891.

Dr. Kurnitzki’s / Aromatic / Wire Grass Tonic, amber, square, 9 1/2 inches tall. I also have an aqua, oval bottle 6 1/2 inches tall, embossed Kurnitzki’s Wire Grass / Liver & Kidney Medicine / Charleston S.C. The Waring Historical Library of the Medical University of South Carolina has been able to supply the following information: “There is no listing for

Kurnitzki in the 1878 city directory. In the 1886 directory Koppel Kurnitzki is listed as a Tonic Manufacturer at 30-32 Market Street. In the 1890 directory the spelling of his name changes to Kurnistki and he is listed as wholesale distributor of tobacco and cigars at 211 East Bay Street and his residence is listed as 62 Society Street.”---”Are you sure that Kurnitzki was a doctor? The medical college here was founded in 1824 and the college of pharmacy was founded in 1882. I Have not found Kurnitzki in our graduation list”.

Dr. Miles / Restorative / Tonic, aqua, rectangular, 8 1/4 inches tall. In 1875, Dr. Franklin , 1845-1929, an eye and ear specialist, set up a medical practice in the bustling railroad town of Elkhart, Indiana, where he had grown up, and where his father had once owned a drugstore. Dr. Miles soon found that by calming the nerves of his patients he was able to treat many of their chronic ailments. He began bottling Dr. Miles Restorative Nervine, his calmative, and selling it in small orders to patients and druggists. He formed the Miles Medical Co. in 1884.

Dr. Miles Restorative Tonic appeared in 1885, along with his Blood Purifier. The Wine of Sarsaparilla came out in 1886, and the New Heart Cure, an alcoholic preparation containing digitalis, in 1888. The Restorative Tonic was to “excite in a moderate degree the energies of all parts of the body without causing any deviation of healthy functions”.

Quinine / Tonic // Atwood’s // Bitters, aqua, rectangular, 7 7/16 inches tall. Charles H. Atwood of Boston advertised this product as early as 1860. It was an obvious competitor to Moses G. or F. Atwood’s famous bitters. Moses started before 1850 in Georgetown, Mass.

Ramon’s Pepsin Chill Tonic/ Made By Brown Mfg. Co. // Greenville, Tenn. // New York, N.Y., aqua, rectangular, 6 7/8 inches tall. Spencer and Brown, Spencer, Brown, Ramon, and Lookout Mountain were all Greenville, Tenn. medicine producers originally, but I still haven’t been able to put the complete picture together.

Spencer and Brown patented Dr. Clark’s Pill in 1879 and Ramon’s Genuine Nerve and Bone Oil in 1883. I own a clear, rectangular bottle, 5 3/4 inches tall embossed Ramon’s / Nerve & Bone Oil / Brown Mf’g. Co., Proprietors // Greenville, Tenn. The Brown Manufacturing Co. patented Ramon’s Pepsin Chill Tonic in 1897. It was for “All Malarial and Billious Troubles”.

Sims Tonic / Elixir Of / Pyrophosphate / Of Iron // Sims Tonic Co. // Antwerp, N.Y., amber, rectangular, 7 1/4 inches tall. E.B. Sims, a traveling salesman who developed poor health, hit upon a tonic that gave him “decided and permanent benefit”. Pyrophosphate of Iron was first proposed as a medicine by E.M. Robiquet to the “Academy of Medicine” at Paris in 1857. There is some question as to whether Sims Tonic was ever put on he market, but Sims gives testimonials dated as early as 1902 and as late as 1923 in his printed material.

Swamp / Chill / And / Fever / Tonic // Morris Morton Drug Co. // Fort Smith, Ark., clear rectangular, 6 7/8 inches tall. The Morris Morton Drug Co. of Fort Smith first called this product Swamp Chill and Fever Cure, and had bottles so embossed in aqua and clear. There’s a similar clear ABM bottle but embossed Swamp & Dixie Labs, Inc. // Fort Smith, Ark. I don’t know when this change occurred.

Web’s / A No. 1 / Cathartic / Tonic // The Best / Liver, Kidney / & Blood / Purifier, amber, square, 9 1/4 inches tall. This is an attractively embossed bottle that is fairly common. Because the city of origin is not embossed, I’ve not been able to find out more about it. Several Webbs patented medicines but no Web and no Best Liver, Kidney, and Blood Purifier. A labeled example should help.
Quinine is very bitter, and most 19th century chill tonics continue contained it. I’ve never tasted Grove’s Tasteless Chill Tonic, but if it contained quinine, I bet it wasn’t tasteless......

References:
1. Baldwin, J.K.: Patent and Proprietary Medicine Bottles, 1973.
2. Blasi, B.: A Bit About Balsams, 1974.
3. Cannon, R.: Antique Bottle and Glass Collector, June, 1992; Sept., 1994; Nov., 1994; Jan., 1995; Dec., 1995.
4. Fike, R.: The Bottle Book, 1987.
5. McGuire, E.: Bottled Products And The U.S. Patent Office, 1991.

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