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

Elixirs are alcohol and water solutions of medicinal substances sweetened and flavored to mask disagreeable odors and tastes of things dissolved in them. They usually contain about 22% alcohol. Tincturesare alcohol or alcohol and water extracts of vegetable drugs, and may contain 10 to 20% of the drug. I want to present two elixirs and two tinctures. One is embossed Blood Elixir, one Elixir of Life, on Tincture of Life and one Tinct. V. Viride, a plant alkaloid that is helpful for hypertension and toxemia of pregnancy.

Leonardi's Blood Elixir / The Great Blood Purifier / S.B. Leonardi & Co. / New York & Tampa, Fla. is embossed on an amber, bimal, rectangular bottle 8 1/4 inches tall. There is an old saying, "The life of the body is the blood". Nineteenth century proprietary medicine advertising leads us to believe that almost all diseases originated from an impure blood, from cancer to coughs, rheumatism to rashes, and weakness to wakefulness. Today, we still agree that a proper supply of normal blood is vital to good health.

Sydney B. Leonardi, 1862-1942, was born in Tampa, Fla., where he attended a pharma cuticle school. He patented Dr. Reno's New Health or Women's Salvation in December 1894, in Tampa. His obituary indicates that he established his business in Tampa in 1896, moved to New York City in 1914, and then to New Rochelle, NY. in 1921. He exported 50% of his products to Latin American countries after 1921.

Other embossed Leonardi bottles known to me are: Reno's / New Health / Uterine Tonic / picture of woman / Prepared / Only By / S.B. Leonardi / & Co. / New York, N.Y., aqua, square, 7 5/8 inches tall; Leonardi's // Golden Eye Lotion / Cures Without Pain // Tampa, Fla., aqua and light green, rectangular, 5 1/4 inches tall; Leonardi's Lightening / Cough Cure / Tampa, Fla., clear, rectangular, 6 3/8 inches tall. I believe that

these are all bimal, which indicates that bimal bottles were used well into this century, or that Leonardi had ties with New York well before he moved S.B. Leonardi Inc., there. The obituary indicated that Sydney was president of the company and that he was survived by his wife Alla Buff Leonardi, a son Sidney B. Leonardi and two daughters, Margurite Leonardi and Mrs. Howard M. Miller. I do not know if the company continued after 1942.

Pat'd, 1884 / Dr. Petzold's / Genuine / German / Bitters / Incpt. 1862 / The / Great Elixir / Of Life, 19 horizontal ribs, amber, oval 6 7/8 inches tall. This variant is rare writes Carlyn Ring in for Bitters Only. Other Petzold variants are more plentiful; one 7 7/8 inches tall and four others 10 1/8 to 10 3/4 inches tall; none with The Great Elixir Of Life embossed. There is also handled one gallon gray pottery jug with Dr. Petzold Genuine German Bitters / L. Petzold & Co. Proprietors, Baltimore, 2 different dose goblets, a shot glass, and a letter head for this product.

Louis Petzold, a native of Germany, started his business in 1862. The Company was listed in the Baltimore City Directories as wine shippers in 1870, wine shippers and manufacturer of bitters in 1884, and as druggists in 1885. By 1882, son Wm. R. Petzold was a member of the firm. The office and warerooms were in a four story building located at No. 140 West Lombard St., and the distillery at Nos. 9 and 11 Dover St. The rather unique design of the bitters bottles was patented Feb. 15, 1887.

Ebenezer A. Pearl's / Tincture of Life if aqua, rectangular, and 7 3/4 inches tall. I have been told that the label includes a picture of flowers and that the origin is Oriskany Falls, NY. Attempts to gather more information from the public library and historical society there have not been fruitful. The product was advertised for coughs, colds, sore throats, etc. in the Boonville Herald (NY) February 16, 1888.

Norwood's / Tinct. V. Viride, clear, oval, and 5 3/5 inches tall in an older product with a pontiled variant, 5 1/4 inches tall. It was advertised in the Freeman Journal, Cooperstown, NY, on April 10, 1863. Extractive preparations of Veratrum are as old as the history of medicine. They were mentioned several times in the writings of Hypocrites. The active principles are alkaloids. They were used particularly to treat toxemia of pregnancy and elevated blood pressure. Research in the early 1950s proved that the pure alkaloids are truly potent and useful hypotensive agents. Today, however, they have been replaced with better drugs.

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