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

antique bottles THE MEDICINE CHEST --- BY DR. RICHARD CANNON old bottles

In the attic we found a framed 16 by 20 inch portrait of a beautiful little girl that now hangs prominently in my office. This child, Hertha Zunker, was born in 1901, the older sister to my wife's mother.

She died in 1902, of summer complaint, which means she became severely dehydrated from vomiting and diarrhea. This was an all too common occurrence in those days, and the condition which eventually led to the development of pediatrics as a specialty.

J. Lewis Smith, M.D., in A Treatise On The Disease Of Infancy And Childhood, 1886, wrote these words: "The prevalence and severity of infantile diarrhea in cities correspond closely with the degree of atmospheric heat--. In New York this disease begins in the month of May-earlier in some years than in others-in a few scattered cases, commonly of the mild type. Cases become more and more numerous and severe as the weather grows warmer until July and August when the diarrhea attains its maximum prevalence and severity. In the middle of September new patients begin to be less common.

"Cholera infantum is the most severe form of infantile diarrhea---. In a few hours the parents scarcely recognize in the changed and melancholy aspect of the infant any resemblance to the features which it exhibited a day or two before. The eyes are sunken, the eyelids and lips are permanently open from the feeble contractile power of the muscles which close them, while the loss of the fluids from the tissues and the emaciation are such that

the bony angles become more prominent and the skin in places lies in folds.

"As the disease approaches a fatal termination, which occurs in two or three days, the infant remains quiet, not disturbed even by the flies which alight upon its face.

"Cholera infantum is one of those diseases in regard to which physicians often injure their reputation by not giving sufficient notice of the danger, or even by expressing a favorable opinion when the case soon after ends fatally."

I own a bottle embossed on the front panel Gilbert's Cure / For / Cholera Infantum. It's bimal with a smooth base, aqua, rectangular and 6^1/8 inches tall. Neither Bill Agee or John Wolf know of a labeled one, and have been unable to come up with any background information on this cure. They believe that the bottle is rare.

Who might have put out this product? Eric McGuire in Bottled Products And The U.S. Patent Office, 19^th Century Trade Mark And Label Registrations, 1991, lists 5 Gilberts who registered medicinal preparations: Gilbert Brothers and Co., Baltimore, Md., 1895; Benjamin S. Gilbert York, Pa., 1896; Gilbert J.N. and G. McArthur, Columbus, Ga., 1885; Gilbert, Jabez C., Brooklyn, N.Y., 1886; and Gilbert, John P., N.Y., N.Y., 1893.

Nathan A. Gilbert of Enosburgh Falls, Vermont, should also be added to the list. N.A. Gilbert and Company was established in 1886 by Gilbert and J.W. Beatty as an outgrowth of a drug and medicine business run by Benjamin J. Kendall in 1876, and Henry D. Kendall in 1881. They were the producers of Kendall's Spavin Cure. In 1891, Gilbert and Co. was manufacturing Gilbert's Sarsaparilla Bitters, Wild Indian Lung Balsam, and Scotch Oil, a family and horse liniment to compete with Kendall's Spavin Cure. Maybe they tried a cure for cholera infantum as well.

Another possible producer was Gilbert Brothers and Company of Baltimore, best remembered for their widely advertised Yager's Sarsaparilla. In the city directory they were given as Druggists, Wholesale, at 9 No. Howard from 1896 through 1900, and at 9-13 Howard through 1912. The address changed to 308-310 Lombard St. in 1913, and remained the same through 1930. John T. Gilbert was president in 1909, William E. Gilbert was sec.-treas., and Alfred E. Mealy was president, a William Mealy was vice-president, and Wm. E. Gilbert was sec.-treas. The company was sued in 1903 for dameges for alleged blindness or death caused by drinking their essence of ginger concocted with wood alcohol instead of grain alcohol. The outcome is not known to me. Their 1906 ad included Yager's Sarsaparilla, Yager's Liniment, Yager's Headache Tablets, Honey Tolu, Oleo Vino, and "Many Other Specialties". I have no information on who Yager was. Both Yager's Cream Chloroform Liniment and Anti-Fag, Certain Cure For Headache were patented in 1895. There was also a Gilbert's Laxatol which probably came from them.

Benjamin S. Gilbert registered only Manoline (for medicine), Gilbert and McArthur, only McArthur's Magical Mixture, Jabez Gelbert, only Avadink Tonic (for a tonic beverage), and John T. Gilbert, only Dr. Gilbert's Vital Vim Compromise Stimulant. This cholera infantum cure could have come from any of these, but I think the Vermont or Baltimore Gilberts are more likely.

I wish I could have been around to treat little Hertha with intravenous fluids and electrolytes. They do wonders for dehydrated infants and children. Then maybe she would have made it........

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