Items

Title: Mentholatum Gives Comfort Daily
Description: Trade card advertising Mentholatum featuring a triptych of women applying mentholatum for various ailments.
Conditions Cured (LC): Cold (Disease)
Subjects (LC): Advertising—Medicine, Health, Self-Care, Women
ID: WH170
Collection: William H. Helfand Collection of Pharmaceutical Trade Cards

Title: Recipe book : manuscript, 1804
Description: Manuscript volume comprises about 92 culinary recipes, as well as about two dozen medical and household recipes. The majority of the culinary recipes are for savory dishes, including soups, curries, stewed fish dishes, collars, and pickles. Sweet recipes (fruit preserves, jellies, cakes, lemon creams, and a "raspberry spunge") are also present. Entries, written in multiple hands, are up to page 86; the remainder are blank except for one page with a partial index.
Subjects (LC): Cooking, English, Medicine -- Formulae, receipts, prescriptions, Traditional medicine -- Formulae, receipts, prescriptions, Manuscripts, English -- 19th century

Title: Receipt book : autograph manuscript signed, 1848-circa 1885
Description: This manuscript consists of approximately 240 culinary recipes and 50 medical and household receipts. The vast majority of the culinary recipes are for tea breads, cakes, little cakes, and desserts, with cakes predominating. Only about 30 of the recipes are for savory dishes, and nearly all of these are for meat, poultry, or pickles. There are no recipes for vegetables or fish. Most of the medical receipts are treatments for common complaints, such as chapped hands, warts, bleeding, and indigestion. There is one predominant hand, most likely that of Jane W.A. Beck, and several others. Many of the recipes are attributed. Clippings, mostly of recipes, are also found throughout the volume.
Subjects (LC): Cooking, American, Medicine -- Formulae, receipts, prescriptions, Traditional medicine -- Formulae, receipts, prescriptions, Manuscripts, American -- 19th century

Title: Recipe book : manuscript, circa 1830-1850
Description: Early 19th-century manuscript contains approximately 86 culinary recipes on 116 pages and a few laid-in sheets, in addition to about a dozen non-culinary (mostly household) recipes. The manuscript is divided into three main parts: "Soups," such as mulligatawny, white soup, carrot soup, and flemish soup; "Creams and Jellies," such as custard, lemon cream, and punch jelly; and "Puddings," such as cheesecake pudding and orange pudding. Other kinds of recipes, culinary (meats, fish, and pickled dishes) and non-culinary, appear between these parts. The manuscript is predominantly written in a single hand and some of the recipes are attributed.
Subjects (LC): Cooking, English, Medicine -- Formulae, receipts, prescriptions, Traditional medicine -- Formulae, receipts, prescriptions, Manuscripts, English -- 19th century

Title: Parker's Ginger Tonic: the Best Health and Strength Restorer
Description: Trade card advertising Parker's Ginger Tonic, Parker's Hair Balsam, and Floreston Cologne featuring a text-based panel flanked by two images of men. The one on the left features a man bending over in what seems to be a coughing fit. The one on the right features a man at peace who seems to have just taken the Tonic being advertised. The back lists the benefits of each item advertised.
Conditions Cured (LC): Cough, Dandruff, Indigestion, Rheumatism
Subjects (LC): Advertising—Medicine, Clothing And Dress, Men, Men's Clothing, Men's Hats
ID: WH180
Collection: William H. Helfand Collection of Pharmaceutical Trade Cards

Title: Hanson's Magic Corn Salve
Description: Trade card advertising Hanson's Magic Corn Salve featuring a man in a three-piece suit holding a bouquet of flowers. His mustache is pointed at the ends, and he is framed by flowers that resemble Morning Glories. The back warns customers against counterfeit products.
Conditions Cured (LC): Bunion
Subjects (LC): Advertising—Medicine, Bouquets, Clothes And Dress, Costume, Eyeglasses, Flowers, Mustaches
ID: WH271
Collection: William H. Helfand Collection of Pharmaceutical Trade Cards

Title: Lydia Pinkham's Vegetable Compound
Description: Trade card advertising Lydia E. Pinkham's Vegetable Compound, Lydia E. Pinkham's Liver Pills, Lydia E. Pinkham's Blood Purifier, and Lydia E. Pinkham's Sanative Wash featuring a square image of a sailboat in profile with a shadowed fleet behind it. The foregrounded boat has a red flag at the tip of its mast. The square image is framed by overlaid leaves and red, white, blue, and purple flowers. The back describes the ailments the items can cure.
Conditions Cured (LC): Asthenia, Backache, Constipation, Depression, Headache, Indigestion, Inflammation, Insomnia, Neurasthenia, Peptic Ulcer, Tumors
Subjects (LC): Advertising—Medicine, Boats And Boating, Flowers, Nature, Ocean, Sailboats, Water
ID: WH327
Collection: William H. Helfand Collection of Pharmaceutical Trade Cards

Title: I's All Right Now!: In Constant Use Since 1795
Description: Trade card advertising Dr. Isaac Thompson's Eye Water featuring two girls in a red armchair. The older of the two is holding a bottle of what seems to be Dr. Isaac Thompson's Eye Water in her right hand. Her left hand is around the shoulders of the younger girl who is holding a tissue. They are both in dresses and have brown-blond hair. The back describes the meritous reputation of the Eye Water.
Subjects (LC): Advertising—Medicine, Bottles, Chairs, Children, Children's Clothing, Clothing And Dress
ID: WH368
Collection: William H. Helfand Collection of Pharmaceutical Trade Cards

Title: Take Hood's Sarsaparilla 100 Doses One Dollar: First Lesson
Description: Trade card advertising Hood's Sarsaparilla featuring a dog, three puppies, and a rat in a straw-filled, indoor scene. There are a broom and a dog house in the background. In the foreground, the dog is pinning a scared-looking rat to the ground while the three puppies look on. The back describes the disease catarrh and how Hood's Sarsaparilla can help with it. The back also includes testimony from satisfied customers.
Conditions Cured (LC): Catarrh
Subjects (LC): Advertising—Medicine, Animals, Brooms And Brushes, Dogs, Hay, Puppies, Rats
ID: WH148
Collection: William H. Helfand Collection of Pharmaceutical Trade Cards

Title: Hood's Sarsaparilla Purifies the blood, creates an appetite, makes the weak strong, and builds up the system
Description: Trade card advertising Hood's Sarsaparilla featuring a cupid-like boy with small wings and a blue garment around his waist. He is marching while playing a golden horn and holding a yellow box of Hood's Sarsaparilla. The back lists the health benefits of blood purification, as well as the ingredients in Hood's Sarsaparilla.
Conditions Cured (LC): Asthenia, Body Fluids, Constipation, Furuncle, Headache, Indigestion, Salt Rheum, Scrofula, Syphilis
Subjects (LC): Advertising—Medicine, Angels, Cherubs, Folklore, Musical Instruments, Mythology
ID: WH143
Collection: William H. Helfand Collection of Pharmaceutical Trade Cards

Title: Dr. Morse's Indian Root Pills
Description: Trade card advertising Morse's Indian Root Pills featuring a toddler crawling on the floor towards a collie. Behind the two is a cat peeking through a door at them from another room. The back has text explaining the benefits of Morse's Indian Root Pills.
Subjects (LC): Advertising—Medicine, Animals, Babies, Cats, Dogs, Domestic Space, Infants
ID: WH308
Collection: William H. Helfand Collection of Pharmaceutical Trade Cards

Title: Buy it, Try it, and be Happy! Morse's Dyspepsia Cure, Holliston, Mass.
Description: Trade card advertising Morse's Dyspepsia Cure featuring an image of a lighthouse and a sailing ship in choppy waters. Text at bottom reads "Eddy Stone Light House." The back lists ailments that Morse's Dyspepsia Cure helps.
Conditions Cured (LC): Biliary Tract—Diseases, Constipation, Headache, Heartburn, Indigestion, Palpitation
Subjects (LC): Advertising—Medicine, Boats And Boating, Lighthouses, Sailboats, Sailing Ships, Water Waves
ID: WH177
Collection: William H. Helfand Collection of Pharmaceutical Trade Cards

Title: Dr. Morse's Indian Root Pills
Description: Trade card advertising Morse's Indian Root Pills featuring a young girl wrapping or unwrapping a rabbit from a cloth while a dog jumps on her from her left. She is in front of a brick wall and is wearing a dress and a blue hat. Her hair is in two pigtails. The back has text explaining the benefits of Morse's Indian Root Pills.
Subjects (LC): Advertising—Medicine, Animals, Blankets, Children, Children's Clothing, Dogs, Rabbits
ID: WH307
Collection: William H. Helfand Collection of Pharmaceutical Trade Cards

Title: Dundas Dick & Co's Compliments
Description: Trade card advertising the tasteless medicines of Dundas Dick & Co. featuring a wood-framed square that reads "Dundas Dick & Co.'s Compliments" surrounded by autumnal leaves and berries. The square is labelled "1776" and "1876" on the top and bottom, respectively. The back features a nineteenth-century calendar.
Subjects (LC): Advertising—Medicine, Berries, Leaves, Nature, Picture Frames And Framing, Wood
ID: WH260
Collection: William H. Helfand Collection of Pharmaceutical Trade Cards

Title: Hood's Sarsaparilla Purifies the blood, creates an appetite, makes the weak strong, and builds up the system
Description: Trade card advertising Hood's Sarsaparilla featuring a cupid-like boy with small wings and a blue garment around his waist. He is marching while playing a golden horn and holding a yellow box of Hood's Sarsaparilla. The back lists the health benefits of blood purification, as well as the ingredients Hood's Sarsaparilla.
Conditions Cured (LC): Asthenia, Body Fluids, Constipation, Furuncle, Headache, Indigestion, Salt Rheum, Scrofula, Syphilis
Subjects (LC): Advertising—Medicine, Angels, Cherubs, Folklore, Musical Instruments, Mythology
ID: WH144
Collection: William H. Helfand Collection of Pharmaceutical Trade Cards

Title: Lydia E. Pinkham's Vegetable Compound
Description: Trade card advertising Lydia E. Pinkham's Vegetable Compound, Lydia E. Pinkham's Liver Pills, Lydia E. Pinkham's Blood Purifier, and Lydia E. Pinkham's Sanative Wash featuring a sailboat wreathed by flowers. There are two red figures on the sailboat, and the wreath of flowers includes blue, white, red, and purple blossoms. The back lists the benefits of the items advertised.
Conditions Cured (LC): Asthenia, Backache, Body Fluids, Depression, Mental, Erysipelas, Headache, Indigestion, Insomnia, Neurasthenia, Peptic Ulcer, Rheumatism, Salt Rheum, Scrofula, Tumors
Subjects (LC): Advertising—Medicine, Boats And Boating, Flowers, Sailboats, Sailing Ships
ID: WH185
Collection: William H. Helfand Collection of Pharmaceutical Trade Cards

Title: Brown's Iron Bitters
Description: Trade card advertising Brown's Iron Bitters featuring a woman peering out from behind a column with text that reads: "Brown's Iron Bitters." She is wearing a blue and white dress and a pink bonnet. Behind her is a tall, flowering bush. On the top left corner is an overlaid trade mark.
Subjects (LC): Advertising—Medicine, Clothing And Dress, Flowers, Hats, Nature, Women's Hats
ID: WH236
Collection: William H. Helfand Collection of Pharmaceutical Trade Cards

Title: Old Doctor Samuel F. Stowe's Dyspepsia Cure or Compound Medicated Lozenges
Description: Trade card advertising Old Dr. Samuel F. Stowe's Dyspepsia Cure or Compound Medicated Lozenges featuring a cat clawing a pink-flowering bush. In this bush is perched a bird. The cat and bush are on a tuft of grass with red flowers.
Conditions Cured (LC): Indigestion
Subjects (LC): Advertising—Medicine, Animals, Birds, Cats, Flowers, Grasses, Grasslands, Nature, Nature
ID: WH357
Collection: William H. Helfand Collection of Pharmaceutical Trade Cards

Title

Specimen Medicinae Sinicae

Description

The Specimen Medicinae Sinicae is the first illustrated book published on Chinese medicine in the West. It contains an overview of Chinese medical practices including acupuncture and meridian theories, semiology of the tongue, descriptions of Chinese pharmaceuticals and their uses, and an important translation of a Ming treatise on pulse diagnosis. The Specimen includes thirty engraved plates and woodcut illustrations in the text, depicting the Chinese doctrine of the pulse and the semiology of the tongue, along with eight tables showing the variations of the pulses. Explaining Chinese pulse theory to a European audience proved difficult. Insufficient description of the plates, which pictured figures with doubled lines running through the bodies, confused western audiences, who interpreted these representations as indication that the Chinese didn't know their anatomy. The publication of the Specimen Medicinae Sinicae did little to change the commonly-held belief that the Chinese were crackerjack diagnosticians, with a misguided idea of the body's interior. The tenets of Chinese medicine and diagnostics were also somewhat muddled in the minds of westerners. Nevertheless, the translation did much to introduce pulse lore, acupuncture, and new materia medica to a Western audience of medical practitioners eager to experiment.

LIBRARY DIGITAL COLLECTIONS & EXHIBITS

Warning message

Pages

Pages