Cardboard blotter for Laxative Bromo-Quinine Tablets; front: "Bromo Quinine" in red and "3-D" letters; a hand points to the underlined "o" in "Bromo"; on the left-hand side is a facsimile of a box of such tablets (looks like a matchbook) in blue and red; everything is done in blue or red ink; a blu…
Cardboard blotter for Laxative Bromo-Quinine Tablets; front: "Bromo Quinine" in red and "3-D" letters; a hand points to the underlined "o" in "Bromo"; on the left-hand side is a facsimile of a box of such tablets (looks like a matchbook) in blue and red; everything is done in blue or red ink; a blue rod with knobs at both ends separates the box from the rest of the car; very simple advertising; back: blue absorbent blotting paper.
Number Of Parts
1
Provenance
Purchased by Dr. M. Chiong for his patent medicine collection, July 15, 1995 (before).
Unsure of date of card; could be from WWI (because of the use of acetanilide); product around in 1905, maybe even earlier, card definitely later
Material
paper: cream
ink: red, blue
Inscriptions
"Laxative // Take BROMO // QUININE // Tablets // Look for this Signature // on each Box // E.W. Grove // For // COLDS // GRIP or // INFLUENZA // Genuine Bromo Quinine // is packed in this Box. EACH TABLET CONTAINS // 1 1/2 GRAIN ACETANILIDE // DOES NOT AFFECT HEAD LIKE SULPHATE OF QUININE"
Permanent Location
Storage Room 0010
0010-G Chiong Trade Cards Binder A
Dimension Notes
Length: 22.6 cm. x Width: 9.8 cm.
Condition Remarks
Large stain along top front, caused the ink to smudge and run in the first 'O' and 'M' in 'BROMO'; back is clean and no bends or tears can be seen
Copy Type
Original
Reference Types
Book
Reference Comments
"Remedies and Rackets" by James Cook, pp. 99, 135; "American Health Quackery" by James Harvey
Young, p. 71 (picture); "Nostrums and Quackery" by Arthur J. Cramp, pp. 517-5188
Research Facts
Contained a lot more phenac tin (heart-depressing and habit-forming) than quinine; Grove Laboratories had a subsidiary called Clayton Laboratories (St. Louis) which distributed Citroid, bestselling bioflavinoid cold cure of 1957; Grove also makes Four-Way Cold Tablets and Pozo Ointment for piles; Bromo-Quinine contains yellow phenophthalein, a cathartic drug; the reason laxative contained in a cold tablet was that people felt that flushing out the system was healthy and would help get rid of the cold-- it does not; once advertised as "Cures a Cold in One Day"; light brown pills, faint odour and bitter taste; stamped with "L.B.Q."; during WWI switched from acetphenetidin to acetanilid because of cost.