University Health Network - Academy of Medicine Collection
Category
Pharmacy and Drug Artifacts
Home Health Care
Infant Food
Infant Nutrition
Food, Fortified
Classification
Pharmacy, Other
Home Health Care
Infant Food
Infant Nutrition
Food, Fortified
Accession Number
1980.18.285
Description
A sealed glass bottle with slightly rounded shoulders, a wide neck, and a metal screw-on cap; contains a white powder; embossed lettering around bottle at neck.
A sealed glass bottle with slightly rounded shoulders, a wide neck, and a metal screw-on cap; contains a white powder; embossed lettering around bottle at neck.
Number Of Parts
1
Provenance
Acquired from the Academy of Medicine; source: Mr. Dean Charters.
Embossed with: "Mellin's Food Co. Boston, U.S. Small Size"; embossed on bottom: "W13"; lid labelled: "For the Baby // Mellins Food For Infants"
Permanent Location
Storage Room 0010
0010-A1-6 Row B
Dimension Notes
Length 12.0 cm x Diam. 6.0 cm
Condition Remarks
Lid is rusted
Copy Type
Original
Research Facts
Mellin's Food Company was a maker of Mellin's Food for Infants and Invalids in Boston, Massachusetts.
The company started when the English food chemist Gustav Mellin developed an infant formula in 1866. Mellin's formula was a simplified version of one which had been recently invented by the German chemist Justus von Liebig. It wasn't a total nutritional supplement, the powder was diluted with cow's milk and water and was called a "milk modifier". It was a "soluble, dry extract of wheat, malted barley and bicarbonate of potassium." The formula was advertised with the slogan: "Mellin's Food for Infants and Invalids: The only perfect substitute for Mother's Milk".
By the 1890's Mellin's Food was the most popular of the infant foods sold in the United States. This success was due primarily to aggressive marketing — advertisements for Mellin's often included supposed testimonials from parents that Mellin's had brought their children back from the brink of death.