Small pocket sized softcovered booklet with red paper cover; large sized print with photo of young healthy child; contents include information about childhood illnesses; body of text separated from cover; 55 pages.
Small pocket sized softcovered booklet with red paper cover; large sized print with photo of young healthy child; contents include information about childhood illnesses; body of text separated from cover; 55 pages.
On frontispiece: "HINTS // to // MOTHERS // on the // TREATMENT // of their // CHILDREN // 1914"; inside page: "IMPORTANT NOTICE: further in booklet: "STEEDMAN'S SOOTHING POWDERS // are prepared by // JOHN STEEDMAN & CO. // 272, Walworth Road, London, England, // and sold in in Packets at 1s. 1 1/2d. and // 2s. 9d. each, by all Chemists // and Medicine Vendors in the Kingdom // IMPORTANT NOTICE // Steedman's Soothing Powders contain // no poison or opiate of any description. // CAUTION // Owing to the success of STEEDMAN'S SOOTHING // POWDERS in the treatment of the minor // complaints of children, there have been many // imitations of this valuable medicine. It is // therefore necessary, when purchasing, to // observe that the name Steedman is always spelt // with EE, and pronounced as it is spelt. // N.B. - it is particularly to be observed // that no other Medicine be given while // using thse powders."
Permanent Location
Storage Room 0010
0010-G Manuals and Reference Books A Binder pg. 1 a
Length
11.0 cm
Width
8.9 cm
Depth
0.5 cm
Unit Of Measure
centimeters
Condition Remarks
Body of booklet separated; cover scuffed; couple of minor brown stains
Teething was seen as one of the “most perilous transitions” in the 19th century, linked to insomnia and drooling, deafness and epilepsy. Steedman’s Soothing Powders, first made in the early 1800s, fought an intense battle with its rival Stedman’s Teething Powders. Stedman’s adoption of an imitative brand name led to Steedman’s creating its double EE logo to emphasise its originality and distinctiveness. Ironically, neither manufacturer could exploit an ethical advantage in their promotions, as both products contained calomel (mercurous chloride), about which, Bull says, “pages might be written upon the evil effects which have resulted from its indiscriminate use in the nursery”.
Some companies also produced promotional material in the form of reference books aimed at mothers, advising them on the best ways to prevent and treat common childhood ailments. Often this would involve using the company’s own medicines. Adverts and testimonials for these could be found throughout the publications. Here, too, guilt was used to persuade mothers to buy brand name medicines, or to rely on their manufacturers for instruction.
In 1904, John Steedman and Company produced the first edition of their own guide book 'Hints to mothers' on the treatment of their children, claiming inside that:
The greatest of all gifts that the Almighty can bestow upon you is your baby. It is your duty to sacrifice yourself, to give your whole thought to the well being of the charge that is trusted to you.
A range of illnesses are covered in the guides. Many of them are recommended to be treated with Steedman’s Powders, the company’s own product, and the guides also include directions for taking the powders and a caution not to purchase imitation medicines. For more serious conditions, the guides recommend that ‘a medical man should at once be called in’.
Steedman’s ‘Hints to Mothers’ was a popular series, often known simply as ‘the little red book’. It stretched to twenty editions, the last published in 1961, and was also translated into French.