(a) Leather medicine case with hinged lid (now torn off); the inside of the case has four hinged sections which hold cylindrical medication bottle; (b) cylindrical clear glass pill / medication container with screw on/off metal lid (empty); (c) same as (b); (d) same as (b) -- 9 brown pills and powd…
(a) Leather medicine case with hinged lid (now torn off); the inside of the case has four hinged sections which hold cylindrical medication bottle; (b) cylindrical clear glass pill / medication container with screw on/off metal lid (empty); (c) same as (b); (d) same as (b) -- 9 brown pills and powder residue inside; (e) same as (b) -- medication residue inside; lid cracked; (f-cc) same as (b): (f) medication residue inside; (g) solidified pills on inside bottom, as well as staining; (h) very small amount of medication residue inside; (k) white powder residue inside; (l) filled halfway with small pink pills; lid cracked; (m) very small amount of medication residue inside; (n) container cracked at the bottom; (o) pink powder residue inside; (p) off-white medication solidified at bottom inside; (q) 5 small brown pills inside; (r) bottom of container broken and missing a section; lid cracked; (t) medication residue at bottom inside; lid cracked; (u) 3 crumbly brown pills inside; powder inside as well; (v) medication residue at bottom inside; lid cracked; (w) medication residue at bottom inside; (x) very small amount of medication residue at bottom inside; (y) medication residue inside; (z) bottom of container broken and missing a section; (aa) bottom section of container broken off; (bb) bottom section of container broken off; lid missing; (cc) white medication at bottom 1/3 inside; (dd) cylindrical clear glass pill / medication container with screw on / off metal lid; similar to, but larger than, (b); brown medication residue at bottom inside; lid cracked; (ee-jj) same as (dd): (ee) white crystal medication at bottom inside; lid shows minor corrosion and a crack; (ff) contains 20 brown pills; lid cracked; (gg) bottom of container is broken and a section is missing; medication residue inside; lid is missing; (hh) off-white powdery medication residue inside; lid cracked; (ii) filled with approximately 20 brown pills which are deteriorating; (jj) contains 6 off-white pills and white powder on inside; lid cracked; (kk) hinged cloth-covered cardboard box with metal closure attachment at the top; the inside of the box has a felt-covered bottom and middle section which was designed to hold a thin item; (ll-uu) same as (dd): (ll) contains 11 pink pills inside as well as powdery residue; (mm) a few brown pills have liquified at the bottom inside; (nn) contains brown pills on inside bottom 1/3 (solidified); (oo) contains 14 small brown pills and powder residue inside; lid cracked; (pp) brown powder residue on inside; bottom of container has a small missing section; lid cracked; (qq) contains one brown pill and medication residue inside; (rr) filled with brown pills which are stuck together and deteriorating; lid has 3 small cracks; (ss) very small amount of medication residue inside; lid has 3 small cracks; (tt) contains 11 pink pills (deteriorating) and white powder residue at inside bottom; lid cracked; (uu) the bottom of the container is broken and missing a section; brown medication residue inside.
Number Of Parts
47
Part Names
a - medicine case - Size: Length 28.2 cm. x Width 12.5 cm. x Depth 11.2 cm.
b-z - medicine containers x 25 - Size: Length 7.5 cm. x Diameter1.3 cm.
aa - medicine container (broken) - Size: Length 7.0 cm. x Diameter1.3 cm.
bb - medicine container (broken) - Size: Length 4.0 cm. x Diameter1.2 cm.
cc - medicine container - Size: Length 7.5 cm. x Diameter1.3 cm.
dd-jj - medicine containers x 7 - Size: Length 8.9 cm. x Diameter1.6 cm.
kk - box - Size: Length 8.8 cm. x Width 5.6 cm. x Depth 1.9 cm.
ll-uu - medicine containers x 10 - Size: Length 8.9 cm. x Diameter1.6 cm.
Provenance
Purchased by Dr. M. Chiong for his patent medicine collection from Decatur Georgia on Dec. 1 1993.
Inside lid of case stamped with "HIGHEST AWARDS // PHILADELPHIA CHICAGO ST. LOUIS PARIS // H. K. MULFORD COMPANY // PHILADELPHIA." on cloth; outside front stamped, "PATD MAY 26 // 1908" into leather; bottom outside of case a "3" stamped into it
Permanent Location
Storage Room 0010
0010-A
Condition Remarks
Case and bottles were very dirty and dusty, with dried mildew throughout the inside of the case; two bottles are missing their lid and seven are broken; many bottle lids are cracked
Copy Type
Original
Reference Types
Book
Reference Comments
"Bottles" by Michael Polak, pp. 19 & 21
Wikipedia
Research Facts
Early 20th century house call bag for the general practitioner
The H. K. Mulford Company was a pharmaceutical company founded in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. The company was founded in the late 1880s by Henry K. Mulford after his purchase of the Old Simes drugstore at 18th and Market Streets. The company was purchased by Sharp & Dohme Corp in 1929.
Henry Kendall Mulford (October 10, 1866 – October 15, 1937) was a graduate of the Philadelphia College of Pharmacy.
Soon after purchasing the Old Simes retail pharmacy store, Mulford began producing and selling pharmaceutical preparations. In 1889, he received financial investment to expand operations from Milton Campbell. In 1891, Campbell became president of the company, with Mulford vice president. Milton patented a compressed tablet machine. By 1892 the company had two laboratories, a field office in Chicago, and produced 800 different products.
The company opened a laboratory in Glenolden, Pennsylvania, in 1894 for the production of a diphtheria antitoxin. In 1895, it became the first commercial producer of diphtheria antitoxin in the United States.
Exhibit History
To display in Museum: Potions, Pills and Prescriptions; May 1, 2000 - 28 Jan 2017.