Paper trade card for Mellin's Food; front: chromolithograph of a forest scene with a naked child angel lying in the middle; back: testimonials from various nurseries and foundling homes; red stamp across it of a drugstore.
Paper trade card for Mellin's Food; front: chromolithograph of a forest scene with a naked child angel lying in the middle; back: testimonials from various nurseries and foundling homes; red stamp across it of a drugstore.
Number Of Parts
1
Provenance
Purchased by Dr. Chiong for his patent medicine collection, before July 15, 1995.
"FOR SALE BY // WOODRUFF HOUSE DRUG STORE // WATERTOWN, N.Y. // Mellin's Food Children // everywhere are the best recommendations of // Mellin's Food. // "We have been using Mellin's Food with excellent results; our babies have been doing // splendidly; we shall be most happy to continue with its use." F.C. PERRY, // Jan. 11 1895. Bethlehem Day Nursery, 249 East 30th St., N.Y. City.// "mellin's Food is a most welcome addition to the Nursery ..."; etc.
Permanent Location
Storage Room 0010
0010-G Chiong Trade Cards Binder D
Unit Of Measure
centimeters
Dimension Notes
Length: 13.1 cm. x Width: 9.5 cm.
Condition Remarks
Some age/sun discolouration; entire card is very creased with several small tears around the edges; quite a few darker stains on the back
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.