Small paper trade card for Ayer's Pills; front: chromolithograph of a soldier in red and blue carrying a flag for Ayers Pills and killing a soldier in blue; back: product promises and facsimile of glass vial used in steamy climates.
Small paper trade card for Ayer's Pills; front: chromolithograph of a soldier in red and blue carrying a flag for Ayers Pills and killing a soldier in blue; back: product promises and facsimile of glass vial used in steamy climates.
Number Of Parts
1
Provenance
Purchased by Dr. Chiong for his patent medicine collection, before July 15, 1995.
After American Civil War (1861-65) but before 1906 ("Proprietary or Patent Medicine Act")
Material
paper: cresm
ink: red; green; yellow; blue; brown
Inscriptions
"AYER'S PILLS"; back: ""THE FIGHT FOR THE STANDARD" // is over, and it is universally // acknowledged that AYER'S PILLS // are the only STANDARD cathartic // medicine of the age. The disorders // which they are designed to cure // include Constipation, or Costive- // ness, Indigestion, Dyspepsia, // Biliousness, Heartburn, Loss // of Appetite, Flatulency, Foul Stomach, // Nausea, Dizziness, ..."; etc. // AYER'S PILLS aare mde of vegetable ingre- // dients only. They are sugar-coated, and // pleasant to take; and for all the purposes of a // cathartic medicine they are unequalled. // Ayer's Pills are usually put up in oval wooden // boxes, as represented on the face of this card; but // for hot or damp climates, and for export, in // sealed glass vials, as above"
Permanent Location
Storage Room 0010
0010-G Chiong Trade Cards Binder E
Length
11.2 cm
Width
6.4 cm
Unit Of Measure
centimeters
Dimension Notes
Length 11.2 cm x Width 6.4 cm
Condition Remarks
Some age/sun discolouration; back: a number of dark stains around the top of the card (from old adhesive)
Copy Type
Original
Research Facts
American Dr. James Cook Ayer (1818-1878) was the wealthiest patent medicine businessman of his day.
He started working in an apothecary shop in Lowell, Mass., bought a drug store in 1841 when he was 22 and eventually received a medical degree from the University of Pennsylvania in 1860.
Ayer was more interested in selling medicines than in practicing medicine.
In 1843, James Cook Ayer mixed up a cherry cough medicine in a Lowell, Mass., apothecary while his boss was on vacation in Europe. The cough medicine, known as ‘Cherry Pectoral,’ marked Ayer’s first step on the road to a fortune. It was followed by a strong laxative called Cathartic Pills, a blood medicine called Sarsaparilla that was supposed to cure syphilis, a cure for malaria called Ague Cure, and a hair restorer called Hair Vigor.
Physicians happily prescribed Ayer’s medicines, but the real secret to his success was advertising. He spent $140,000 (c1840s) a year on advertisements that promoted the benefits of his medicines with charming, whimsical illustrations. He distributed millions of free copies of an almanac that hawked his cures.
Ayer advertised cherry pectoral as a cure for ‘coughs, colds, asthma, croup, laryngitis, bronchitis, whooping cough and consumption.’ His most popular product, sarsaparilla, was ‘a real blessing that purifies the blood, stimulates the vital functions, restores and preserves health, and infuses new life and vigor throughout the whole system. He recommended It for jaundice, dyspepsia, pimples, boils, ringworm, female weaknesses and ‘lassitude and debility peculiar to the Spring.’
Ayer built a state-of-the-art factory in Lowell to produce vast quantities of medicines that made him a fortune. He employed 150 people. In one year the factory processed 325,000 pounds of drugs, 220,000 gallons of spirits and 400,000 pounds of sugar. He sold his products around the world, and the factory continued to produce drugs until the 1940s.
He was accused of using misleading advertising to sell quack medicines and miracle cures. His defenders say Ayer’s claims were well within the bounds of medical knowledge in the 19th century.
Cherry pectoral contained three grams of morphine – but that was a lot less than doctors were prescribing at the time. Some of Ayer’s products contained small amounts of alcohol to preserve the plant material that comprised his medicines.
But certainly, some of his products did not live up to their billing. Sarsaparilla didn’t work. Hair Vigor didn’t work. But Ague Cure contained bark from the cinchona tree – which later became known as quinine and was very effective in fighting malaria. Cherry pectoral did not cure lung ailments, as advertised, but it did treat the symptoms of a cold, which helps patients improve.