Thursday, July 28, 2011

Ayer's Sarsaparilla

Ayer's Sarsaparilla  claimed to cure all sorts of ailments and purify the blood. Sarsaparilla was made from a trailing vine called smilax regelii, which was also used to flavor root beer. If you look hard enough, you may still be able to find an old-fashioned root beer flavored with sarsaparilla. You can read all about the history of Ayer's Sarsaparilla at Cliff and Linda Hoyt's website, which includes great photos of old advertisements, bottles, and even a paper doll. These cards are from about 1880.

I looked up Nellie Hicks from Cincinnatus, New York and discovered that she is listed as the 8th great-great granddaughter of Wolphert Gerretse Van Kouwenhoven. Wait a minute, that sounds familiar. I have lots of cards sent to Cora Huffsmith, who was also the 8th great-great granddaughter of Wolphert Gerretse Van Kouwenhoven. I'll write a little more about him on an upcoming Huffsmith card.

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12 comments:

  1. HowardJuly 27, 2011 at 4:06 PM

    Lovely cards. I'm intrigued that the ingredients listed on the first card include mandrake, a very toxic plant. The Victorians appear to have been obsessed with blood purification, or maybe it was only these snake oil salesmen who were trying to convince them to be. I wonder what 'vitiated' blood is?

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  2. AnnJuly 27, 2011 at 4:58 PM

    small world in old postcards!!! that was a really interesting about Cora and Nellie!!
    i really love these old advertising cards!
    i so enjoy the extra "history" you add !!
    thanks !!

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  3. Christine H.July 27, 2011 at 5:47 PM

    Howard,
    I didn't know about Mandrake root, but old-fashioned American root beer was flavored with both sarsaparilla and sassafras, which has been shown to cause liver damage and cancer. They use artificial sassafras instead now.

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  4. Karen S.July 27, 2011 at 9:30 PM

    All such lovely cards, but that first dress is just stunning....maybe not so comfortable for running after little ones...but lovely for a romantic evening !

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  5. Archie TechtJuly 27, 2011 at 9:33 PM

    There may be a 'lurking taint of Scrofula' about here, but I'm guessing it is really just the Porta-Potty on the curb strip that the construction workers are using...

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  6. Lisa BJuly 28, 2011 at 2:30 AM

    Fine cards and even finer (if that is possible)advertising script!

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  7. Alan BurnettJuly 28, 2011 at 3:49 AM

    You used to be able to buy bottles of sarsaparilla at the Fish and Chip shop to take home and consume along with you fish and chip supper. I doubt that it is still made - probably fell foul of some hygiene code.

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  8. papel1July 28, 2011 at 9:23 AM

    Love the advertising cards. Been Rving,traveling but thought I had better check out your blog this morning.
    Judy

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  9. Aimee DarsJuly 28, 2011 at 9:34 PM

    Interesting information - but I'm blown away by the fashion represented on the cards!

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  10. Archie TechtJuly 28, 2011 at 9:44 PM

    By the way, the woman on the first card looks like she is about 8' tall- legs seem abnormally long- is she related to Barbie?

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  11. tonyJuly 29, 2011 at 3:10 AM

    Root Beer and Sarsaparilla hard quite hard to find these days in England .I do remember (just!) A
    Temperance Pub in Halifax that used to sell it instead of Beer.

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  12. Sheila @ A Postcard a DayJuly 31, 2011 at 1:20 AM

    I didn't realise sarsparilla was a cure-all. I've always thought it was just a soft drink.

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