This card features Louise Paullin, an actress (who died in 1910), holding a book and promoting Burdock Blood Bitters as a treatment for demon dyspepsia.
Now, on to the pain killers. Here we have the learned professor instructing young pupils in the use of pain killers.
In this case, the top of the card has been cropped, so I'm not sure what the brand is, which means I can't go out and buy it.
The message on this one below is pretty clear though. It's fairly evident that this painkiller stuns birds and makes young boys drop their inkwells from trees. It will also make my hands soft and cure a felon quicker than anything else known. Dalley's Magic Pain Extractor: this one's for me! And it only costs 25 cents.
Don't forget to head on over to Sepia Saturday for some more book learning this week. Click on the photo to read all about it.
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The claims made for these remedies are unbelievable today. Still the pictures are all interesting even if the boy who is 'telling it to the birds' may not have had the desired effect.
ReplyDeletePerhaps the girl on the last card is promoting some patent spectacles.
I like the honesty of the claim that a potion is not a 'cure all' but just the thing needed for slight ailments like . . . like . . . cholera. ! Gosh, they were tough in those days!
ReplyDeleteI like the language used in these cards- next time I teach persuasive writing, I might write some similar examples! These are brilliant glimpses into old adverts!
ReplyDeleteThanks for this delightful and insightful post. I didn't realize I was suffering from Dyspepsia. Oh, if I only had some Blood Bitters -- yum!
ReplyDeleteHmmm...how interesting. Take two pills, a book and call me in the morning. These cards were wonderful!
ReplyDeleteFascinating! Love the first postcard - I want to wear a hat like that...
ReplyDeleteWonder if Blood Bitters are like Blood Letters. I found this very interesting. I get so aggravated seeing medicinal ads on TV like someone is going to the MD and ask for a drug by name just because they saw it on TV. Great collection.
ReplyDeleteQMM
And the one with the birds also cures piles!!!! Today we have moved into televison persuasion indeed.
ReplyDeleteI love your first postcard and had a good laugh at the wild claims in the medicinal ads. I sincerely hope that Louise Paullin (who died in 1910) did not die from a bad case of the demon dyspepsia.
ReplyDelete...demon dyspepsia... lol. I love these old advertisements.
ReplyDeleteAnd little did they know how odd that one of the professor and children would be to look at in 2012.... considering how much society is trying to keep prescription drugs AWAY from children these days....
I wonder why the demon dyspepsia only affects Americans.
ReplyDeleteI found an image of an uncropped pain killer trade card. It is "Perry Davis" Pain Killer.
ReplyDeleteWhere can I get some?
ReplyDeleteWhat great cards and testimonials! I wonder if it helps with the pain of pyorrhea?
ReplyDeleteOH, these are GREAT! and a slight cure for .. cholera! This was a great chuckle!
ReplyDeleteI think I must have pulled a muscle in the back of my leg because I woke early this morning in discomfort, if not pain. But as I was up I decided to read the various book posts on Sepia Saturday. And the tradition you talk about still holds true, because after an hour of posts such as yours, the pain feels much better.
ReplyDeleteLove the "Pain Extractor" advert.
ReplyDeleteThanks Postcardy.
ReplyDeleteI have Dyspepsia!!
ReplyDeleteGive me the cure, now!!
OK, enough said.
Blame it on the meds I'm taking right now for the flu...
even if I got a flu shot a couple months ago.
I find this post a little disturbing
as I find the visuals rather pleasant,
but the topic is downright scary!!
Quite the contrast,
but it makes for a good reading.
:)~
HUGZ
Good stuff. As crazy as it may seem, I believe advertisers were even more devious back then than they are now!
ReplyDeleteIts Dalley's Magic Pain Extractors for me, every medicine cabinet should have some if its been curing since 1840, now where will I find some:-) I love these old advert cards, pretty on one side and wild claims on the other, perfect.
ReplyDeleteA splendid mix of remedies. Amazing too how many of the earlier commenters suffer from these antique ailments! Modern pharma is missing a market if it doesn't bring some of these back. Here in Asheville, Edwin Grove made millions on "Grove's Tasteless Chill Tonic." - "makes children and adults as fat as pigs".
ReplyDeleteVery enjoyable post. Demon dyspepsia just seems to roll off the tongue.
ReplyDeleteFascinating stuff - I love reading the questionable claims in old adverts. Louise is very pretty. Off to order up some Dalley's Magic Pain Extractors :-)
ReplyDelete