Books and Pain Killers

It turns out that books were used with some frequency as a marketing tool on trade cards in the 1880s to promote all things unrelated, including pain killers. Books featured in an advertisement of medicine may have suggested that the product was backed up by learning and research, giving it an aura of legitimacy.

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.

Only part of the druggist stamp is visible at the bottom of the card though, so I'm not sure where to go to buy these Burdock Blood Bitters.

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.

And finally, there's this smart child with her books and spectacles, who doesn't appear to be selling anything. It may have been a sample waiting for the appropriate imprint.

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.