Putting the Pills Through
Given the characteristics of the patent-medicine business, its
most difficult and essential function was selling—or what
the Comstocks and their representatives frequently described in
their letters as "putting the pills through." During the full
century within which Dr. Morse's Indian Root Pills and their
companion remedies were distributed widely over North America
and, later, over the entire world, almost every form of
advertising and publicity was utilized. And it is a strong
presumption that the total costs of printing and publicity were
much larger than those of manufacture and packaging.
Initially, the selling was done largely by "travelers" calling
directly upon druggists and merchants, especially those in rural
communities. All of the Comstock brothers, with the exception
perhaps of Lucius, seem to have traveled a large part of their
time, covering the country from the Maritime Provinces to the
Mississippi Valley, and from Ontario—or Canada
West—to the Gulf. Their letters to the "home office" show
that they were frequently absent for extended periods, visiting
points which at the very dawn of the railroad era, in the 1840s
and 1850s, must have been remote indeed. In the surviving letters
we find occasional references to lame horses and other
vicissitudes of travel, and one can also imagine the rigors of
primitive trains, lake and river steamers, stagecoaches, and
rented carriages, not to mention ill-prepared meals and dingy
hotel rooms.
Judson seems to have handled Nova Scotia and New Brunswick. J.
Carlton Comstock, who died in 1853, covered the South and in fact
maintained a residence in New Orleans; prior to the opening of
the railroads, this city was also a point of entry for much of
the West. George Wells Comstock made several extensive tours of
the West, while William Henry spent much of his time in Canada
West and, as we have seen, lived in Brockville after 1860. Andrew
J. White spent most of his time traveling after he joined the
firm in 1855; Moore also covered Canada West intensively, briefly
for the Comstocks and then in opposition to them.
Besides the partners themselves, the several successor Comstock
firms had numerous agents and representatives. As early as 1851,
during the dispute between Lucius and his brothers, it was stated
in a legal brief that the partnership included, besides its
manufacturing house in New York City, several hundred agencies
and depots throughout every state and county in the Union. This
assertion may have stretched the truth a bit, as most of the
agents must have handled other products as well, but the
distribution system for the pills was undoubtedly well organized
and widely extended. Several full-time agents did work
exclusively for the Comstocks; these included Henry S. Grew of
St. John's, Canada East, who said he had traveled 20,000 miles in
three years prior to 1853, and Willard P. Morse in the Middle
West, whose signature is still extant on numerous shipping
documents.
While personal salemanship always must have been most effective
in pushing the pills—and also useful in the allied task of
collecting delinquent accounts—as the business grew the
territory was far too vast to be covered by travelers, and so
advertising was also used heavily. Hardly any method was
neglected, but emphasis was always placed upon two media:
almanacs and country newspapers.
Millions of the almanacs poured out of the small Morristown
railroad station. In the early years of the present century, for
which the record has been found, from July until the following
April shipments of almanacs usually ran well in excess of one
million per month. At various times they were also printed in
Spanish and in German; the Spanish version was for export, but
the German was intended primarily for our own "native" Germans in
Pennsylvania, Wisconsin, and elsewhere throughout the Middle
West.
Around the turn of the century, the patent-medicine almanac was
so common that one could walk into any drug store and pick up
three or four of them. Credit for the origination of the free
patent-medicine almanac has been ascribed to Cyrenius C. Bristol,
founder of the firm which Moore later took over and therefore an
indirect predecessor of the Indian Root Pills. Whether or not
this is strictly accurate, it is known that Bristol's
Sarsaparilla Almanac was being printed as early as 1843 and by
1848 had expanded into an edition of 64 pages.
| FIGURE 18.—German
circular for Judson's Mountain Herb Pills. |
The Comstocks were almost as early. The first date they printed
almanacs is not known, but by 1853 it was a regular practice, for
the order book of that year shows that large batches of almanacs,
frequently 500 copies, were routinely enclosed with every
substantial order. Over their entire history it is quite
reasonable that somewhere in the vicinity of one billion almanacs
must have been distributed by the Comstock Company and its
predecessors. As a matter of fact, back in the 1850s there was
not merely a Comstock but also a Judson almanac. One version of
the latter was the "Rescue of Tula," which recounted Dr. Cunard's
rescue of the Aztec princess and his reward in the form of the
secret of the Mountain Herb Pills. In the 1880s, Morse's Indian
Root Pill almanac was a 34-page pamphlet, about two thirds filled
with advertising and testimonials—including the familiar
story of the illness of Dr. Morse's father and the dramatic
return of his son with the life-saving herbs—but also
containing calendars, astronomical data, and some homely good
advice. Odd corners were filled with jokes, of which the
following was a typical specimen:
"Pa," said a lad to his father, "I have often read of people poor
but honest; why don't they sometimes say, 'rich but honest'"?
"Tut, tut, my son, nobody would believe them," answered the father.
Before 1900 the detailed story of the discovery of Dr. Morse's
pills was abridged to a brief summary, and during the 1920s this
tale was abandoned altogether, although until the end the
principal ingredients were still identified as natural herbs and
roots used as a remedy by the Indians. In more recent years the
character and purpose of Dr. Morse's pills also changed
substantially. As recently as 1918, years after the passage of
the Federal Food and Drug Act of 1906, they were still being
recommended as a cure for:
| Biliousness Dyspepsia Constipation Sick Headache Scrofula Kidney Disease |
Liver Complaint Jaundice Piles Dysentery Colds Boils |
Malarial Fever Flatulency Foul Breath Eczema Gravel Worms |
Female Complaints Rheumatism Neuralgia La Grippe Palpitation Nervousness |
Further, two entire pages were taken in the almanac to explain
how, on the authority of "the celebrated Prof. La Roche of
Paris," appendicitis could be cured by the pills without resort
to the surgeon's knife.
Besides the almanacs, almost every known form of advertising in
the preradio era was employed. Announcements were inserted in
newspapers—apparently mostly rural newspapers—all
over the country; the two remedies pushed most intensively were
the Indian Root Pills and Judson's Mountain Herb Worm Tea. The
latter always bore a true likeness of Tezuco, the Aztec chief who
had originally conferred the secret of the medicine upon Dr.
Cunard. Besides the Mountain Herb Worm Tea, there were also
Mountain Herb Pills; it is not clear how the pills differed from
the tea, but they were recommended primarily as a remedy for
Bowel Complaints Coughs Colds Chest Diseases Costiveness Dyspepsia Diarrhoea Dropsy Debility Fever and Ague Female Complaints Headaches Indigestion Influenza Inflammation Inward Weakness Liver Complaints Lowness of Spirits Piles Stone and Gravel Secondary Symptoms
with particular stress upon their value as a "great female
medicine." Besides the major advertisement of the pills,
consisting of an eight-inch column to be printed in each issue of
the paper, smaller announcements were provided, to be inserted
according to a specified monthly schedule among the editorial
matter on the inside pages. Sample monthly announcements from the
Judson Mountain Herb Pills contract used in 1860 were:
| FIGURE 19.—Card
used in advertising
Judson's Mountain Herb Pills. |
JANUARY
THE GREAT FEMALE MEDICINE
The functional irregularities peculiar to the weaker sex, are
invariably corrected without pain or inconvenience by the use of
Judson's Mountain Herb Pills. They are the safest and surest
medicine for all the diseases incidental to females of all ages,
and more especially so in this climate.
Ladies who wish to enjoy health should always have these Pills. No
one who ever uses them once will ever allow herself to be without
them. They remove all obstructions, purify the blood and give to
the skin that beautiful, clear and healthful look so greatly
admired in a beautiful and healthy woman. At certain periods these
Pills are an indispensable companion. From one to four should be
taken each day, until relief is obtained. A few doses occasionally,
will keep the system healthy, and the blood so pure, that diseases
cannot enter the body.
MARCH
DISEASES OF THE CHEST AND LUNGS
These diseases are too well known to require any description. How
many thousands are every year carried to the silent grave by that
dread scourge Consumption, which always commences with a slight
cough. Keep the blood pure and healthy by taking a few doses of
JUDSON'S MOUNTAIN HERB PILLS each week, and disease of any kind is
impossible. Consumption and lung difficulties always arise from
particles of corrupt matter deposited in the air cells by bad
blood. Purify that stream of life and it will soon carry off and
destroy the poisonous matter; and like a crystal river flowing
through a desert, will bring with it and leave throughout the body
the elements of health and strength. As the river leaving the
elements of fertility in its course, causes the before barren waste
to bloom with flowers and fruit, so pure blood causes the frame to
rejoice in strength and health, and bloom with unfading beauty.
Any person who read the notices for both medicines carefully
might have noticed with some surprise that the Mountain Herb
Pills and the Indian Root Pills were somehow often recommended
for many of the same diseases. In fact, the Mountain Herb Pills
and the Indian Root Pills used identical text in explaining their
effect upon several disagreeable conditions. Always prominent in
this advertising were reminders of our fragile mortality and
warnings, if proper medication were neglected, of an untimely
consignment to the silent grave.
Unfortunately, newspapers in the South had been utilized
extensively just on the eve of the Civil War, and it undoubtedly
proved impossible to supply customers in that region during the
ensuing conflict. However, other advertising was given a military
flavor and tied in with the war, as witness the following (for
1865):
GENERAL ORDERS—No. 1
Headquarters
Department of this Continent and adjacent Islands
Pursuant to Division and Brigade orders issued by 8,000Field
Officers, "On the Spot", where they are stationed. AllSkedadlers,
Deserters, Skulkers, and all others—sick, wounded and
cripples—who have foresaken the cause of General Health,shall
immediately report to one of the aforesaid officers nearestthe
point where the delinquent may be at the time this order ismade
known to him, and purchase one box of
JUDSON'S
MOUNTAIN HERB PILLS
and pay the regulation price therefor. All who comply withthe
terms of this order, will receive a free pardon for pastoffences,
and be restored to the Grand Army of General Health.
A. GOOD HEALTH
Lieutenant-General
By order
Dr. Judson,
Adjutant-General
Sold by all dealers.
Headquarters
Department of this Continent and adjacent Islands
Pursuant to Division and Brigade orders issued by 8,000Field
Officers, "On the Spot", where they are stationed. AllSkedadlers,
Deserters, Skulkers, and all others—sick, wounded and
cripples—who have foresaken the cause of General Health,shall
immediately report to one of the aforesaid officers nearestthe
point where the delinquent may be at the time this order ismade
known to him, and purchase one box of
JUDSON'S
MOUNTAIN HERB PILLS
and pay the regulation price therefor. All who comply withthe
terms of this order, will receive a free pardon for pastoffences,
and be restored to the Grand Army of General Health.
A. GOOD HEALTH
Lieutenant-General
By order
Dr. Judson,
Adjutant-General
Sold by all dealers.
Twenty years later, when the Civil War had passed out of recent
memory and Confederate currency was presumably becoming a
curiosity, Comstock printed facsimiles of $20 Confederate
bills,
with testimonials and advertisements
upon the reverse side; it can be assumed that these had enough
historical interest to circulate widely and attract attention,
although each possessor must have felt a twinge of disappointment
upon realizing that his bill was not genuine but merely an
advertising gimmick.
Back in the 1850s, the Comstock Company in lower Manhattan had an
advertising agent, one Silas B. Force, whose correspondence by
some unexplained happenstance was also deposited in the loft of
the Indian Root Pill building in Morristown, even though he was
not an exclusive agent and served other clients besides the
Comstocks. One of these was Dr. Uncas Brant, for whom Force had
the following announcement printed in numerous papers:
AN OLD INDIAN DOCTOR WHO HAD made his fortune and retired from
business, will spend the remainder of his days in curing that
dreadful disease—CONSUMPTION—FREE OF CHARGE: his earnest desire
being to communicate to the world his remedies that have proved
successful in more than 3,000 cases. He requires each applicant to
send him a minute description of the symptoms, with two Stamps (6
cts) to pay the return letter, in which he will return his advice
prescription, with directions for preparing the medicines &c.
The Old Doctor hopes that those afflicted will not, on account of
delicacy, refrain from consulting him because he makes No Charge.
His sole object in advertising is to do all the good he can, before
he dies. He feels that he is justly celebrated for cure of
Consumption, Asthma, Bronchitis, Nervous Affections, Coughs, Colds,
&c.
Address
DOCT. UNCAS BRANT
Box 3531, P.O., New York
business, will spend the remainder of his days in curing that
dreadful disease—CONSUMPTION—FREE OF CHARGE: his earnest desire
being to communicate to the world his remedies that have proved
successful in more than 3,000 cases. He requires each applicant to
send him a minute description of the symptoms, with two Stamps (6
cts) to pay the return letter, in which he will return his advice
prescription, with directions for preparing the medicines &c.
The Old Doctor hopes that those afflicted will not, on account of
delicacy, refrain from consulting him because he makes No Charge.
His sole object in advertising is to do all the good he can, before
he dies. He feels that he is justly celebrated for cure of
Consumption, Asthma, Bronchitis, Nervous Affections, Coughs, Colds,
&c.
Address
DOCT. UNCAS BRANT
Box 3531, P.O., New York
This type of an apparently free diagnosis of medical ills,
prompted solely by the benevolence of some elderly or retired
person, was a familiar petty swindle around the middle of the
last century. The newspapers carried many such announcements from
retired clergymen, old nurses, or Indian doctors, frequently
persons who had themselves triumphed over dread diseases and had
discovered the best remedies only after years of search and
suffering, always offering to communicate the secret of recovery
to any fellow sufferer. The victim would receive in reply a
recipe for the proper medicine, always with the advice that great
care must be taken to prepare it exactly as directed, and with
the further advice that if the ingredients should not prove to be
conveniently available the benevolent old doctor or retired
clergyman could provide them for a trifling sum. Invariably, the
afflicted patient would discover that the ingredients specified
were obscure ones, not kept by one druggist in a hundred and
unknown to most of them. Thus, he would be obliged, if he
persisted in the recommended cure, to send his money to the
kindly old benefactor. Frequently, he would receive no further
reply or, at best, would receive some concoction costing only a
few cents to compound. The scheme was all the safer as it was
carried on exclusively by mail, and the swindler would usually
conclude each undertaking under any given name before
investigation could be initiated.
Besides participating in such schemes, Force apparently devoted a
large part of his energy in collecting accounts due him or, in
turn, in being dunned by and seeking to postpone payment to
newspapers with whom he was delinquent in making settlement.
Other forms of advertising employed over the years included
finely engraved labels, circulars and handbills, printed
blotters, small billboards, fans, premiums sent in return for
labels, a concise—
very
concise—reference
dictionary, and trade cards of various sorts. One trade card
closely resembled a railroad pass; this was in the 1880s when
railroad passes were highly prized and every substantial citizen
aspired to own one. Thus, almost everyone would have felt some
pride in carrying what might pass, at a glance, as a genuine pass
on the K.C.L.R.R.; although it was signed only by "Good Health"
as the general agent, entitled the bearer merely to ride on foot
or horseback and was actually an advertisement of Kingsland's
Chlorinated Tablets. Another card played somewhat delicately but
still unmistakably on the Indian Root Pills' capacity to restore
male virility. This card pictured a fashionably dressed tomcat,
complete with high collar, cane and derby, sitting somewhat
disconsolately on a fence as the crescent moon rose behind him,
with these reflections:
How terribly lonesome I feel! How queer,
To be sitting alone, with nobody near,
Oh, how I wish Maria was here,
Mon dieu!
The thought of it fills me with horrible doubt,
I should smile, I should blush, I should wail,
I should shout,
Just suppose some fellow has cut me out!
Me out!
To be sitting alone, with nobody near,
Oh, how I wish Maria was here,
Mon dieu!
The thought of it fills me with horrible doubt,
I should smile, I should blush, I should wail,
I should shout,
Just suppose some fellow has cut me out!
Me out!
And underneath the lesson is given:
Dr. Morse's Indian Root Pills
The Best Family Pill in use
The Best Family Pill in use
| FIGURE 20.—A trade
card advertising Kingsland's Chlorinated Tablets, which closely
resembled a railroad pass. |
Testimonials submitted voluntarily by happy users of the pills
were always widely featured in the almanacs, newspaper
advertisements, and handbills. Although the easy concoction of
the stories about Dr. Morse and Dr. Cunard might suggest that
there would have been no hesitation in fabricating these
testimonials, it is probable that they were genuine; at least,
many have survived in the letters scattered over the floor of the
Indian Root Pill factory. In some cases one might feel that the
testimonials were lacking in entire good faith, for many of them
were submitted by dealers desiring lenient credit or other
favors. Witness, for example, the following from B. Mollohan of
Mt. Pleasant, Webster County, West Va., on April 16, 1879:
Pleas find here enclosed Two Dollars & 50 cts $2 50 cts for which
pleas place to my credit and return receipt to me for same. I cant
praise your Dr Morse pill two high never before in all my
recolection has there bin a meddison here that has given such
general satisfaction. I hope the pills will always retain their
high standing and never bee counterfeited.... I could sell any amt
Pills allmost if money was not so scarce. I have to let some out on
credit to the Sick and Poor & wait some time though I am
accountable to you for all I recd & will pay you as fast as I sell
& collect ... I have about one Doz Box on hand.
pleas place to my credit and return receipt to me for same. I cant
praise your Dr Morse pill two high never before in all my
recolection has there bin a meddison here that has given such
general satisfaction. I hope the pills will always retain their
high standing and never bee counterfeited.... I could sell any amt
Pills allmost if money was not so scarce. I have to let some out on
credit to the Sick and Poor & wait some time though I am
accountable to you for all I recd & will pay you as fast as I sell
& collect ... I have about one Doz Box on hand.
Mollohan's complaint about the shortage of money and the long
delay in collecting many accounts reflected a condition that
prevailed throughout the nineteenth century. Money was scarce,
and the economy of many rural communities was still based largely
on the barter system, so that it was very difficult for farmers
to generate cash for store goods. Consequently, country
storekeepers had to be generous in extending credit, and, in
turn, manufacturers and jobbers had to be lenient in enforcing
collection.
Not all of the storekeepers could write as neatly and clearly as
Mollohan. The following letter, quoted in full, from Thomas
Cathey of Enfield, Illinois, on January 23, 1880, not merely
presented a problem relating to the company's policy of awarding
exclusive territories but offered considerable difficulty in
deciphering:
mr CumStock der ser i thaut i Wod rite yo
u a few lineS to inform you that i was the fir
St agent for you pills in thiS Setlement but th
as iS Several agent round her and tha ar interfer
With mee eSpeSly William a StavSon he liveS her
at enfield he Wanted mee to giv him one of you Sur
klerS So he Wod be agent but i Wodent let hi
m hav hit an he rote to you i SupoSe an haS got a
Suplye of pillS an ar aruning a gant mee he iS Sell
ing them at 20 centS a box i Want you to St
op him if you pleeS
mr CumStock i Sent you too dollars the 21 p
leeS Credet my a Count With hit mr. Cumsto
Ck i Want you to Send mee Sum of you pam
pletS i Want you to Send mee right of three tow
nShipS aS i am Working up a good trad her i wan
t indin Cree an enfield an Carnie tonnShipS rite
Son aS poSSible an let me know whether you will let
me have thoSe townShipS or not for my territory
i Sold a box of pillS to melven willSon his gir
l She haS the ChilS for three yer and he tride eve
n thang he cood her wan nothing never dun her
eny good one box of you pills brok them on her
tha ar the beSt pillS i ever Saw in
my life tha ar the beSt medeSon for the ChillS
i ever Saw an rumiteS i am giting
up a good trad i Want you to Send me Sum of
you pampletS i want you to Stop theSe oth
er agentS that iS botheran me an oblige you
rite Son.
enfield
White Co.
illS
thomaS Cathey
u a few lineS to inform you that i was the fir
St agent for you pills in thiS Setlement but th
as iS Several agent round her and tha ar interfer
With mee eSpeSly William a StavSon he liveS her
at enfield he Wanted mee to giv him one of you Sur
klerS So he Wod be agent but i Wodent let hi
m hav hit an he rote to you i SupoSe an haS got a
Suplye of pillS an ar aruning a gant mee he iS Sell
ing them at 20 centS a box i Want you to St
op him if you pleeS
mr CumStock i Sent you too dollars the 21 p
leeS Credet my a Count With hit mr. Cumsto
Ck i Want you to Send mee Sum of you pam
pletS i Want you to Send mee right of three tow
nShipS aS i am Working up a good trad her i wan
t indin Cree an enfield an Carnie tonnShipS rite
Son aS poSSible an let me know whether you will let
me have thoSe townShipS or not for my territory
i Sold a box of pillS to melven willSon his gir
l She haS the ChilS for three yer and he tride eve
n thang he cood her wan nothing never dun her
eny good one box of you pills brok them on her
tha ar the beSt pillS i ever Saw in
my life tha ar the beSt medeSon for the ChillS
i ever Saw an rumiteS i am giting
up a good trad i Want you to Send me Sum of
you pampletS i want you to Stop theSe oth
er agentS that iS botheran me an oblige you
rite Son.
enfield
White Co.
illS
thomaS Cathey
| FIGURE 21.—Cover
for booklet used as a circular describing the Indian Root Pills. |
Sadly, we do not know how the company handled Mr. Cathey's
request for sole representation in three Illinois townships.
After the pills achieved wide recognition and other methods of
publicity, chiefly the almanacs, were well established, newspaper
advertising was terminated. An invitation to agents (about 1885)
declared that
For some years past they have not been advertised in newspapers, they being filled with sensational advertisements of quack nostrums got up for no other purpose than catch-penny articles ...
The Indian Root Pills obviously claimed a more lofty stature than
other, common proprietary remedies. The exclusive representation
scheme was also a partial substitution for newspaper advertising;
the company was aggressive in soliciting additional
agents—aiming at one in every town and village—and
then in encouraging them to push the pills by offering prizes
such as watches, jewelry, and table utensils.
What were the ingredients of the Indian Root Pills and the other
Comstock preparations? Originally, the formulas for the various
remedies were regarded as closely held secrets, divulged only to
proprietors and partners—and not even to all of
them—and certainly never revealed to the purchasers. But
despite this secrecy, charges of counterfeiting and imitating
popular preparations were widespread. In many cases, the alleged
counterfeits were probably genuine—to the extent that
either of these terms has meaning—for it was a recurrent
practice for junior partners and clerks at one drug house to
branch off on their own, taking some of the secrets with
them—just as Andrew B. White left Moore and joined the
Comstocks, bringing the Indian Root Pills with him.
In the latter years, under the rules of the Federal Food and Drug
Act, the ingredients were required to be listed on the package ;
thus we know that the Indian Root Pills, in the 1930s and 1940s,
contained aloes, mandrake, gamboge, jalap, and cayenne
pepper.
Aloe
is a tropical plant of which the best known
medicinal varieties come from Socotra and Zanzibar; those
received by the Comstock factory were generally described as Cape
(of Good Hope)
Aloe
. The juice
Aloes
is extracted
from the leaves of this plant and since antiquity has been
regarded as a valuable drug, particularly for its laxative and
vermifuge properties.
Mandrake
has always been reputed to
have aphrodisiac qualities.
Gamboge
is a large tree native
to Ceylon and Southeast Asia, which produces a resinous gum, more
commonly used by painters as a coloring material, but also
sometimes employed in medicine as a cathartic.
Jalap
is a
flowering plant which grows only at high altitudes in Mexico, and
its root produces an extract with a powerful purgative effect.
All of these ingredients possessed one especial feature highly
prized by the patent-medicine manufacturers of the nineteenth
century, i.e., they were derived from esoteric plants found only
in geographically remote locations. One does find it rather
remarkable, however, that the native Indian chiefs who confided
the secrets of these remedies to Dr. Morse and Dr. Cunard were so
familiar with drugs originating in Asia and Africa.
The Indians may very well have been acquainted
with the properties of jalap, native to this continent, but the
romantic circumstances of its discovery, early in the last
century seem considerably overdrawn, as the medicinal properties
of jalap were generally recognized in England as early as
1600.
Whether the formula for the Indian Root Pills had been constant
since their "discovery"—as all advertising of the company
implied—we have no way of knowing for sure. However, the
company's book of trade receipts for the 1860s shows the
recurring purchase of large quantities of these five drugs, which
suggests that the ingredients did remain substantially unchanged
for over a century. For other remedies manufactured by the
company, the ingredients purchased included:
| Anise Seed Black Antimony Calomel Camphor Gum Arabic |
Gum Asphaltum Gum Tragacanth Hemlock Oil Horehound |
Laudanum Licorice Root Magnolia Water Muriatic Acid |
Saltpetre Sienna Oil Sulphur Wormseed |
It is not known where the calomel (mercurous chloride) and some
of the other harsher ingredients were used—certainly not in
the Indian Root Pills or the Mountain Herb Worm Tea—for the
company frequently incorporated warnings against the use of
calomel in its advertising and even promised rewards to persons
proving that any of its preparations contained calomel.
Less active ingredients used to supply bulk and flavor included
alcohol, turpentine, sugar, corn starch, linseed meal, rosin,
tallow, and white glue. Very large quantities of sugar were used,
for we find that Comstock was buying one 250-pound barrel of
sugar from C.B. Herriman in Ogdensburg approximately once a
month. In the patent-medicine business it was necessary, of
course, that the pills and tonics must be palatable, neutralizing
the unpleasant flavor of some of the active ingredients;
therefore large quantities of sugar and of pleasant-tasting herbs
were required. It was also desirable, for obvious reasons, to
incorporate some stimulant or habit-forming element into the
various preparations.
A register of incoming shipments for the year 1905 shows that
the factory was still receiving large quantities of aloes,
gamboge, mandrake, jalap, and pepper. One new ingredient being
used at this time was talc, some of which originated at
Gouverneur, within a few miles of the pill manufactory, but more
of it was described as "German talc." The same register gives the
formulas for three of the company's other preparations. One of
these, the
Nerve & Bone Liniment
, was simply
compounded of four elements:
3 gal. Turpentine
2 qts. Linseed Oil
2 lbs. Hemlock
2 lbs. Concentrated Amonia.
2 qts. Linseed Oil
2 lbs. Hemlock
2 lbs. Concentrated Amonia.
The formula for the
Condition Powders
(for horses and
livestock) was far more complex, consisting of:
4 lbs. Sulphur
4 lbs. Saltpetre
4 lbs. Black Antimony
4 lbs. Feongreek Seed
8 lbs. Oil Meal
1-1/2 oz. Arsenic
2 oz. Tart Antimony
6 lbs. Powdered Rosin
2 lbs. Salt
2 lbs. Ashes
4 lbs. Brand (Bran-?).
4 lbs. Saltpetre
4 lbs. Black Antimony
4 lbs. Feongreek Seed
8 lbs. Oil Meal
1-1/2 oz. Arsenic
2 oz. Tart Antimony
6 lbs. Powdered Rosin
2 lbs. Salt
2 lbs. Ashes
4 lbs. Brand (Bran-?).
The name of the third preparation was not given, but the
ingredients were:
1 oz. Dry White Lead
1 oz. Oxide of Zinc
1/2 oz. Precipitated Chalk
3 oz. Glycerine
Add 1 lb. Glue.
1 oz. Oxide of Zinc
1/2 oz. Precipitated Chalk
3 oz. Glycerine
Add 1 lb. Glue.
| FIGURE 22.—A
partial list of remedies offered for sale by Lucius Comstock in
1854, shortly after the separation of the old company into the
rival firms of Comstock & Co. and Comstock & Brother. |
Originally, Comstock and its predecessor firms marketed a large
number of remedies. In 1854, Comstock & Company—then
controlled by Lucius Comstock—listed nearly forty of its
own preparations for sale, namely:
| Oldridge's Balm of Columbia George's Honduras Sarsaparilla East India Hair Dye, colors the hair and not the skin Acoustic Oil, for deafness Vermifuge Bartholomew's Expectorant Syrup Carlton's Specific Cure for Ringbone, Spavin and Wind-galls Dr. Sphon's Head Ache Remedy Dr. Connol's Gonorrhea Mixture Mother's Relief Nipple Salve Roach and Bed Bug Bane Spread Plasters Judson's Cherry and Lungwort Azor's Turkish Balm, for the Toilet and Hair Carlton's Condition Powder, for Horses and Cattle Connel's Pain Extractor Western Indian Panaceas Hunter's Pulmonary Balsam |
Linn's Pills and Bitters Oil of Tannin, for Leather Nerve & Bone Liniment (Hewe's) Nerve & Bone Liniment (Comstock's) Indian Vegetable Elixir Hay's Liniment for Piles Tooth Ache Drops Kline Tooth Drops Carlton's Nerve and Bone Liniment, for Horses Condition Powders, for Horses Pain Killer Lin's Spread Plasters Carlton's Liniment for the Piles, warranted to cure Dr. Mc Nair's Acoustic Oil, for Deafness Dr. Larzetti's Acoustic Oil, for Deafness Salt Rheum Cure Azor's Turkish Wine Dr. Larzetti's Juno Cordial, or Procreative Elixir British Heave Powders |
All of the foregoing were medicines for which Lucius claimed to
be the sole proprietor—although it is improbable that he
manufactured all of them: several of them were probably identical
preparations under different labels. In addition to these, he
offered a larger list of medicines as a dealer. Brother J.
Carlton Comstock must have been the main originator of medicines
within the firm; he seems to have specialized largely in
veterinary remedies, although the liniment for the piles also
stood to his credit. Despite Lucius' claim to sole proprietorship
of these remedies, the departing brothers also manufactured and
sold most of the identical items, adding two or three additional
preparations, such as Dr. Chilton's Fever and Ague Pills and
Youatt's Gargling Oil (for animals). Aside from J. Carlton
Comstock and Judson, the originators of most of the other
preparations are cloaked in mystery; most of them were probably
entirely fictitious. Admittedly, William Youatt (1776-1847), for
whom several of the animal remedies were named, was an actual
British veterinarian and his prescriptions were probably genuine,
but whether he authorized their sale by proprietary manufacturers
or was himself rewarded in any way are questions for speculation.
The versatile Dr. Larzetti seems to have experimented both with
impotency and deafness, but his ear oil—a number of
specimens of which were still on hand in the abandoned
factory—was identical in every respect with Dr. McNair's
oil, as the labels and directions, aside only from the names of
the doctors, were exactly the same for both preparations. In
fact, some careless printer had even made up a batch of circulars
headed "Dr. Mc Nair's Acoustic Oil" but concluding with the
admonition, "Ask for Larzetti's Acoustic Oil and take no other."
Presumably simple Americans who were distrustful of foreigners
would take Mc Nair's oil, but more sophisticated persons, aware
of the accomplishments of doctors in Rome and Vienna, might
prefer Larzetti's preparation.
As the century moved along, the Comstock factory at Morristown
reduced the number of remedies it manufactured, and concentrated
on the ones that were most successful, which included, besides
the Indian Root Pills, Judson's Mountain Herb Pills, Judson's
Worm Tea, Carlton's Condition Powders, Carlton's Nerve & Bone
Liniment, and Kingsland's Chlorinated Tablets. At some
undisclosed point, Carlton's Nerve & Bone Liniment for
Horses, originally registered with the Smithsonian Institution on
June 30, 1851, ceased to be a medicine for animals and became one
for humans. And sometime around 1920 the Judson name disappeared,
the worm medicine thereafter was superseded by Comstock's Worm
Pellets. Long before this, Judson had been transposed into
somewhat of a mythical character—"old Dr. Judson"—who
had devised the Dead Shot Worm Candy on the basis of seventy
years' medical experience.
During the final years of the Comstock business in Morristown, in
the 1930s, 1940s, and 1950s, only three items were manufactured
and sold: the Indian Root Pills, the Dead Shot Worm Pellets and
Comstock's N & B Liniment.
The worm
pellets had been devised by Mrs. Hill, "an old English nurse of
various and extended experience in the foundling hospitals of
Great Britain."
Besides its chemicals and herbs, the Comstock factory was a heavy
consumer of pillboxes and bottles. While the company advertised,
in its latter years, that "our pills are packaged in metal
containers—not in cheap wooden boxes," they were, in fact,
packaged for many decades in small oval boxes made of a thin
wooden veneer. These were manufactured by Ira L. Quay of East
Berne, New York, at a price of 12¢ per gross. The pill
factory often must have been a little slow in paying, for Quay
was invariably prodding for prompt remittance, as in this letter
of December 25, 1868: