Patent Medicines
Dr Morse's Indian Root Pills (Spanish side)
Patent Medicines
Patent medicines were very popular from the mid-18th until the early 20th Centuries, the name arising from the letters patent granted for those which had Royal endorsement. Almost none were chemically patented, partly as this was not generally possible until the 20th Century, partly because very few could prove any medical benefit, but mostly because it would have required revealing the recipe.
We have in our collection a container for ‘Dr Morse’s Indian Root Pills’.
Each box was supplied with a wrapper entitled 'A Short History of Dr Morse's Father', describing how Dr Morse had arrived home from his travels and cured his father, from his deathbed, with the roots and wisdom of the “Red Men”.
The development of the pills delves into the nether regions of 19th Century American businesses & courts. Over the first nine years, the pills were made by about 5 different people operating under at least 9 partnerships in 4 different locations. Writs and counter-writs flew, for larceny, smuggling, libel and forgery among others. The final legal battle dragged on for 3 years between two firms both called A.J. White & Co.
As might reasonably be guessed, the pills were very profitable!
It then all settled down, and the pills were produced in Morristown, NY, for 90 years.
For maximum sales of patent medicines, there were four basic elements
· The claimed ability to cure a wide range of ailments
· A euphoric or addictive component (preferably both!)
· Exotic ingredients
· Heavy advertising
Originally, Dr Morse’s Pills cured “Impurity of the Blood”, and by implication every disease known to man. Even after the Federal Food & Drug Act of 1906, Dr Morse’s Pills still claimed to cure:
Biliousness Dyspepsia Constipation Sick Headache Scrofula Kidney Disease Liver Complaint
Jaundice Piles Dysentery Colds Boils Malarial Fever Flatulency
Foul Breath Eczema Gravel Worms Neuralgia La Grippe Female Complaints
Rheumatism Palpitation Nervousness
What they actually do is, almost uniquely among patent medicines, known; because Dr Morse’s Indian Root Pills are still manufactured and sold in Australia today. They are now marketed as “An overnight laxative with tonic effect”.
The ingredients are primarily aloe, mandrake, gamboge, jalap, and cayenne pepper. Mandrake contains hallucinogenic alkoids, and the rest help you ‘go’. Only jalap is native to North America, and then it only grows high in the mountains of Mexico, so the Indian Root bit is bogus too.
And there never was a Doctor Morse.
The highest level of skill or qualification actually possessed by any of the original manufacturers appears to have been coffee roasting.
Patent medicines were very popular from the mid-18th until the early 20th Centuries, the name arising from the letters patent granted for those which had Royal endorsement. Almost none were chemically patented, partly as this was not generally possible until the 20th Century, partly because very few could prove any medical benefit, but mostly because it would have required revealing the recipe.
We have in our collection a container for ‘Dr Morse’s Indian Root Pills’.
Each box was supplied with a wrapper entitled 'A Short History of Dr Morse's Father', describing how Dr Morse had arrived home from his travels and cured his father, from his deathbed, with the roots and wisdom of the “Red Men”.
The development of the pills delves into the nether regions of 19th Century American businesses & courts. Over the first nine years, the pills were made by about 5 different people operating under at least 9 partnerships in 4 different locations. Writs and counter-writs flew, for larceny, smuggling, libel and forgery among others. The final legal battle dragged on for 3 years between two firms both called A.J. White & Co.
As might reasonably be guessed, the pills were very profitable!
It then all settled down, and the pills were produced in Morristown, NY, for 90 years.
For maximum sales of patent medicines, there were four basic elements
· The claimed ability to cure a wide range of ailments
· A euphoric or addictive component (preferably both!)
· Exotic ingredients
· Heavy advertising
Originally, Dr Morse’s Pills cured “Impurity of the Blood”, and by implication every disease known to man. Even after the Federal Food & Drug Act of 1906, Dr Morse’s Pills still claimed to cure:
Biliousness Dyspepsia Constipation Sick Headache Scrofula Kidney Disease Liver Complaint
Jaundice Piles Dysentery Colds Boils Malarial Fever Flatulency
Foul Breath Eczema Gravel Worms Neuralgia La Grippe Female Complaints
Rheumatism Palpitation Nervousness
What they actually do is, almost uniquely among patent medicines, known; because Dr Morse’s Indian Root Pills are still manufactured and sold in Australia today. They are now marketed as “An overnight laxative with tonic effect”.
The ingredients are primarily aloe, mandrake, gamboge, jalap, and cayenne pepper. Mandrake contains hallucinogenic alkoids, and the rest help you ‘go’. Only jalap is native to North America, and then it only grows high in the mountains of Mexico, so the Indian Root bit is bogus too.
And there never was a Doctor Morse.
The highest level of skill or qualification actually possessed by any of the original manufacturers appears to have been coffee roasting.
