Pioneer Drugstores

“…his career has been marked by signal success and he is recognized as a brilliant young man by all who come in contact with the genial Joe.”

Potions and prescriptions.

[pd023wbu.thm]The E.L.K. Cough Cure touted at E.L.K. Pharmacy in Aberdeen “…put up here and sold in 25-cent and 50-cent bottles, has demonstrated its worth and proven very effective.” Can't you just picture medicine bottles and potions also sold by traveling salesmen in those days?

I wrote earlier about Steilacoom and the Bair Drug Store. For some reason the above passage makes me think of the bottles and pharmacy equipment still on the walls of Bair Drug, such as a mortar and pestle.

Graphics

The book has pictures of embossed prescription bottles, patent medicine bottles and other bottles used by Washington State pharmacies. They are depicted in the book from a six-point scale as rare (1-3 known artifacts) down to very common (more than 50 known artifacts). Eye candy for the collector!

There are pictures of birdseed and bird food boxes, liniment advertisements, formaldehyde labels - you name it. How about a Justrite Citrate of Magnesia Sealer (a bottle sealer) advertised by the Western Bottle Manufacturing Company of Chicago? The price was $15 and it came with one Justrite sealer, one gross of Justrite bottles, 500 Justrite seals and 1 gross openers. Future orders of bottles were $4.50 per gross.

This is about all the time I can spend on this find, so if you have questions or comments, please let me know. I’ll still have this book on loan for a couple of weeks. Or if you’d like to check it out, put a hold on it and let me know - I’ll get it back to the library sooner.

Of course, I’m always delighted to hear of your own tales of drugstore history. Please leave them here, even if not related to Washington State history. My readers will enjoy them.

Book Information

Bethman’s from Bellingham, Washington, and printed his address in the book. If you can’t find it at your local library (click on “borrow it” on my welcome page and do a search) perhaps you may contact him for a copy. He’s also grateful for new information on drug store artifacts and history if you care to share.

Copyright 2001 Jerri Brooker - Graphics Copyright www.arttoday.com - Book cover scanned for article.

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