Patent medicines

Scope and Contents note This collection consists of five letters from Charles Osgood to Benjamin Dansard, who may have been a sales agent for Osgood in Monroe, Michigan. The letters were written between 1841 and 1849 and discuss business affairs between the two men, including shipments of and payment for patent medicine, real estate in Monroe owned by Osgood, and travel plans. The letters also discuss the general business environment of Monroe.

Scope and Contents The collection contains seventy-nine letters and postal cards received, 1883-1893, nine diaries, 1890-1899, two account books, 1886-1891, one recipe book, [n.d.], and miscellaneous items, [n.d.], documenting the personal life and patent medicine business of Lucius F. Wood in West Townsend, Mass. and the surrounding area. The series of letter and postal cards received, 1883-1893, is divided into two subseries: personal and business. Both subseries are arranged chronologically. An alphabetical...

Overview George W. Merchant, a druggist, began manufacturing his Gargling Oil in Lockport, NY, in 1833. Merchant’s Gargling Oil was not meant to be gargled, as the name suggests, but used as a liniment. Like many 19th-century patent medicines, it was advertised to effectively treat numerous ailments, including rheumatism, burns and scalds, flesh wounds, toothaches, cracked heels, hemorrhoids, and sprains and bruises.Around 1855, Merchant sold the business to M. H. Tucker, who continued...