Material Type

Artifact

Other Name

P19870056000-GA

Date Range From

1940

Date Range To

1950

Materials

GLASS, PAPER, CARDBOARD

No. Pieces

2

Height

7.0

Width

3.5

Description

BOTTLE IN BOX "ONE FLUID OUNCE CODRENIN. A LOCAL ANESTHETIC AND HEMOSTATIC", " 2% SOLUTION OF COCAINE WITH ADRENALINE". WHITE BOX WITH RED TEXT ABOUT ALL SIDES AMBER COLOURED SQUARED GLASS BOTTLE CONTAINED IN BOX.

Subjects

MEDICAL & DENTAL T&E

Historical Association

HEALTH SERVICES

History

PARKE, DAVIS & CO. LTD. WALKERVILLE, ONT. DONOR OWNED AND OPERATED STOKES DRUG STORE. DONOR'S FATHER ERNEST BALL STOKES BOUGHT KENNY & ALLIN DRUGSTORE (314 - 5 ST. S.) IN 1918. DONOR TOOK OVER BUSINESS IN 1939 AND OPERATED IT CONTINUOUSLY UNTIL 1980. DONOR ALSO OWNED A SECOND STORE, ROYAL DRUG FROM 1952 TO 1960 AT 617-4 AVE. SO. REF. "LETHBRIDGE DRUGGISTS AND DRUG STORES 1885-1988" OCCASIONAL PAPER NO., 1 LETHBRIDGE HISTORICAL SOCIETY. NARRATIVE BELOW SOLICITED FROM SOCIOLOGY PROFESSOR BILL RAMP IN EARLY 2010 WHEN THIS ARTIFACT WAS EXHIBITED AS PART OF THE GALT’S TREASURES & CURIOSITIES DISPLAY. THE NARRATIVE BECAME THE BASIS FOR THE ARTIFACT’S LABEL COPY IN THE EXHIBIT. *** THIS BOTTLE CAUGHT MY EYE BECAUSE OF THE “WAR ON DRUGS” – DRUGS OF THE ILLEGAL KIND. ONE OF THE SIDE-EFFECTS OF THIS WAR, AND ALSO OF CONSUMER MOVEMENTS FOR FOOD SAFETY AND DRUG SAFETY (ESPECIALLY AFTER THE THALOMIDE SCARE OF THE 1960’S), WAS A GENERAL TIGHTENING UP ON THE INGREDIENTS OF PATENT MEDICINE (WHAT WE NOW CALL OTC’S), AND A CORRESPONDING CHANGE IN THE WAYS IN WHICH WE SELF-MEDICATE. TODAY, WE DO STILL SELF-MEDICATE WITH A WIDE VARIETY OF LEGAL OVER-THE-COUNTER DRUGS, BUT THESE ARE GENERALLY FOR SPECIFIC CONDITIONS (E.G. “COUGH AND COLD”), AND TODAY, THOSE CONDITIONS DO NOT NORMALLY INCLUDE PSYCHOLOGICAL ISSUES. MOOD-ALTERING SELF-MEDICATION HAS MOVED TO PRESCRIPTION DRUGS, OR TO ALCOHOL PRODUCTS, OR TO “ILLEGAL DRUGS” IN WHICH, AS WE KNOW, THERE IS A THRIVING TRADE. AS WITH THE PATENT MEDICINES OF OLD, DOCTORS (OR MORE ACCURATELY, DOCTOR-IMAGES) ARE STILL USED TO SELL OVER-THE-COUNTER DRUGS. BUT THE STATUS OF THE MEDICINAL PRACTITIONER, AND THE SOCIAL AUTHORITY OF THE MEDICINAL PROFESSION, HAS BECOME HIGHER AND MORE TIGHTLY POLICED, WITH THE EFFECT THAT WE ARE NOW, I BELIEVE, MORE CONDITIONED TO SEEK MEDICAL HELP THAN TO TRUST WORD-OF-MOUTH OR ADVERTISING ABOUT A PARTICULAR REMEDY (UNLESS, THAT IS, WE ARE SKEPTICAL ABOUT “MODERN MEDICINE” AND INCLINED TO PREFER HERBAL REMEDIES!). UNTIL AS LATE AS THE 1950’S, THERE WAS A THRIVING TRADE IN VARIOUS PATENT REMEDIES, AND A THRIVING FOLK CULTURE OF QUACKS, SHILLS, THE GULLIBLE AND THE SKEPTICAL TO GO ALONG WITH IT. AND SO MANY OF THOSE OLD DRUGS HAD POWERFUL, EVEN DANGEROUS INGREDIENTS – OPIATES, ARSENIC – OFTEN MOOD-ALTERING AND ADDICTIVE, WHICH CUSTOMERS WERE URGED TO USE FOR “WHATEVER AILS YOU”. AND CUSTOMERS ENTHUSIASTICALLY COMPLIED. I REMEMBER MY GRANDFATHER CAREFULLY HOARDING HIS LAST FEW BOTTLES OF “GOMBAULT’S CAUSTIC BALSAM – GOOD FOR MAN OR BEAST” – AND ALSO GOOD, SO HE CLAIMED, FOR JUST ABOUT ANY ILL MAN OR BEAST SUFFERED. I ALSO REMEMBER MY MOTHER TELLING ABOUT HER CHILDHOOD NEIGHBORS – WHO SOOTHED THEIR TEETHING CHILDREN TO BED AT NIGHT WITH LAUDANUM, AN OPIATE-ALCOHOL SOLUTION. ***

Catalogue Number

P19880017010

Acquisition Date

1988-03

Collection

Museum

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