This Old Paper

(click on the images to see a larger version — it won’t navigate you away from this page)

Another find from the flea market in Hartville, OH.  This is the second posting from that day, and I’m only starting to scratch the surface.  This is a great card and a great find for a number of reasons.  It’s cut into the shape of an owl instead of the traditional rectangular card.  Delightful.  It also has a druggist’s stamp on the back, meaning deeper context.  More on that after the fold…

Front:

I Am Talking to You….

Is your throat the least bit sore?

Do you know the most successful and perhaps the only remedy on record as a POSITIVE CURE for throat diseases, such as Diphtheria, Quinsy, Tonsilitis or common sore throat, is

Armstrong’s Diphtheria and Quinsy Drops?

It prevents, checks and cures.

SOLD BY DRUGGISTS – PRICE 50 CENTS.

On the reverse is an ink stamp for ‘For sale by M.E. Murdock, druggist, Malvern, Ohio’.

Some more background on this item:

A 1906 publication of Midland Interstate Druggist lists this remedy under the category ‘drops’.  Large bottles listed at $3.50/doz, small bottles listed at $2.50 per dozen.

An 1885 Annual Report of the Commissioner of Patents lists one T.J. Armstrong of Wellsburg, WV as a product label registrant for these drops.

An internet search for T.J. armstrong of Wellsburg WV doesn’t return anything useful, but a brief look at the history page on the Wellsburg Chamber of Commerce website provides some background for the place that T.J. Armstrong set up shop:

Industries were many and varied. We had boat yards and warehouses located along our riverbanks. The glass industry was started in 1815. Mills of all kinds were located along Cross Creek and Buffalo Creek, as well as in Wellsburg.

As for the stamp on the back, M.E. Murdock, druggist, of Malvern, OH.  An internet search doesn’t turn up much except for a brief history page from the Malvern Historical Society.

Here is a close-up scan of the front of the card, showing a small mark, an R with a triangle around it and the numbers 2 2 0:

I’m interested in these kind of marks but I don’t know anything about them or what they mean.

It really gives me a lot of delight when I find a patent medicine trade card that has an individual stamp of an apothecary/druggist/pharmacy.  One reason is that it lends the item more historical specificity–even if I find another copy of this card, it is extremely unlikely to find one stamped like this.  On the other hand, the appeal becomes broader: this item might be of interest to someone intersted in Wellsburg, WV history but also to someone interested in the history of Malvern, OH.  The towns are about 50 miles away.  Another reason these stamps are so delightful is that there is a continuity into the present.  Herbal remedy makers and health food brands still send out flyers and leaflets with blank areas at the bottom for each retailer to put it’s own stamp.  When I worked at a health food store, ’stamping literature’ was a common task when there weren’t a lot of customers around.