Health and History: Medicine in Mutter's Store

There is a lot more to the Daly House Museum than simply a re-creation of a Victorian era house. One of our most popular and interesting exhibits is Mutter's Store, which is a re-creation of a popular general store in Brandon which closed down in the 1970s. This beautiful exhibit contains the actual furnishings, cash register, and safe from the store itself, as well as a collection of containers of goods that would have been sold in the store from the time it opened in the early 1900s onward.

When people come into our Mutter's exhibit, they are usually struck by the food and baking labels. Some are almost identical to the labels we see today, such as Magic Baking Powder. Some, like Old Dutch chips, are a familiar brand in an entirely different package. While these food packages tend to grab the attention of most of our visitors, I would like to focus on a different part of Mutter's store in this entry: the medicines.

Shortly after the turn of the century, Mutter's would have sold a variety of over-the-counter treatments; customers would be able to get all of their shopping done in one place, rather than having to go to a drug store. In the Museum today, we've collected a great variety of bottles and other packages of medicines that were popularly used from the Victorian period onwards.

Perhaps the only fact about these medications that is consistent amongst all of them is that they are not popularly used today. However, some are still in circulation. Some of these “natural” remedies were later proven to be dangerous and removed from the market. Some are perfectly safe and actually very useful. Either way, they were replaced in the market by prescription antibiotics and other modern medications.

One product that has greatly reduced in popularity but is still sold in rare cases today is Liver Salts. The name of this product is enough to turn many modern consumers away from it. Liver Salts is a white powder that effervesces in water, and it was popularly used as a laxative starting in the 1950s. Since then, it has been discovered that use of the product can lead to renal failure, and even cardiac failure. Understandable, it is only used today in extreme cases.

Another product that has almost entirely ceased to be used as medication is Camphorated Oil. Starting in the 19^th century, this “essential oil” would be used as a popular cold remedy via inhalation, such as Vapour Rub is used today. However, Camphorated Oil is toxic both through exposure to the skin and through ingestion. Therefore, it was dangerous to use extensively or the skin, or if there was any risk of ingestion.

Powdered Citric Acid experienced widespread use in the 1920s and 1930s. While this product is still sold regularly for non-medicinal purposes, any medical purposes it has today are widely different than what it was originally intended for. Citric Acid was taken as an anti-viral, to prevent or cure colds, in the period when Mutter's Store was first open. Today, it is used to make heroin more soluble. It is no longer used as an anti-viral because it turned out to be extremely erosive internally, and in some cases caused blindness.

One product that was useful but exceptionally dangerous was Boracic Acid. Dating back all the way to the 18^th Century, Boracic Acid was used as an anti-septic to solve extreme stomach problems. However, this over-the-counter medication was actually toxic to infants, which explains its near disappearance from markets today. In some cases, Boracic Acid was also used as a successful early acne treatment.

A product with a seemingly innocent name that turned out to be extremely dangerous was Oil of Wintergreen. This oil had many uses with which it seemed to be very successful, from simple ailments such as pain and inflammation to more serious medical problems such as heart conditions. However, there was a great risk of allergy or overdoes for anyone who took Oil of Wintergreen, as essentially the product was just a giant amount of aspirin.

Similarly, Blue Ointment does not sound like it would be a particularly dangerous product. However, it is no longer sold today partly because the need for such a product is no longer there, and partly because of how dangerous it was. Blue ointment was used to remove head lice, which is not nearly the problem it was 100 years ago. Also, the product was 20% mercury, making anyone was used it at serious risk for mercury poisoning.

The above products are some of the most dangerous remedies that were used over the course of the time Mutter's was open. However, many safer and useful products had been invented and were already being widely used during this time. One example of this type of product was Corn Salve. Invented in 1884, this product was used from removing corns. Perhaps due to the fact that no other product has stepped in to fill the need, and no particular danger was discovered in its use, Corn Salve is still widely used today.

Another interesting product that was not particularly dangerous was Sloan Family Liniment. However, possibly due to the fact that it did not work to cure any underlying problems, Family Liniment was only produced for about 45 years, starting in 1871. Family liniment was a popular pain-killer that claimed to cure anything. In reality, it contained Capsaicin, which reduced pain signals sent to the brain. Despite not being manufactured in recent decades, remnants of the product still sell like crazy on E bay.

While it can be argued that the use of Ephedrine Compound had serious risks, it was generally a useful and successful product. First produced in Japan in 1885, Ephedrine Compound was an early broncho-dilator used in the treatment of Asthma. The drawback to its use was that it could increase blood pressure. Today, the product is still used, but mostly in smaller doses and for the purposes of weight loss.

While early essential oils such as Camphorated Oil and Oil of Wintergreen were very dangerous, some other oil products were much less problematic. Eclectric Oil, which contained a lot of camphor oil, successful relieved coughs, colds, bruises, and strains without any extreme side effects. Eclectric oil is still sold today.

Epsom Salts, which were named for the area in England in which they were invented, were popular pain treatment as well as a laxative. Problems in the original product have been solved, and a more careful dosage is still sold today. Ozonol, a topical pain relief remedy, is perhaps the product from this era that remains the most popular today. Another product that has been improved to become safer is Castoria, a laxative first patented in 1868.

Tincture Iodine is a product which is still used, but with a different purpose than it was originally intended for. At the turn of the century, it was used as a disinfectant as well as a nutritional supplement. Because it contains alcohol, however, it ceased to be used as a nutritional supplement and today is just used as a disinfectant.

Like Ozonol, Zam-Buk is a topical pain relief product that was first used early in the 20^th century. The same company and formula for the product is still used today. However, it is much rarer, and cannot be found in Canada. Charcoal lozenges, a heartburn remedy patented in 1938, is still sold online today. Powdered Alum, first used in the 18^th century, was originally used as an immune enhancer, but has many more uses today.

Medicinal products sold over-the-counter in Mutter's Store varied greatly in their usefulness as well as dangers. What has consistently changed is the nature of how medications or marketed and sold, and how risks are assessed. The medicine cabinet in Mutter's Store provides a window into a different consumer world.