Wood County reporter. [volume] (Grand Rapids [i.e. Wisconsin Rapids], Wis.) 1857-1923, 1885-10-08
PATENT MEDICINES.
Men WHO Make Proprietary Medi-
cines and Those who Use Them
Fortunes in Nostrums-The Makers
Profits
New York Herald

/ New 1Ork Herald.
eyes. can tell you considerable a.
bout patent medicines" said promi-
nept wholesale druggist in answer to
reporters inquiry. SIN the first
place. the word patent rs applied to
medicines is not correct. Many years
! ago, waen the business OF manufacture
| ing these medicines first started, some
OF the proprietors did get out patents
on .helr wares, but experience taught
them better very soon. To get pat
ent It was necessary to specify the ex>
act ingredients of the medicine aud
their proportions As that was vir>
! tually giving TO the world what was
{ most important to be kept secret, the
| plan of patenting was abandoned al
most as soon as 1t was begun, and in
stead trade mark was invented and
copyrig hted. The federal government
grants these trademarks, but with
holds Its protec ton from them leav-
ing 20 the state courts the onus Of for
| bidding their infringement And this
was the case-unjusly so, too-for
years, during which the federal gov
eminent levied burdensome taxation
oa the medicines thus copyrighted.
Therefore, to speak correctly, thew
should be called proprietary, not pat
ent, medicines,
when did these medicines origin
ate? Well, to speak correctly, they
are as old as the human race. In the
| days when the doctors We're less plen>
tifui and less skilled, every man was
| more Or less his own doctor. Every
ola woman had her favorite herbs,
and thus in time long tried and rei-
able recipes fell into the hands OF
shrewd men with an eye to the main
chance. Not few physicians are to
be credited with the paternity of many
popular and successful patent mediS
cines. Probably the real rise and
| wide sale Of patent medicines do not
extend much further back than half
| century. Most OF the very successful
ones trace their history no further
back than that Out of about five
thousand articles of domestic make,
not more than fifty can be carried on
as business apart from ether intesest.
Indeed, out OF the five thousand there
are probably only five hundred that
can be set down as of any Importance.
1t is safe to say that not more than
half dozen have made million
each.
'"The people of this country are
great patrons of patent medicines, the
middle classes especially. The rich
can always consult a physician at the
least provocation, and the very poor
can avoid both doctors expenses and
the cost of patent medicines by going
to dlspensaries where they are treated
gratuitously. Much is claimed for
the efficiency Of these medicines
much, indeed for some of them. But
as rule, they possess certain virtue
Many of them are merely physicians
Prescriptions made up on a grand
scale. and are stated to cure only spe>
| cltic cases of bodily arrangement.
The day of the cure all medicines is
as good as gone by. Some of the
medicines are really good for the purs
poses they are applied to. There are
new remedies constantly coming into
| the field, but unless backed by a
heavy capital they and their projec-
tors invariably come to grief. Not
even plenty OF money can bolster up
a remedy if it be worthless, or if there
OS LCU ulaAy dcblClSS vi Liz SdLu0 KlQQ
in the market.
''Allowing the remedy to be all that
| is claimed for it, that it is backed up
heavily, advertised well, and has ell
bow-room in its own particular field
there still remain the usual contingent
cies and risks related to all business
ventures. The business is not all
profit, as many people think. The
manufacturer sees but a small propor~
ton of the dollar that the customer
pays the retailer for his bottle OF medi-
cine. A dollar bottle of medicine is
generally sold to the trade through
the jobber at 81 per dozen. Before
! the manufacturer begins to think of
profit he must figure on labor, mate
rial, rent, freight, express, clerk hire,
and advertising bills. The last ex-
| pense is an important Item. It has
been estimated that in the last twenty
years 500, 900, 900 have been spent in
advertising proprietary medicines.
The small advertiser is now here. So
in the end if the proprietor makes IL
cents on the dollar bottle of medicine
he is lucky. The retailers net profit
| is nearly double that amount. When
the stamp tax on proprietary medicine
was levied about per cent on the re-
tail price, ia reality 10 per cent on the
| manufacturers price-the manufatur-
ers made even less than now. In
four years only the stamp tax thus
levied rolled into the government
Golfers an average of at least $l,5OO,-
900 year. The stamp tax has done
away with, but the tax of $3.50 gal
lon on alcohol principal ingredient
in the manufacture of medicines still
exists.
According to the last United States
census there are 563 establishments
in this country devoted to the pro
prietary medicine business, employ
ing 4,015 operatives, with an aggre-
gate investment capital amounting to
$40, $40, 900, and the annual product
is valued at s14, 983. 900. New York
state leads all others with an invested