The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1896-11-27
Tiffany & CO.
PATENT MEDICINE MAKING.
n Large Business UnevenIy Distributed
throughout the Country.

A Large Business Uneveniy Distributea
throughout tho Country.
Exclusive Of those connected with tho ad-
vertisinR department., O numerous branch, and
tho stockholders In such Of tho concerns as are
Incorporated. 10000 men are engaged in the
patent medicine manufactures of the United
States. receiving collectively more than
100000 o year in salaries and wages. There
arc $50 euch manufactures, ranging in impor-
tance from those which flood tho American
and.the foreign market with proprietary medi-
cines. as they are technically called. down to
the small laboratories or botanist shops, in
which some particular herb or root is. in q
GrudginR and primitive manner, supplied to
such persons as may have heard Of its eff
caoy. The partially Of Americans for patent
medicines is we'll known. and doctors-who
don't usually aKree-aGree in declaring that
tho true reason Of the extensive use of such
medicines in the United States Is to be found In
the fact that dyspepsia is a general ailment.
and that persons suffering from dyspepsia are
prone to believe that they have some other all
ment. Thus they become patent medicine
patrons under conditions that recall the men,
orable remark of Col. Mulberry Sellers. the
sangulne speculator. who. In describing the
benefits of The. Oriental Eye Water" the sale
clared that. the more of 1t people used. the
more of 1t they would need. and hence the sale
once started would constantly increase.
Many of the patent medicines sold, II not, IN
deed, a majority OF them. do not come under
this description. for they are merely COM
pounds In pleasant form and in palatable
shape of drugs and medicines in constant use
by physicians. and found efiicacious in what is
called general practice. Though it didn't use
to. New York city nov stands at the head of
the cities of the United States In the manufac-
ture Of patent medicines. with eighty-tve fac
tories, giving employment to 1000 persons at
aggregate wages in excess of 500. 900 q year.
philadelphia comes second, st. Louis third.
Now Haven fourth. and Lowell fifth. In pro-
portion to Its population Lowell is the Ameri-
can city which is most deeply Interested In
patent medicine manufacture. After Lowell
eomes Chicago. q poor sixth. 1t is a somewhat
peculiar circumstance that though enormous
quantities of patent medicines are sold in the
ture como very largely from that section. few
patent medicines are made IN the South.
though New Orleans and Atlanta do a lit ile in
this line. The city OF Baltimore seemed likely
a few years ago to attain prominence in the
manufacture of patent medicine. but recently
II has fallen back on the list. while the city OF
Boston has been pushing steadily ahead. Provi-
dence 10 another New England city which is
largely represented in the manufacture of pat
ent medicines. In New York State two other
cities SO represented are Buffalo and Roches-
ter. In the West. outside Of Chicago. st.
Louis. and Gin sinnati. the city which does the
Rapids. Mich. and Peoria does q little In this
line. but not very much. Tho expectation of
American patent medicine Is increasing. but
the manufacturers continue nevertheless to
appeal. with the greatest confidence, to tho
homo market