Norwich Eaton Pharmaceuticals, Inc. Records
name: label: Creator
content: Norwich Eaton Pharmaceuticals, Inc.
label: Creator
content: Orr, Craig
topic: label: Topic
content: Pharmaceutical industry -- 1920-1990
acqinfo: label: Provenance
content: In February, 1986 Norwich Eaton Pharmaceuticals, Inc. donated pharmaceutical products, manufacturing records, and advertising materials to the Division Medical Sciences, now known as the Division of Science and Medicine. On April 7, 1989 publications and advertising material were transferred to Archives Center.
creator: label: Creator
content: Norwich Eaton Pharmaceuticals, Inc.
label: Creator
content: Orr, Craig
setName: label: See more items in
content: Norwich Eaton Pharmaceuticals, Inc. Records
abstract: label: Summary
content: The Norwich Eaton Pharmaceutical, Inc., Collection includes advertisements, company histories, equipment purchasing proposals, batch orders, finishing production orders, packaging orders and records documenting the creation and advertising of several products, including Furacin, Asogen, Paracin, Unguentine, Necta Sweet, and Chloraseptic Pepto Bismo, a popular liquid still used to relieve various digestive ailments. Founded in 1885, Norwich Eaton was acquired in 1982 by Proctor and Gamble.
bioghist: label: Biographical / Historical
content: Norwich Eaton was founded in 1885 by a Baptist minister, the Reverend Lafayette F. Moore, who, with some rudimentary pill making machinery and a few proprietary formulas, set up shop as "L.F. Moore, Pill Manufacturer." Financial problems from the start forced Reverend Moore into a partnership with Oscar G. Bell, an employee of T.D. Miller's drugstore, to which Moore was heavily indebted.  The company adopted a new name, "Moore and Bell."

In 1887, without warning or explanation, Moore left Norwich and eventually returned to the ministry.  Bell quickly found two new associates and continued to manufacture medicines under the name of the Norwich Pharmacal Company.  They became the world's largest producers of aloin from aloes, and resin of podophyllum from mandrake root, as well as a leader in the development of vitamin products.  They brought to the market such well known products as Unguentine and Pepto Bismol.  By the 1920's, Norwich listed approximately 4,000 elixirs, tinctures, syrups, pills, tablets, extracts, suppositories, dressings, and even surgical instruments in its sales catalog.

In 1982 the company was acquired by Proctor and Gamble and continues to be a research-based manufacturer and marketer of prescription drugs and special dietary foods.
physdesc: label: Extent
content: 18 Cubic feet (37 boxes)
unitdate: label: Date
content: 1900-1985
label: Date
content: bulk 1920-1950
dataSource: label: Archival Repository
content: Archives Center, National Museum of American History
identifier: label: Identifier
content: NMAH.AC.0329
objectType: label: Type
content: Collection descriptions
label: Type
content: Archival materials
label: Type
content: Business records
arrangement: label: Arrangement
content: The collection is arranged into seven series.

Series 1, Company History, 1940; 1980

Series 2, Company Publications, 1939-1982

Series 3, Advertising Records, 1923-1982

Series 4, Trade Literature, 1900-1980, undated

Series 5, Batch Records, 1920s-1940s

Series 6, Finishing Production Orders, 1920s-1940s

Series 7, Package Orders, 1920s to 1940s
processinfo: label: Processing Information
content: Processed by Robert Ageton, 1990 (volunteer); revised by Kimberly Rowe (intern), Neendomis Adams (intern), Alisha McCullick (intern),and Michael Stratmoen (intern) March, 2010; supervised by Alison Oswald, archivist.
genre_format: label: Genre/Form
content: Business records -- 20th century
scopecontent: label: Scope and Contents
content: The Norwich Eaton Pharmaceutical, Inc., Collection includes advertisements, company histories, equipment purchasing proposals, batch orders, finishing production orders, packaging orders and records documenting the creation and advertising of several products.  The bulk of the material consists of company advertising records such as Unguentine and Pepto Bismol; but there are also several posters and advertisements devoted to other products such as Norforms and Zemacol.  The advertisement records range in period from the mid 1920s to 1966, with the majority from the 1940s.  Thus, it is possible to examine the marketing of these products over a 40 year period and view the changes in style, format, and content of the advertisements.  There are several advertising campaign items (brochures and packets) referring to strategies or motifs for which examples exist within this collection.  Some of the posters in the collection, such as the early ones with a surface textured to simulate paint, or several of the later silk screens, can be regarded as works of art.  Some were signed by the artist. Batch orders, finishing orders, and package orders relate to quality control. 

The Division of Medical Sciences still retains manufacturing records (1921 1950), photographs (1920 1970s), and twelve catalogues and price lists (1906 1932).