Salicylic Acid Certificate
notes: label: Description
content: William Zinsser (1828-1901) was born in Germany, moved to the United States in 1849, settled in New York, and formed a firm to manufacture shellac. In 1874, after a German chemist named Hermann Kolbe patented a method for producing salicylic acid, Zinsser formed The United States Salycilic Acid Works. This firm won an award at the Centennial Exhibition held in Philadelphia in 1876. Zinsser’s son donated this photocopy of that award to the Smithsonian, noting that it represented the first synthetic organic chemical made on a commercial scale in the United States. Salycilic acid had, of course, long been used for medicinal purposes, and would later be available as Aspirin. In 1896, following the introduction of Bayer Aspirin, William Zinsser & Co. petitioned Congress for a protective tariff. When this relief was not forthcoming, the American Salicylic Acid Works went out of business.
label: Description
content: Ref: C. L. Mitchell, “Salycilic Acid—Its History, Production, Preparations, &c.,” <i>Monthly Review of Medicine and Pharmacy</i> 4 (March 1881): 87-92.
label: Description
content: “Chemicals at the Centennial: The American Exhibit,” <i>Scientific American</i> 35 (Sept. 30, 1876): 216-217.
label: Description
content: Ad for W. Zinsser & Co., Lackers Varnishes, White Shellac, and “Agents for U.S. Salicylic Acid Works,” <i>Scientific American</i> 38 (June 22, 1878): 398.
label: Description
content: <i>Tariff Hearings Before the Committee on Ways and Means</i> 54th Congress, 2d Session, U.S. Congress, House of Representatives, Doc. #338 (Washington, D.C., 1896), p. 20.
label: Location
content: Currently not on view
setName: label: See more items in
content: Medicine and Science: Physical Sciences
dataSource: label: Data Source
content: National Museum of American History
identifier: label: ID Number
content: PH.319203
label: catalog number
content: 319203
label: accession number
content: 144164
objectType: label: Object Name
content: certificate
physicalDescription: label: Measurements
content: overall: 43 cm x 27 1/2 in; 16 15/16 in x 69.85 cm
label: Measurements
content: overall: 16 7/8 in x 10 3/4 in; 42.8625 cm x 27.305 cm