Brandreth's V. U. Pills
date: label: date made
content: after 1900
name: label: Associated Name
content: Brandreth Pill Works
label: collection
content: Reid Drugstore
label: maker
content: Brandreth Pill Works
label: maker
content: Brandreth, Benjamin
notes: label: Description
content: An inscription on the package reads in part “BRANDRETH PILLS / PROPRIETARY B. BRANDRETH” AND “ALLCOCK’S POROUS PLASTER” AND “BRANDRETH’S V.U. PILLS.”
label: Description
content: Benjamin Brandreth (1809-1880) was an Englishman who moved to the United States in 1835, hoping to find a market for the “Vegetable Universal Pill” invented by his grandfather, William Brandreth. According to his obituary, he was “the first of the family to conceive the idea of enlarging the business by the free use of printer’s ink.” Among his advertising material was the lengthy book, The Doctrine of Purgation, Curiosities from Ancient and Modern Literature, from Hippocrates and Other Medical Writers (New York, 1867 and later).
label: Description
content: Thomas Allcock (1815-1891) was an Englishman who moved to the United States in 1845, opened a drugstore in New York City and, in the mid-1850s, acquired the rights to a recently invented porous plaster for the relief of pain. After serving with the Union Army during the Civil War, Alcock returned to New York, and joined with Benjamin Brandreth in the manufacture and sale of patent medicines.
label: Description
content: The Allcock Manufacturing Co., in New York, filed for a trademark for “BENJAMIN BRANDRETH’S PILLS” combined with “BRANDRETH’S V.U. PILLS” in 1905, claiming that the form had been used for ten years.
label: Description
content: Ref: “BENJAMIN BRANDRETH,” New York Times (Feb. 20, 1880), p. 2.
label: Description
content: “GEN. THOMAS ALLCOCK DEAD,” New York Times (Dec. 28, 1891), p. 2.
label: Description
content: The indications or uses for this product as provided by the manufacturer are:
label: Location
content: Currently not on view
topic: label: Subject
content: Laxatives
setName: label: See more items in
content: Medicine and Science: Medicine
label: See more items in
content: Health & Medicine
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content: Balm of America
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content: Reid Pharmacy, Clifton, Illinois
creditLine: label: Credit Line
content: Gift of Blanche E. Reid
dataSource: label: Data Source
content: National Museum of American History
identifier: label: ID Number
content: 1984.0351.097
label: accession number
content: 1984.0351
label: catalog number
content: 1984.0351.097
objectType: label: Object Name
content: otc preparation
label: Other Terms
content: ?; Patent Medicines; Drugs
physicalDescription: label: Physical Description
content: paper (container material)
label: Measurements
content: overall: 2 1/2 in x 1 3/8 in x 3/4 in; 6.35 cm x 3.4925 cm x 1.905 cm