Ancient Legends
Lynn, MA: Lydia E. Pinkham Medicine Company, 1920. Very Good Condition. Item #50039
Lynn, MA: Lydia E. Pinkham Medicine Company, n.d., ca. 1920s. 12mo (17.5cm); pictorial wrappers; 32pp.; illus. throughout. Light wear to wrappers with tiny loss at top fore-edge corner of upper cover, stock uniformly browned and brittle due to poor paper stock. Very Good overall.
Small promotional pamphlet from the makers of Lydia E. Pinkham's Herb Medicine and other remedies. Pinkham (1819-1883) began heavily marketing her Vegetable Compound in the 1870s, which promised to cure most female "ailments." The company continued manufacturing even after Pinkham's death in 1883 and by the early 20th century her Vegetable Compound "was one of the most trusted, well-known patent medicines" (Mary Cross, A Century of Icons: 100 Products and Slogans from the 20th-Century Consumer Culture, p. 17).
This little booklet, marketed to adolescent girls who were just starting to need medicinal intervention for their ailments, mixes well-known Greek myths and simple line drawings, with promotional spots for different products and consumer testimonials from around the world. In San Francisco Mrs. Frater's 13-year-old daughter's acne was cleared up with Pinkham's Herb Medicine while Mrs. Hubbard in Kent, England, "driven near mad with depression," has taken the Herb Medicine, Vegetable Compound, and Pills for Constipation. "They have done wonders for me."
Price: $75.00