Brandreth's V. U. Pills

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Brandreth's V.U. Pills, Front of Package
Brandreth's V.U. Pills, Back of Package
brandreth's VU Pills

Object Details

Associated Name: Brandreth Pill Works
collection: Reid Drugstore
maker: Brandreth Pill Works; Brandreth, Benjamin

Description: An inscription on the package reads in part “BRANDRETH PILLS / PROPRIETARY B. BRANDRETH” AND “ALLCOCK’S POROUS PLASTER” AND “BRANDRETH’S V.U. PILLS.”; 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).; 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.; 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.; Ref: “BENJAMIN BRANDRETH,” New York Times (Feb. 20, 1880), p. 2.; “GEN. THOMAS ALLCOCK DEAD,” New York Times (Dec. 28, 1891), p. 2.; The indications or uses for this product as provided by the manufacturer are:
Location: Currently not on view

Credit Line: Gift of Blanche E. Reid

date made: after 1900

ID Number: 1984.0351.097
accession number: 1984.0351
catalog number: 1984.0351.097

Object Name: otc preparation
Other Terms: ?; Patent Medicines; Drugs

Physical Description: paper (container material)
Measurements: 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

See more items in: Medicine and Science: Medicine; Health & Medicine; Balm of America; Reid Pharmacy, Clifton, Illinois

Data Source: National Museum of American History

Subject: Laxatives

https://n2t.net/ark:/65665/ng49ca746a5-8428-704b-e053-15f76fa0b4fa

nmah_737798

NMAH

BRANDRETH'S V. U. PILLS

National Museum of American History

CC0

Metadata Usage: CC0

Link to Original Record

Record ID: nmah_737798