Don’t worry, we’re not picking favorite members, only favorite items from our digitized collection. We’d never pick only one favorite member, because all of our members are our favorites!
This is a compilation of posts we created for our social media campaign on Instagram (pharmacyhistory) and Facebook called #Staff Favorite Friday. These were posted January through February to promote our new digital collection.
Lucas Richert, AIHP Executive Director, selects an archival item from the Edward Kremers Reference files. Luc writes: “Pharmacy and pharmaceutical history aren’t solely about groundbreaking medications or patient counseling. This two-page document offers a glimpse into the wider social history of pharmacy in 1900, highlighting what it was like to be part of a professional organization like the Wisconsin Pharmaceutical Association — even if you weren’t a pharmacist yourself.
The circular describes various contests and events open to female family members, including Ladies’ Nail Driving, Ladies’ Hoop Throwing, and Bicycle or Pumpkin Racing. “If our husbands, fathers, and brothers need recreation, we do too,” the historical document states, and it’s useful because it offers perspectives into the broader experiences of family members and friends who were also engaged in the pharmacy field.”
Greg Higby, Fischelis Scholar and former director of AIHP, selects a package of Scullcap from our Crude Drug Packet Collection. Greg writes: “Scutellaria lateriflora is one of my favorite American herbal drugs. In the early 1800s, it gained brief fame as a medicine that prevented rabies from an animal bite. Hence the common name, “Man Dog Skullcap.” By the mid-19th century, this reputation faded away, but the drug has lingered in use as a nervine to the present day, including as a former ingredient in Sleepytime Tea®.”
Hannah Swan, Edward Kremers Reference Library and Archives Archivist, selects a package of corn plasters from the Lila and Emanuel Halpern Pharmacy Collection. Hannah writes: “Choosing a favorite item was next to impossible–I selected, digitized, and cataloged all the print and manuscript items in the collections, so it’s as though they’re all my children! I knew I wanted to go with an item from the Lila and Emanuel Halpern Pharmacy Collection, as traveling to Carson City to meet with Lila and begin accessioning her collection was such a special experience.
I have always loved the story of Salome and thought this was a pretty hilarious (and creative) application of her Dance of the Seven Veils to advertising. Though, as Fischelis Scholar Greg Higby pointed out, perhaps a Salome headache cure would have been more appropriate!
I am also a scholar of printing histories, so it was exciting to see a printer’s signature on such a small-scale print job. And what a printer’s signature it is–Robert Gair was a Scottish-American printer, operating out of New York, who actually invented folding carton packaging!
On the verso, you can also see the guarantee under the Food & Drugs Act of 1906, yet another tidbit that contextualizes this little envelope in the long history of pharmacy and pharmaceuticals. I am always amazed by how much we can learn from a seemingly insignificant piece of ephemera, and I think that is encapsulated in this envelope of plasters, making it my choice for my favorite item this week!”
Kristen Huset, AIHP Program Manager, writes:
Kristen Huset, AIHP Program Manager, selects a jar of Aconite Leaves from our Eli Lilly Drug Jar Collection. Kristen writes: “I am fascinated by old medicines that are also toxic and poisonous. With all of my options, how do I pick a favorite? Belladonna is a particular favorite, but I went with Aconite because it has some peculiar associations. If the name sounds familiar, you might be a fan of pharmacy history, or simply a fan of murder mysteries where poison is a favorite tool for demise. That’s where I first learned about Aconite.
Aconitum napellus, also known as Aconite, Wolfsbane, Monk’s Hood, and Venus’ chariot is a plant in the Buttercup family and is native to western and central Europe and Asia. Though the plant is now commonly grown as a garden ornamental, every part of the plant is highly toxic, with the roots, seeds, and preflowering leaves having the highest toxicity. The roots have been used to make poison darts and poison bait in hunting because Aconite first stimulates the central and peripheral nervous system and then paralyzes it.
Aconite is more than a deadly poison; Aconite has been used since ancient Greece and in traditional Chinese medicine as a medicine and a poison antidote. Aconite was used in low doses to treat fevers, bronchitis, inflammation, and more. In folklore and fiction, Aconite has been used as protection from vampires, to repel werewolves, as treatment for lycanthropy (a condition where you turn into a werewolf), and an ingredient in a preparation that when applied to a witches broom, would make it fly. It truly is a wonderous substance to be able to do all that! If you find Aconite in your garden or on your shelf, you should take care when handling it. It’s not a drug to be trifled with, and with a name like Wolfsbane, why would you?”
Beth Fisher, AIHP Assistant Director, selects a matchbook from the Lila and Emanuel Halpern Pharmacy Collection. Beth writes: “Did you know the design of the matchbook has been almost the same for over 100 years? It is constructed of a single piece of cardboard folded over in the middle with matches stapled inside. One end of the cover is then tucked into the other to form a closed folder.
In 1973, the matchbook industry was required by the U.S. Government to put the striker on the back for safety. Moving from “Front-Strikers to Reverse-Strikers” was the first major change to the design.
The Lila and Emanuel Halpern Collection has over 120 matchcovers or matchbooks advertising everything from aspirin to corn treatments, cough drops to shaving cream.
Even though I am not a phillumenist (a collector of matchbooks), one of my favorite matchbooks is from the Mennen Company, Newark, NJ. Illustrated with storks holding bundles for Expectant Mothers who can receive a free Baby Bundle if they fill out the order form on the inside cover before the offer expires on June 30, 1951.
Be sure to check out all the matchcovers – I’m sure one of them will strike your fancy!”
Elizabeth Preboski, AIHP Archives Assistant, selects a mug in the shape of an inhaler from a collection in the process of being digitized. Ellie writes: “Nothing says wake up and ‘breathe easy’ like a cup of Joe from an inhaler!
For my selection, I have chosen to highlight a ‘sneak peek’ artifact from the Michael Madalon Collection, which will be available for access in our digital collections later this Spring! Of the nearly 400 promotional items in this collection I’ve been working to digitize, the unique inhaler shape of this Vanceril® ceramic mug certainly caught my eye.
Vanceril®, generically named ‘beclomethasone dipropionate’, is a corticosteroid used to control the symptoms of asthma by decreasing swelling and irritation of the lungs that can trigger an asthmatic attack.
While ‘beclomethasone dipropionate’ oral inhalations are also available under brand names such as QVAR® and Beclovent®, the Vanceril® brand was originally trademarked by the Schering-Plough Corporation in August 1974. Originally a subsidiary of the German pharmaceutical company Schering AG, founded in 1851 by German apothecary Ernst Schering (1824-1889), the independent U.S.-based Schering company merged with Plough, Inc. (a Memphis-based chemical and pharmaceutical company) in 1971 to become the Schering-Plough Corporation. In November of 2009, Schering-Plough merged with Merck & Co., and Vanceril® inhalers have since been manufactured under the Merck & Co. name.
Keep sippin’ and stay tuned for more unique finds from the Michael Madalon Collection and visit our digital collections in the meantime to see our unique array of materials!”
The Madalon Collection is coming soon to our digital collections – check out other digitized items here!
Be sure to keep going back to our digital library as new collections are and items are added frequently.
Recently added yesterday, April 2nd, is the F.B. Powers Specimen Jar Collection. Check it out here!
Posted April 3, 2025.
Actively engaged in preserving the documents of pharmacy's past and developing materials for understanding the future.
