More patent medicine
Cardui | Dr. Grace Feder Thompson's letter appealing for patients | Dr. Pierce's medicines | Dr. E. C. Abbey's The Sexual System and Its Derangements (1882) | Dr. Young's rectal dilators | Lydia Pinkham's medicine | Orange Blossom medicine | ad for Dr. Schenk's Mandrake Pills, appearing on a trade card for journalist Nellie Bly.
CONTRIBUTE to Humor, Words and expressions about menstruation and Would you stop menstruating if you could?
Some MUM site links:
homepage | MUM address & What does MUM mean? | e-mail the museum | privacy on this site | who runs this museum?? |
Amazing women! | the art of menstruation | artists (non-menstrual) | asbestos | belts | bidets | founder bio | Bly, Nellie | MUM board | books: menstruation and menopause (and reviews) | cats | company booklets for girls (mostly) directory | contraception and religion | costumes | menstrual cups | cup usage | dispensers | douches, pain, sprays | essay directory | extraction | facts-of-life booklets for girls | famous women in menstrual hygiene ads | FAQ | founder/director biography | gynecological topics by Dr. Soucasaux | humor | huts | links | masturbation | media coverage of MUM | menarche booklets for girls and parents | miscellaneous | museum future | Norwegian menstruation exhibit | odor | olor | pad directory | patent medicine | poetry directory | products, current | puberty booklets for girls and parents | religion | Religión y menstruación | your remedies for menstrual discomfort | menstrual products safety | science | Seguridad de productos para la menstruación | shame | slapping, menstrual | sponges | synchrony | tampon directory | early tampons | teen ads directory | tour of the former museum (video) | underpants & panties directory | videos, films directory | Words and expressions about menstruation | Would you stop menstruating if you could? | What did women do about menstruation in the past? | washable pads
Leer la versión en español de los siguientes temas: Anticoncepción y religión, Breve reseña - Olor - Religión y menstruación - Seguridad de productos para la menstruación.


The Museum of Menstruation and Women's Health

Chichesters (or Chi-ches-ters or with 's) English Pennyroyal Diamond Brand pills for menstruation problems like pain, scanty or no menses (amenorrhea, dysmenorrhea), and probably abortion, 1890s-early 20th century, U.S.A.
Boxes, pills, texts
"Relief for Women" booklet

The donor of these many items writes:
Their [Chichester's] ads helped start the federal campaign about truth in advertising etc. You can see that not only in the ads but the change on the tins.
The large tins are the store display that would have held 12 of the smaller tins - all sealed with the blue ribbon, which is why there is a hole in the bottom of the tins to secure the ribbon. . . .
Chichesters first pills were called Chi-ches-ters Pennyroyal Pills. It is argued that they had to change the label because they really did not have pennyroyal [a plant] in them, others argue they had both pennyroyal and tansy, and were toxic. Some deaths were blamed on the early pills; more recent deaths have been said to be caused by people using these herbs
The Nationl Library of Medicine writes this at http://www.nlm.nih.gov/medlineplus/druginfo/natural/patient-pennyroyal.html
The essential oil of pennyroyal is considered toxic. Death has been reported after consumption of small amounts. A characteristic noted in most cases of pennyroyal overdose is a strong minty smell on the patient's breath.
A possible role for N-acetylcysteine (NAC) in the management of pennyroyal overdose has been suggested. However, this application has not been confirmed by animal or human studies.
The essential oil of pennyroyal may act as an emmenagogue (menstrual flow stimulant) and induce abortion. However, it may do so at lethal or near-lethal doses, making this action unpredictable and dangerous. Future research to determine the safety and efficacy of the less toxic parts of the pennyroyal plant on the menstrual cycle is needed before a recommendation can be made.
Read more about the dangers of pennyroyal at http://www.intelihealth.com/IH/ihtIH/WSIHW000/8513/31402/351441.html?d=dmtContent
See also Cardui, Orange Blossom medicine and Lydia Pinkham's medicine. Murray & Nickell Blue Cohosh Root | Murray & Nickell Cotton Root Bark | Allaire Woodward & Co. Oak Bark-White | Wampole's Vaginal Cones with Picric Acid | Humphreys "31" | Orange Blossom Suppositories | Dr. Pierce's Vaginal Tablets | Micajah's Medicated Wafers | Santrex Formula 52T | Sedets

Harry Finley created the images. I thank the retired teacher who donated this material and the scans of the ads!


Below: Back cover (left) and front cover of a booklet that came with the donation. I can't say if it was originally associated with any of the other items, including the boxes shown later.
Just so you can savor the color, typography and text I enlarged the covers more than the other pages. The plant design of the words "Relief for Ladies," at right, might reflect the plant origin of pennyroyal, but it's bizarre, isn't it? Maybe it mirrors the art movement Art Nouveau, flourishing in the late 19th-to-early 20th centuries, which used plant forms. Mixing many type faces typified the 19th century (look at some the published scores of Beethoven's music) - designers now don't like it, mostly - as did sinuous forms.
This describes the "new style" pill made after the company eliminated the poisonous pennyroyal.
 
Below: Inside front cover (left) and page 1. All inside pages are black and white.
Each page (including of course the covers, above) measures 3.25 x 2.5" (8.4 x 6.3 cm).
 

NEXT | Intro. & Relief for Ladies booklet: covers - title page 2-5 6-9 10-13 14-17 18-21 22-inside back cover | large box before 1906? | old small box after 1906 | box after 1939 | box after 1951 | ads for Chichesters
More patent medicine: Mrs. Pinkham's, etc. | Murray & Nickell Blue Cohosh Root | Murray & Nickell Cotton Root Bark | Allaire Woodward & Co. Oak Bark-White | Wampole's Vaginal Cones with Picric Acid | Humphreys "31" | Orange Blossom Suppositories | Dr. Pierce's Vaginal Tablets | Micajah's Medicated Wafers | Santrex Formula 52T | Sedets | Midol

© 2007 Harry Finley. It is illegal to reproduce or distribute any of the work on this Web site in any manner
or medium without written permission of the author. Please report suspected violations to hfinley@mum.org