Connections: When a drugstore was really a drug store

About Connections: Love it or hate it, history is a map. Those who hate history think it irrelevant; many who love history think it escapism. In truth, history is the clearest road map to how we got here: America 2014.

“The Heroin Epidemic” (Berkshire Edge July 23, 2014) details the profound and deleterious effects of Heroin. Today we are aware, perhaps hyper-aware, of the impact on our bodies of different substances, but it was not always the case.

In the year 1905, marijuana, cocaine, opium, and heroin were sold by pharmacies as “perfect guardians of health.” (Berkshire Evening Eagle 1905)

Psychotropic “medicines” were widely available during the nineteenth and early twentieth centuries.

The above chart was produced by the Department of Psychology New York State University at Buffalo for the “Before Prohibition” (Exposition 2001). The photographs are also from the exposition.

America 1905 was a different world: the average life expectancy was 47 years. The most common causes of death were pneumonia, influenza, and tuberculosis. The total number of murders in the United States was 230.

Ninety percent of doctors did not attend college; they attended medical schools similar to trade schools that taught techniques. More Americans believed in the efficacy of a séance than the effectiveness of an anesthetic. Ninety-five percent of births took place at home.

Only 14 percent of American homes had a bathtub, 8 percent had a telephone, while 18 percent had at least one domestic servant. An accountant and an engineer earned about $2,000 per year; a blue collar worker about half that. Two out of every ten Americans were illiterate.

There were 8,000 cars in America, and only 144 miles of paved roads. Early automobiles were generally open and “duster” was exactly the right name for the garment drivers wore to protect clothes and skin. Driving was a dirty business.

Laudanum was widely available. Morphine, cocaine, and even heroin were seen as miracle cures when they were first discovered. Mrs. Winslow’s Soothing Syrup was prescribed for infants.

The toothpaste was recommended for children and adults to “dull pain and put you in a better mood.”

Companies still well-known today incorporated potent psychotropic substances in their products.

As problems with habitual use of these substances became more apparent, some companies, for example Coca-Cola, removed them voluntarily (see ad above). In 1906 the Pure Food and Drug Act was passed and required the listing of all ingredients on product labels. However, paregoric (opiate) and Benzedrine inhalers (amphetamine) were available over-the-counter until the 1950s, and Codeine (cocaine) until the early 1980s.

The most potent combination was psycho-pharmaceuticals and alcohol. Vin Mariana combined alcohol and cocaine “for body brain and nerves.” It won endorsements from celebrities, royalty and the Pope.

Berkshire merchants were not exempt and tried to jump on this very lucrative band wagon. Alden Knowles and Hudson Maxim were friends from their school days in Maine. They joined forces to make their fortune and failed spectacularly. Before arriving in Pittsfield, they tramped across the country passing themselves off as phrenologists, faith healers, and producers of “Maxim’s Lightening Cure – Good for what ails you.”

There were no psychoactive ingredients in this lightning cure. Instead it was an unfortunate mixture of kerosene, camphor, and herbs. When users became violently ill, Knowles and Maxim skipped to the next town. Soon they were convinced that healing was not their métier. They found success in Pittsfield as ink manufacturers and publishers.

Maxim next invented a smokeless explosive powder and the Maxim bullet. He then set to work on a series of inventions relating to explosives and torpedoes. This purveyor of death in many forms sold he patents to the Dupont Company and ended a wealthy and famous man.

From 1869 –1879, Jarvis Renne had a line of products that included Renne’s Magic Pain Killing Oil, Renne’s Magic Oil that “works like a charm,” and Devine’s Lozenges. In 1869, Jarvis Renne was listed as a peddler of Magic Oil. Son William joined the firm in 1876, and the business was listed as William Renne & Sons.

While we do not have the recipe for Magic Oil – as we do for Maxim’s elixir – we can be fairly certain it did not make anyone violently ill or kill anyone outright because no member of the Renne family had to leave town under the cover of night. On the contrary, house and factory stood at 22 Frances Avenue (formerly Renne Court) in Pittsfield for 10 years clearly marked with a large sign. After 1879, William remained at 22 Frances until his death in 1904 with no occupation listed. It seems that 10 years of labor selling magic oil paid for 25 years of retirement and that is magic.

Unmitigated misfortune for the users of these substances, the purveyors have benefitted financially for more than a century.