Old advertisements for drugs

[Swimmingdancer]

I thought it would be interesting to do a thread collecting old advertisements for drugs. Here are some to start things off:

^Pain pills comprised of acetanilid (a toxic APAP precursor), codeine, quinine, and several other substances.

^The problem has been solved by heroin

^Heroin is not addictive like morphine, does not cause constipation and is 10 times less toxic than codeine?? And codeine causes diarrhea?? 8)

^Contains codeine, cannabis and chloroform.

^Coca wine.

^Opium + alcohol meant for babies.

I have collected tons more old drug ads if other people also find them interesting and want me to post more.

 

[T. Calderone]

I love these: Settle the old geezer down with some thorazine!
And the Cosadein with codeine, cannabis and chloraform, Would that be the 16 oz or gallon-size?
Holy crap, I imagine a lot of these tonics could have knocked out an elephant, not to mention a small child.

Keep them coming. I would have loved some laudanum.

 

[Swimmingdancer]

^LOL

Here's some laudanum ads for you. Laudanum for babies:

^Yeah because laudanum is "no stupefactive deadly narcotic", lol.


Here's one for Pantopon injectable opium:

^It says, "Injectable whole opium is bound to please you". (Haha, who wouldn't be pleased by injectable opium, until they had to go through withdrawals that is).

^No one seems to know exactly what was in Narcoti-cure, (but possibly from the name narcotics of some kind [because I don't think narcotic was ever used to describe tobacco?], a curious "cure" for smoking). At the time this ad was made (1895) it wasn't really understood that smoking was harmful to health, it was more thought of as immoral, which might explain the imagery. The claim was that over 97% of people who used it without even trying to quit tobacco would within 4-10 days suddenly have no cravings for tobacco ever again (and none for Narcoti-cure either). What was in this magical stuff?

^I'm pretty sure that it would still have the same anticholinergic side effects as belladonna-derived drugs.

 

[NeighborhoodThreat]

One of my all time favorites of the "patent medicines"

 

[neversickanymore]

wow

 

[Swimmingdancer]

^^Yeah NT, it's a classic. I bet it was soothing . There's actually a song about it from 1879 by composer Sir Edward Elgar:
Mrs Winslow's Soothing Syrup, for 2 flutes, oboe, clarinet and bassoon

I wish I could find it for free somewhere, (one can buy it but I'm cheap). I wonder if the good Sir Edward enjoyed the syrup himself?

wow

Angry grandpa is one of my faves.

 

[SupportKali87]

Ohh wow lol, angry grandpa comin' at ya!

All this makes me wonder if there's some vials of deliciousness, sitting in a cabinet in some old house somewhere...

 

[johannes kreisler]

wow. keep em coming!

...reminds me of this: http://www.erowid.org/library/books_online/mickey_mouse_medicine_man/mickey_mouse_medicine_man.shtml

 

[Pagey]

Hahahahah I love these. The grandpa and 'The problem has been solved by heroin', priceless. Oh to have been alive back then

 

[Swimmingdancer]

All this makes me wonder if there's some vials of deliciousness, sitting in a cabinet in some old house somewhere...

Yeah, I'd be scared to try some of this shit though

...reminds me of this: http://www.erowid.org/library/books_online/mickey_mouse_medicine_man/mickey_mouse_medicine_man.shtml

Awesome, lol.

Oh to have been alive back then

The late 1800s? It would reduce a lot of the problems from prohibition, but you'd still have problems like not knowing anything about the drugs you are taking. I mean I wouldn't want to die of an OD because they said heroin was 10x less dangerous than codeine, or become addicted to a drug that was promoted as completely non-addictive (not to mention all the random "patent medicines" where you had no idea what the ingredients even were). Although some of that same shit still happens today, at least we have substantially better access to info about drugs.

Lots of the drug ads from the 20th century are crazy as well. I've been posting ones from various eras. hell, even some recent drug ads are pretty crazy but this thread is about old drug ads

Here's some more:

Another angry grandpa:

^Dextroamphetamine + amylbarbitone (a barbiturate).

^Right... Darvon is an opioid, lol.

^Deprol = meprobamate (a tranquilizer/sedative similar to a barbiturate or benzo).

^Yeah because that's a woman's job! Thank God for Mornidine 8)

Some older ones:

^Morphine. (People actually died from overdosing on this syrup).

^Dr Batty's, lol . Oh good, they're only for ages 6 and up

^"Heroin. You will have call for them."

^I love how it's called "ONE NIGHT", hahaha.

 

[Swimmingdancer]

Weird Japanese Drug Ads:

^Deliton (clotiapine, an antipsychotic) [1970]

Serenace (haloperidol, an antipsychotic) [1972]

^Rivotril (clonazepam) [1985]


More at: The Japanese Gallery of Psychiatric Art

 

[Pagey]

Haha I know don't worry some of these are seriously hilarious though...I wonder what their problem with grandpas was?

 

[Cornishman]

Dexamyl sounds great.

 

[Swimmingdancer]

Haha I know don't worry

Why would I worry? Unless you have a secret time-machine I am unaware of?

Dexamyl sounds great.

LOL

I love how the Dexamyl guy is creepily staring at the nurse's boobs.

Here's another for Dexamyl:

Or wait, maybe you would prefer some Ambar methamphetamine + phenobarbital?

 

[Seyer]

Any Japanese ads for Methamphetamine?

 

[Swimmingdancer]

Any Japanese ads for Methamphetamine?

They invented methamphetamine. But the meth ads I know of are not as artistic as the later ads for weird antipsychotics and such. Methamphetamine was completely unrestricted in Japan and available OTC in the early 40s and progressed to being completely illegal in Japan in 1951. Oral forms had already been banned in 1949 (leaving injectable liquid forms for 2 more yrs ironically).

^Hiropon methamphetamine.

^Philopon methamphetamine bottle.


Here are some really old Japanese Drug ads:

^Gozōen, some kind of drug for treating "nobose", a sort of dizziness [1840]. A group of warriors, representing the drug, attack a bunch of half-naked demons, personifying conditions that cause nobose.

^Some kind of children's drug, "Kinder Puwder" [1880]. The ad features popular kabuki actors of the time and the Japanese characters below "Kinder Powdur" say "King of children's medicine, Kindoru powder." The text to the sides says the drug company is the sponsor for a play the actors are in, "now playing at the Shintomiza theatre", simultaneously advertising both the drug and the play.

 

[Seyer]

Damnit, no kamikaze ones haha.

 

[Swimmingdancer]

I wonder what their problem with grandpas was?

Here's another angry grandpa ad, this time for Butisol (butabarbital, a barbiturate):

 

[Swimmingdancer]

Damnit, no kamikaze ones haha.

I think when meth was used in the war they were just handing it out like candy and didn't need to advertise

 

[Seyer]

Hmmm, very true.