This startling ad is from 1928, when drinking liquor seems to have been a common cold remedy.* Aspironal is "most enthusiastically endorsed by the people as ten times as quick and effective as whiskey, rock and rye, or any other cold remedy they have ever tried." Aspironal itself contained 10% alcohol - roughly the same percentage as table wine, and twice that of beer.The reader was advised to line up at the drugstore, give the pharmacist fifty cents and tell them to dole out two teaspoonfuls right there. And if you didn't feel fabulous in a minute or so, you didn't have to pay:
Every Druggist in U.S. Instructed to Refund Price While You Wait at Counter if You Don't Feel Relief Coming in Two Minutes.
...With your watch in your hand, take the drink at one swallow and call for your money back in two minutes if you cannot feel the distressing symptoms of your cold fading away like a dream with in the time limit. Don't be bashful...Everybody's doing it.
The pharmacists must have been so delighted with this gimmick: imagine all the sticky spoons, the opened bottles, the lines of people waiting for some miraculous change to take place inside them. And all the money that might have to be handed back. Although given that the Aspironal was 10% alcohol, people probably did feel happier after a few spoonfuls.
Advertisement from Duke University's Medicine and Madison Avenue collection, which is full of bracing and invigorating treasures.
* Whiskey was indeed a traditional cold cure, as in this Scottish recipe for a toddy given to cure colds: 1 nip of whiskey mixed with a tablespoonful of sugar, to which is added a cup of boiling water [from The Scottish Bakehouse Cookbook by Isabella Maxwell White, Tashmoo Press 1972, p. 200]
9 comments:
Our recipe (a good ol' Southern recipe passed down through a family of God-fearing, Bible-thumping Christians, no lie) is: add the juice of half a lemon, 1-2 tablespoons of honey, and a good splash of whiskey to a coffee cup, then top off with boiling water. The lemon, honey and water are optional. With that kind of home remedy, who needs store bought medicine? :)
haha sounds good in theory...but I wouldn't want to add feeling drunk on top of everything. haha Maybe juuuuust enough to feel *happy*. lol ;)
can you add sour mix to it and make an Aspironol Sour? I think not.
Dawn - That sounds like a very good recipe to me.
Sandi - maybe that's why they say to only take 2 spoonfuls! :)
geneabloggers - I was wondering that too. Maybe someday I will find a little promotional Aspirinol cookbook.
*cough cought*
Oh noes, I think I'm coming down with a cold. Do you have any booze, I mean medicine?
A toddy has a little squeeze of lemon juice to make sure it hits the spot...!
www.okathleen.wordpress.com
starcasm - You know, it's the strangest thing, but I am also under the weather...and look, here is a nice bottle of medicinal - stuff. Please help yourself!
okathleen - Oh, that is a great idea, and luckily I have a lemon in the fridge (I do, actually - it was for lemon poppy seed muffins, but I haven't made them yet - must be kismet!)
well i stand by this and tell people to drink liquor for a cold or sore throat. benadryl has enough liquor in it to do the job well and has.
Natural - It sure does. And I remember taking prescription cold medicine once that was full of codeine and it knocked me out like a shot of whiskey. I did feel not better really but - different!
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