Dr. S. Andral Kilmer of Binghamton, New York, who made Swamp-Root* Miracle Cure, was so grateful for business that he planned to give every Brooklyn Eagle reader a free bottle (too bad the AMA called Swamp Root a "worthless fraud" in 1912**).And the customers whose letters are printed in the ad - well, they are thankful too, for those "wonderful curative properties" which alleviated kidney and bladder troubles.
All of which is leading, in its peculiar, post-Victorian, medicinal way to my saying thank you to the February top ten droppers from dear old Entrecard, who have visited the VDM - well, quite a lot of times!
And I also want to thank all my friends and visitors who are not on this short list, but who I am also so glad to see every day. Thank you so very much for your visits, your comments, and your suggestions. Because a museum without any visitors is just a dusty building full of artifacts. And a dime museum without any audience? All that, plus an assortment of vaudeville acts with no one to entertain!
So, many thanks to February's Top Droppers at the Dime Museum. And as an extra bonus, I will not be distributing bottles of Swamp Root Remedy. You're welcome.
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The advertisement above ran in the Brooklyn Daily Eagle (of course you knew that already) on April 15, 1902, p. 8. Many thanks as always to the Brooklyn Public Library and their spectacular digitized Brooklyn Eagle Online, without which this would be a considerably less lively enterprise.
More on Dr. Kilmer and his Swamp Root here.
The Kilmers of Binghamton have a page devoted to them over here.
And you can still buy Dr. Kilmer's Swamp Root Herbal Tonic. The AMA says this version is OK, apparently (they changed it around a bit).
Also his old medical building in Binghamton, New York has been restored; there's a Kilmer's Brasserie and Steakhouse there now.
Swamp Root T shirts? Yes, indeed. Perfect attire for the Brasserie and Steakhouse!
* It was called Swamp Root because it was also supposed to cure swamp fevers such as malaria. It was 9% grain alcohol; Dr. Kilmer's Cough Remedy was 10% grain alcohol [Nostrums and Quackery, pp 674-6]
**See the AMA's Nostrums and Quackery (Chicago, 1912), p. 677.
4 comments:
We enjoy our visits to your fun and interesting blog. Thank you and have a wonderful week!
Kim
"Worthless fraud?" That seems rather harsh from the AMA. I think people should decide these things for themselves.
Kim - Thank you!
Max - Maybe the AMA tester took some of this stuff and had an Unfortunate Experience. It seems so from the resentful wording, doesn't it?
Thanks for the writeup on Dr Kilmer. A few corrections ... all my research indicates that Swamp-Root formula was unchanged from the time Dr. S. Andral Kilmer compounded it around 1881.
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