Fougera's Preparations

Charles Edmond Fougera (1821-1889) was born in France and was in New York by the 1840s. He attended the New York College of Pharmacy and by 1849 had established a pharmaceutical business at 30 North William Street in Manhattan. In 1869, he opened a Brooklyn store at the corner of Atlantic and Clinton Avenues. This advertisement dates from the mid-1880s.

I was particularly intrigued by the Angelic Tooth Paste and the Fougera's Compound (at the top) - the latter being a "Diuretic Emmenagogue" which could be substituted for "Cod Liver Oil, when obnoxious." What is an Emmenagogue? It is any herb (such as mugwort) that stimulates blood flow to the pelvis and was used as a menstrual aid or an abortifacient, which is a bit more specific than a mere "stimulant tonic."

What made the Tooth Paste Angelic? I am not sure, but it probably was named to link the association of angels dressed in white with equally white teeth.

Also note Lancelot's Cigarettes for Asthma - a strange idea which I posted about awhile back, over here.

He also built a large 6 story apartment house in Brooklyn, the Fougera, in 1881-2; it cost over half a million dollars to build. It had forty eight-room apartments outfitted in grand style: each flat was to have "a clothes or drying apartment, fitted with the most modern appliances" and would be like "a complete house by itself." There was a grand lobby trimmed with "cabinet work" and "the richest cathedral glass" which lead to a grand staircase and an elevator (there was an elevator for "domestics" as well). There were also eight stores on the ground level, and steam heat throughout.

At Forgotten New York there are some photos of the building that replaced the Fougera at 200 Clinton Street, Brooklyn.

The advertisement is from LiveJournal Community Vintage Ads. Biographical information from The Proceedings of the American Pharmaceutical Association (Volume 2; Philadelphia, 1889) p. 11.

The information on the Fougera apartment building is from:
"Improvements," Brooklyn Daily Eagle, June 19, 1881, p. 3.
Advertisement, Brooklyn Daily Eagle, April 1, 1899, p. 9.

Fougera is still in business, by the way - here is their website.