Philadelphia was home to many early chemical and paint
companies. The nineteenth century found these two industries to be integrally
related by virtue of the fact that alcohol was a prime ingredient in both. One
paint company, the John Lucas Works, prepared a green paint “heavier in body, and
at the same time, when used by workmen, not detrimental to their health.” There
was obviously no truth in advertising laws at that time, and these same workmen
were at constant risk. The effect of lead poisoning was primarily due to
absorption of the lead base by the painter and secondarily by anyone who lived
within the confines of the painted house. Children chewing upon window sills
laced with lead paint were especially vulnerable. Although not recognized at
that time, lead, a potent neurotoxin, without proper precautions and with
chronic exposure, was potentially lethal. However, this was the Victorian era,
and that was the state of the art!
Although nothing of an historical nature has been written
concerning Robert Baker, John Moore and Benjamin V. Mein, much can be gleaned
from their illustrated advertisements. Their original building, located at 621
Market Street (rear entrance at 612 Commerce Street), was a rather dilapidated
affair. The company touted itself as being a wholesale druggist and sole proprietor
of the First National White Lead and Color Works. It can be seen below on an
1873 philatelic cover from my personal collection.
First National White Lead and Color Works philatelic cover, 1873. Collection of Dr. Gus Spector. |
As a volunteer at the Library Company I was given the very pleasant task of providing an electronic transcription of a large number of medically-oriented billheads from the William H. Helfand Graphic Popular Medicine Stationery Collection, donated by Mr. Helfand, a
former Library Company of Philadelphia Board President and Trustee Emeritus. As a physician, I found this challenging, attempting to decipher the nineteenth-century handwriting and unraveling the names of proprietary drugs unfamiliar in today's medical lexicon. As a collector of illustrated Philadelphia paper memorabilia, I found the collection most fascinating.
Within the Library Company’s collection
was an illustrated billhead dated June 1887 showing the façade of the Barker,
Moore and Mein Company, relocated to 609 Market Street. The new Market Street
building was a much more imposing six story Italianate edifice. The busy street
scene in front of the building suggested a most prosperous business.
Barker, Moore & Mein billhead, 1887. Helfand Graphic Popular Medicine Stationery Collection. Library Company of Philadelphia. |
Barker, Moore and Mein were masters of merchandising. An
1877 billhead from the Helfand Collection proclaimed that, not only were they
purveyors of lead paint, but manufactured numerous other semi-related products
such as Barker’s Vegetable Horse, Cattle and Poultry Powder; Barker’s Nerve and
Bone Liniment; and Barker’s Brazilian Shoe Dressing. Since the Pure Food and
Drug Act of 1906 had not yet been conceived, it was anyone’s guess as to the
actual composition of these products. The handwritten invoice seen here listed the
sale of such sundry products as cologne, castor oil, Wright’s Liver Pills, and
paregoric.
Barker, Moore & Mein billhead, 1887. Helfand Graphic Popular Medicine Stationery Collection. Library Company of Philadelphia. |
As part of their advertising campaign, Barker published a
“Komic Almanac” that could be personalized for other companies with “your name
and business printed on the cover.” The 1893
philatelic cover from my collection seen below promised “a book containing
nearly 150 pictures, side splitters and button bursters”. Unfortunately, as was
common at the time, many of the cartoons contained within depicted extreme
racial slurs.
Barker's Komic Almanac philatelic cover, 1893. Collection of Dr. Gus Spector. |
It is indeed interesting to view the drug industry as
stemming from a paint factory lineage. The advent of chemical engineering and
the Pure Food and Drug Act of 1906 gave rise to the disappearance of the
mystique of Victorian homeopathy as the mainstay of pharmaceutical treatment.
When the scientific technology became available, the only extra added essential
ingredient was human ingenuity.
Gus Spector, M.D.
Library Company Volunteer
Library Company Volunteer
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