Lydia Pinkham

Lydia Pinkham is known as the "mother of American patent medicine." Her "sure cure for... feminine weakness" (i.e. menstrual pains) derived its effectiveness primarily from being 18% alcohol or 36 proof - roughly the same as tequila.

An article on "Pinkham's Vegetable Compound" from Nostrums and Quakery by the American Medical Association.




Saul Zalesch at http://ephemerastudies.org posted an 1869 Pinkham handbook today (making this my favorite thing today. Yes, a lot of these come from Epherma Studies.) Go read what he has to say about it.

And an additional nod to Mrs. Pinkham, from the Irish Rovers...