Women Herbalists (Series): Lydia Pinkham

Women Herbalists: Lydia Pinkham

The Essential Herbal (www.essentialherbal.com) Mar/Apr ‘12

While Lydia Pinkham mightiness non endure at the transcend of the listing equally a famous woman individual herbalist, I intend she appeals to me thence much because of draw of piece of job concern savvy together with because her draw of piece of job concern began equally a household unit of measurement enterprise. Her Vegetable Compound continues to endure produced today.

Lydia Pinkham lived from 1819-1883 inwards Lynn, MA. To amend empathise her success it helps to convey a petty chip of background on the medical history of that time. The maiden of all of the century medicine was inwards a “heroic phase” of purging, bloodletting, together with blistering. This was the mutual handling shape everything from pneumonia, hernia, to amenorrhea. Emetics, leeches, lancets, harsh purgatives were all used with a costless paw for whatsoever ailment. And together with thence inwards add-on was calomel (chloride of mercury) a powerful cathartic. Therapeutically useless calomel broke downwards the intestines into a virulent mercurial poison. It produced a fierce laxative upshot together with profuse salivation equally the torso continued to rid itself of the drug. Continued operate Pb to softening of the gums together with mucus membranes together with loss of teeth. These treatments continued through to the middle of the century together with into the cease of the century past times older docs.

In add-on to purging, puking together with bleeding, Doctors of the fourth dimension were creating an anxiety inside women of the weakness of their sex. The concept of the frail married adult woman or the adult woman taking to her couch with the vapors was played upon. Menstruation was seen equally an infirmity. In add-on physician’s strange treatments of prolapsed uterus, leucorrhea, menstrual pains or menopause Pb women to experience they had petty to gain with a see to the regular doctor.

As people were gaining a mistrust of “regular” doctors, other medical theories were beingness developed. Samuel Graham (of Graham breadstuff together with crackers) was lecturing on diet. Thompson studied with a local yarb together with root MD together with learned of Lobelia inflata, Indian tobacco, leading to his theories of illness “heat is life, mutual frigidity is death” together with his Thomsonian School of medicine. Then Hahnemann came with his theories of “infinitesimal dose” together with his homeopathy school.

Lydia Pinkham began selling her chemical compound inwards an era marked past times medical controversy, world dissatisfaction with the medical profession together with an obsessive concern with woman’s weakness. Lydia Pinkham had been making her chemical compound for years together with giving it to friends together with neighbors. Her household unit of measurement had the see to sell the Vegetable Compound when her hubby a speculative draw of piece of job concern human hitting fiscal ruin inwards the “Panic of 1873”. It was a truthful household unit of measurement draw of piece of job concern sons working on advertisement together with advertising, miss turning over her paycheck to underwrite the business, Lydia did the manufacturing together with thence the draw of piece of job concern of “Lydia E. Pinkham’s Vegetable Compound” began.

Promotions began with circulating flyers door to door inwards modest towns together with larger cities. The provide on the investment of the printing together with fourth dimension spent circulating was non worthwhile thence the Mrs. Pinkham bravely took out a 4 page advertizing inwards the Boston Herald for around $900.00. Sales soared! The companionship continued to impress advertising inwards newspapers together with magazines, hiring agents together with eventually having an inwards theater advertising agent for over lx years. The advertising expenditures for 1900 were over $770,000! The companionship also produced a diversity of booklets on such topics equally Home Dressmaking or War fourth dimension Cook together with Health Book equally cleverly camouflaged advertising. In 1920, eleven 1000000 booklets were printed together with the companionship built their ain printing press to hit so. Part of the advertising crusade encouraged adult woman to write for tending with their health. Advertising that “Mrs. Pinkham regards every alphabetic lineament equally a Sacred Message” together with that “No human volition e'er run into your letter”, thousands upon thousands of letters were received together with a bevy of immature women hired to write standardized responses.

from my collection

The companionship for certain went through its part of problems through its 100 twelvemonth history. By 1905 a steady barrage of criticisms were beingness leveled at patent medicines wound business. Major magazines such equally Ladies Home Journal together with Colliers were printing articles with such titles equally “The Great American Fraud”. Patent Medicine Counterfeiters were fairly mutual to the industry. The Passage of the Pure Food together with Drug Act inwards 1911, whose slogan “Let the Label Tell” required proprietary medicines to listing ingredients which cutting downwards on quackery. While the Vegetable Compound needed to modify its labeling together with its healing claims, this led to an era of prosperity for the company. Family squabbles occurred together with inwards the 1930’s-1940’s, with all of the master copy household unit of measurement deceased, at that spot were numerous courtroom battles with the cousins for command of the company. The 1940’s changes were brought on past times the Federal Trade Commission, American Medical Association together with the FDA, the companionship adapted together with complied.

In 1950, sales hitting below the 2 1000000 dollar grade for the maiden of all fourth dimension inwards a decade. Lydia Pinkham was similar a shot an one-time adult woman inwards one-time fashioned clothes. Druggist’s described the consumer of the Vegetable Compound equally good over 30, mature, less educated together with inwards the southward or cities ofttimes Black. The companionship created a fictitious together with modern Ann Pinkham only inwards the cease did non answer astutely plenty to changing times. In 1968 the companionship was sold to Cooper Labs together with moved out of the country.

from my collection

In 1980, when I maiden of all began giving garden tours inwards the herb gardens of The Rosemary House, when I spoke of pleurisy root equally ane of the ingredients inwards Lydia Pinkham’s Vegetable Compound invariably at that spot would endure a adult woman tell “a infant inwards every bottle” a comport over from ane of their stronger advertising campaigns. Now, at the cite of Lydia Pinkham I am faced with blank stares. While today it seems easier to honor a bottle of her Vegetable Compound inwards an antique shop together with thence inwards a pharmacy, I even thence admire the adult woman behind the chemical compound for her shrew draw of piece of job concern feel together with for her willingness to verbalize close woman individual issues honestly together with forthrightly.

The master copy formula of Lydia Pinkham’s Vegetable Compound was based on John King’s American Dispensary.

For 100 pints:

8 oz Unicorn Root (Aletris farinose)

half dozen oz Life Root (Senecio aureus)

half dozen oz Black Cohosh (Cimicifuga racemosa)

12 oz Pluerisy Root (Asclepias tuerosa)

12 oz Fenugreek Seed (Foenum graceum)

Suspended inwards alcohol

Susanna Reppert Brill, The Rosemary House, Mechanicsburg PA

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