Box, Medicine

Object Name:

Box, Medicine

Object ID:

1992.063.443

Place of Origin:

Boston, MA

Date:

1915-1930

Description:

Medicine in original box, Elvita Drug Company, Boston, MA. Rectangular tin box with rounded corners and hinged cover. Pink exterior, printed in black. Top: "ORIGINATED 1848. / STRENGTH-VITALITY-MANHOOD / Elvita PILLS. / FOR WEAK AND / NERVOUS PEOPLE / ELVITA DRUG CO. / 3 TREMONT ROW, BOSTON, MASS. / SOLE PROPRIETORS / AND / DISTRIBUTORS. / $1.00 PER BOX". Front: "DOSE - ONE PILL AFTER EACH MEAL. SPECIAL DIRECTIONS / ON ENCLOSED CIRCULAR." Left side: "45 PILLS". Right side: "NEW STYLE OF LABEL / ADOPTED JAN. 1915." Back: "BEWARE OF IMITATIONS. SEE THAT THE SEAL / IS NOT BROKEN." Inside cover: "A VALUABLE MEDICINE FOR NERVOUS / AND GENERAL DEBILITY AND WEAK- / NESS OF ORGANS OF GENERATION / OF MALE OR FEMALE." Partial black wax seal on bottom. Box contains round yellow pills wrapped in cotton, and a printed circular.

Material:

Metal
Tin

Dimensions:

H-0.8 W-2.85 D-1.65 inches

Provenance:

Part of the Wilfred B. Osgood Pharmacy Collection, consisting of the 1870s-1950s contents of the Knox Pharmacy (owned by Fred L. Knox) and Roberts Rexall Store (owned by George C. Roberts) in Farmington, NH. Wilfred Osgood purchased both pharmacies in the late 1940s/early 1950s, and kept the original furnishings from both stores. During the 1970s, he created a pharmacy display room from the contents of both stores. This collection is the contents of that display. The collection also includes manuscripts, books, photographs, and printed ephemera, transferred to NHHS library (1992-068).

Credit Line:

Gift of Donna T. Osgood in memory of Wilfred B. Osgood

People:

Osgood, Wilfred (1911-1988)

Subjects:

Pharmacies, Pharmacists, Medicines, Pills