Kankakee Valley Post, Volume 2, Number 26, DeMotte, Jasper County, 19 January 1933 — Romantic Origin of Package Medicines [ARTICLE]

Romantic Origin of Package Medicines

Some of the most interesting romances will be found in the march of industry; for back of nearly every product which gains public acceptance is the very human story of somebody’s ideal, ambition, ingenuity, enterprise, disappointment, struggle and final achievement. The privations and hardships which accompanied the early years of the development of package medicines are an important part of the history of our nation. The public seldom appreciates the doubt, the ridicule, the ostracism and the enormous financial risks which were suffered by the early pioneers in medicines. Their faith, determination and pioneering spirit were responsible for developing and bringing to our medicine shelves those well known package medicines which afford economy and convenience, and which are so essential to our everyday lives.

Today we take our family remedies for granted as naturally as we accept the air or sunshine. Most package medicines were originally prescribed by that beloved individual, the memory of whose selfsacrificing life is most beautiful--the old family physician. Being prescriptions of merit which produced results, they survived. They became much in demand and consequently much prescribed by their originators. Perhaps the demand grew so rapidly that the old doctor found himself unable, with his limited equipment, his modest kit, to fill the need. Often he, sometimes assisted by his kinsmen or friends, prepared to meet the demand by a quantity production, that the meritorious prescriptions might receive the widespread use which their popularity justified. Then came years of toil, hardships, risks, struggles; with life's earnings and life’s efforts invested. Eventually the laboratory and the machine entered the picture, and every invention of a modern world was utilized to increase perfection, production and distribution. Whether an individual package medicine has been on the market for scores of years, or whether it is the more recent product of medical research, a large proportion of package medicines in general are based upon solid scientific knowledge, and deserve the confidence of the public. Proprietary remedies which can ease human suffering, mitigate human distress, or add to human health and physical efficiency, at a price within the reach of the poor man’s pocketbook, are indeed worthy adjuncts to American life, as well as American commerce. “They can be safely relied upon,” as Lord Bacon expressed it, “to tune the curious harp of man’s body.”