# Bewitched: Just what was that medication that Gladys had to take? **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [February 19, 2010, 9:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bewitched-just-what-was-that-medication-that-gladys-had-to-take/529695 "2010-02-19T21:47:56Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 14\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Don\_Draper](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/b2d939/32.png) [@Don\_Draper](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Don_Draper)\ **Post date:** [February 19, 2010, 9:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bewitched-just-what-was-that-medication-that-gladys-had-to-take/529695/1 "2010-02-19T21:47:56Z")
You’ve all seen it: Snoopy old Gladys Kravitz gets a glimpse of some of the genuine witch-craft being practiced across the street at the Stevens-es house. But by the time she can persuade her exasperated husband to get out of his easy chair and look, everything has been put back the way it was. Abner says “Take your medicine, Gladys.” Once or twice, Gladys sees everything has been set right, and before her husband can say anything she seizes the bottle and chugs from it, usually while mugging at the camera. At least once, Abner had a split second glimpse of something supernatural going on, and took the medication himself. Soooo, just what WAS that medication anyway? It was in a liquid form and came in the typecast ‘prescription medicine’ bottle shape. Had Gladys been diagnosed with acute schizophrenia and on some kind of ‘anti-hallucinogen’? Gladys must have been the only person in America in the 1960s to be taking a drug to _prevent_ hallucinations from occurring! Just curious if anybody had a thought on the subject. ---
**Author:** ![friedo](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/8edcca/32.png) [@friedo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/friedo)\ **Post date:** [February 19, 2010, 9:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bewitched-just-what-was-that-medication-that-gladys-had-to-take/529695/2 "2010-02-19T21:54:02Z")
> [@The New and Improved Superman](#): > > Soooo, just what WAS that medication anyway? It was in a liquid form and came in the typecast ‘prescription medicine’ bottle shape. Had Gladys been diagnosed with acute schizophrenia and on some kind of ‘anti-hallucinogen’? Gladys must have been the only person in America in the 1960s to be taking a drug to _prevent_ hallucinations from occurring! Antipsychotic medications go back to long before the 1960s. Lithium salts were being used to treat mania in the late 1940s, for example. But the important point, I think, is that we’re talking about a joke on a sitcom, not medical science. ---
**Author:** ![Markxxx](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/5daacb/32.png) [@Markxxx](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Markxxx)\ **Post date:** [February 19, 2010, 10:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bewitched-just-what-was-that-medication-that-gladys-had-to-take/529695/3 "2010-02-19T22:01:57Z")
It must’ve been some sort of “nerve tonic.” If it wasn’t prescribed than it probably was a homeopathic remedy or a mix of herbs and alcohol. Remember in the 60s doctors used to prescribe Valium and the like without the reservations they do today. ---
**Author:** ![BrainGlutton](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/82dd89/32.png) [@BrainGlutton](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BrainGlutton)\ **Post date:** [February 19, 2010, 10:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bewitched-just-what-was-that-medication-that-gladys-had-to-take/529695/4 "2010-02-19T22:35:28Z")
> [@Markxxx](#): > > It must’ve been some sort of “nerve tonic.” If it wasn’t prescribed than it probably was a homeopathic remedy or a mix of herbs and alcohol. > > Remember in the 60s doctors used to prescribe Valium and the like without the reservations they do today. ☹_sigh_ ---
**Author:** ![SpoilerVirgin](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/4491bb/32.png) [@SpoilerVirgin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SpoilerVirgin)\ **Post date:** [February 19, 2010, 10:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bewitched-just-what-was-that-medication-that-gladys-had-to-take/529695/5 "2010-02-19T22:48:49Z")
Pretty clearly she was taking a [patent medicine](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Patent_medicine) of the kind often satirized in movies and T.V. shows, whose primary ingredient was alcohol. It’s the same idea behind a scene in which someone would see something that appeared to be a hallucination and say, “I need a drink! [to calm me down/make this thing go away]” Probably the most famous use of this type of patent medicine in a sitcom is the [vegameatavitamin](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vitameatavegamin#Episodes) episode of I Love Lucy. ---
**Author:** ![njtt](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/ecd19e/32.png) [@njtt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/njtt)\ **Post date:** [February 19, 2010, 10:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bewitched-just-what-was-that-medication-that-gladys-had-to-take/529695/6 "2010-02-19T22:52:59Z")
Wow, a _Bewitched_ thread and an _I Dream of Jeannie_ thread on the same day. Is it a sign of the apocalypse? ---
**Author:** ![BrainGlutton](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/82dd89/32.png) [@BrainGlutton](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BrainGlutton)\ **Post date:** [February 19, 2010, 11:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bewitched-just-what-was-that-medication-that-gladys-had-to-take/529695/7 "2010-02-19T23:37:14Z")
> [@SpoilerVirgin](#): > > Probably the most famous use of this type of patent medicine in a sitcom is the [vegameatavitamin](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vitameatavegamin#Episodes) episode of I Love Lucy. Hm. I recall an episode of _Good Times_ where Florida was tapped to act in a commercial for a tonic called “Vita-Brite,” but backed out in the end when it turned out that the stuff had a high alcohol content. (“James! Vita-Brite is Vita-Booze!” And then Michael, who has been innocently sipping the stuff, suddenly breaks out singing “Tie a Yellow Ribbon 'Round the Old Oak Tree!”) Never realized the plot had such Classical antecedents . . . ---
**Author:** ![Don\_Draper](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/b2d939/32.png) [@Don\_Draper](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Don_Draper)\ **Post date:** [February 20, 2010, 4:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bewitched-just-what-was-that-medication-that-gladys-had-to-take/529695/8 "2010-02-20T04:01:02Z")
> [@njtt](#): > > Wow, a _Bewitched_ thread and an _I Dream of Jeannie_ thread on the same day. Is it a sign of the apocalypse? Admittedly, I saw the “Jeannie” thread and that somehow set off a train of thought that brought me to Bewitched and Gladys Kravitz. ---
**Author:** ![Two\_Many\_Cats](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/8dc957/32.png) [@Two\_Many\_Cats](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Two_Many_Cats)\ **Post date:** [February 20, 2010, 4:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bewitched-just-what-was-that-medication-that-gladys-had-to-take/529695/9 "2010-02-20T04:17:57Z")
Another Bewitched question. Was it the usual thing in the 50’s and 60’s to have the boss over for dinner? It seemed like Larry Tate was having dinner at the Stevens’ every other night. I know it’s a sitcom schtick, (Oh no! Endora’s left a fire breathing dragon in the kitchen, and the boss is due any minute!!) but were up and coming executives apt to invite their bosses home back then? It just seems weird now. ---
**Author:** ![dropzone](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dropzone/32/7515_2.png) [@dropzone](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dropzone)\ **Post date:** [February 20, 2010, 6:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bewitched-just-what-was-that-medication-that-gladys-had-to-take/529695/10 "2010-02-20T06:02:28Z")
> [@njtt](#): > > Wow, a _Bewitched_ thread and an _I Dream of Jeannie_ thread on the same day. Is it a sign of the apocalypse? Having seen both shows recently with my daughters they range from (Jeannie) “It could suck more” and (Bewitched) “It was pretty funny.” ---
**Author:** ![furryman](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/furryman/32/99_2.png) [@furryman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/furryman)\ **Post date:** [February 20, 2010, 7:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bewitched-just-what-was-that-medication-that-gladys-had-to-take/529695/11 "2010-02-20T19:09:48Z")
> [@Two\_Many\_Cats](#): > > Another Bewitched question. Was it the usual thing in the 50’s and 60’s to have the boss over for dinner? It seemed like Larry Tate was having dinner at the Stevens’ every other night. I know it’s a sitcom schtick, (Oh no! Endora’s left a fire breathing dragon in the kitchen, and the boss is due any minute!!) but were up and coming executives apt to invite their bosses home back then? It just seems weird now. What I think is even weirder is how everybody casually offers hard liquor and nobody objects or even thinks its strange. Personally I’d quit before I’d ever touch a gin and tonic. Is this really a widespread business practice? ---
**Author:** ![tacoloco](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/7993a0/32.png) [@tacoloco](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tacoloco)\ **Post date:** [February 20, 2010, 7:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bewitched-just-what-was-that-medication-that-gladys-had-to-take/529695/12 "2010-02-20T19:11:45Z")
> [@dropzone](#): > > Having seen both shows recently with my daughters they range from (Jeannie) “It could suck more” and (Bewitched) “It was pretty funny.” Elizabeth Montgomery \> Barbara Eden, any day of the week, even though Jeannie was more scantily clad. ---
**Author:** ![alphaboi867](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/alphaboi867/32/3898_2.png) [@alphaboi867](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/alphaboi867)\ **Post date:** [February 20, 2010, 8:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bewitched-just-what-was-that-medication-that-gladys-had-to-take/529695/13 "2010-02-20T20:20:55Z")
> [@furryman](#): > > What I think is even weirder is how everybody casually offers hard liquor and nobody objects or even thinks its strange. Personally I’d quit before I’d ever touch a gin and tonic. Is this really a widespread business practice? It was in certain professions like sales or advertising ( **Mad-Men** is full of temporal culture shock like this). What’s really strange is that Abner never had Gladys commited despite hall of her “delusions”. She must’ve been really, really, exotic Oriental hooker, good in bed. ---
**Author:** ![Kent\_Clark](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kent_clark/32/105_2.png) [@Kent\_Clark](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kent_Clark)\ **Post date:** [February 20, 2010, 8:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bewitched-just-what-was-that-medication-that-gladys-had-to-take/529695/14 "2010-02-20T20:31:15Z")
> [@Two\_Many\_Cats](#): > > Another Bewitched question. Was it the usual thing in the 50’s and 60’s to have the boss over for dinner? It seemed like Larry Tate was having dinner at the Stevens’ every other night. I know it’s a sitcom schtick, (Oh no! Endora’s left a fire breathing dragon in the kitchen, and the boss is due any minute!!) but were up and coming executives apt to invite their bosses home back then? It just seems weird now. > [@furryman](#): > > What I think is even weirder is how everybody casually offers hard liquor and nobody objects or even thinks its strange. Personally I’d quit before I’d ever touch a gin and tonic. Is this really a widespread business practice? Yes, I can remember my parents having my father’s boss over to dinner several times. Granted that may be a little out of the ordinary, because the boss was out of town and only came in a few times a year, but my parents certainly didn’t think it was odd. And yes, people drank a lot more in that era (and especially a lot more hard liquor and mixed drinks.)