# Rexall **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [April 3, 2011, 5:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rexall/577054 "2011-04-03T17:43:52Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![El\_Kabong](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/el_kabong/32/496_2.png) [@El\_Kabong](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/El_Kabong)\ **Post date:** [April 4, 2011, 2:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rexall/577054/21 "2011-04-04T02:51:54Z")
In my smallish hometown in Pennsylvania, the nearest pharmacy, and the only one we used, was the Westmont Rexall. Yes, I remember the smell. The place is still a pharmacy, but no longer has the Rexall name, and there is now a CVS down the street that has pretty much sealed the smaller pharmacy’s fate. ---
**Author:** ![missred](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/missred/32/14096_2.png) [@missred](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/missred)\ **Post date:** [April 4, 2011, 3:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rexall/577054/22 "2011-04-04T03:02:39Z")
The itty bitty town in Indiana where I grew up had one drugstore, a Rexall. That’s where we went for all of our prescriptions and OTC stuff, but it was much more than that. They sold small electrical appliances (radios, alarm clocks, heating pads and electric toothbrushes), cosmetics, greeting cards, candy, books, magazines and warmed nuts. They also had an old school soda fountain/lunch counter. I spent many allowances on green rivers and cherry phosphates while twirling on the stools at the counter. It was converted to a sundries store when the owner/pharmacist passed away and closed a few years after. ---
**Author:** ![Lynn\_Bodoni](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/e47c2d/32.png) [@Lynn\_Bodoni](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lynn_Bodoni)\ **Post date:** [April 4, 2011, 3:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rexall/577054/23 "2011-04-04T03:55:55Z")
Oh man, warmed nuts. I remember those. I should probably warm some cashews or pecans some day. And I remember the old soda fountain/lunch counters. There was a Rexall drug store about four blocks from my childhood home, along with a Piggly Wiggly grocery store. And a small laundromat and I believe a beauty parlor. ---
**Author:** ![Roderick\_Femm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/roderick_femm/32/14875_2.png) [@Roderick\_Femm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Roderick_Femm)\ **Post date:** [April 4, 2011, 4:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rexall/577054/24 "2011-04-04T04:10:28Z")
There’s still one in business at 9th and Irving in San Francisco. I remember these when I was growing up in Oregon; the only competition that I remember is the local non-chain drugstores. Like the A&P, Rexall was an example of an early chain that got overrun by bigger chains. Roddy ---
**Author:** ![dwyr](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dwyr/32/363_2.png) [@dwyr](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dwyr)\ **Post date:** [April 4, 2011, 5:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rexall/577054/25 "2011-04-04T05:30:03Z")
> [@Zeldar](#): > > I finally remembered one that is now defunct in this area: SuperX. … I was trying to remember the drugstore we went to when I was a kid and that’s it, SupeRx. It was right next to the Kroger which makes sense as I see that Kroger owned the chain. I don’t think we ever had a Rexall in town. ---
**Author:** ![Nanoda](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/ce73a5/32.png) [@Nanoda](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nanoda)\ **Post date:** [April 4, 2011, 5:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rexall/577054/26 "2011-04-04T05:39:25Z")
> [@Canadjun](#): > > Yes, but I was referring to the large drug store chain. Who do you think bought the stadium naming rights? 😕 ---
**Author:** ![CalMeacham](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/calmeacham/32/35_2.png) [@CalMeacham](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CalMeacham)\ **Post date:** [April 4, 2011, 11:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rexall/577054/27 "2011-04-04T11:28:25Z")
There used to be a Rexall pharmacy in my home town. It hasn’t been a “Rexall” pharmacy for decades now (although still a drug store), but the last time I visited, I saw that they had finally taken down the Rexall sign. ---
**Author:** ![Hampshire](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hampshire/32/4887_2.png) [@Hampshire](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hampshire)\ **Post date:** [April 4, 2011, 2:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rexall/577054/28 "2011-04-04T14:56:23Z")
Our local one sponsered the little leauge team I was on in the 70s. Our shirts said Rexall Drug and it was our team name. ---
**Author:** ![Siam\_Sam](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/d78d45/32.png) [@Siam\_Sam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Siam_Sam)\ **Post date:** [April 4, 2011, 3:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rexall/577054/29 "2011-04-04T15:01:53Z")
I remember Rexal drug stores and the way they smelled. ---
**Author:** ![johnpost](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/f17d59/32.png) [@johnpost](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/johnpost)\ **Post date:** [April 4, 2011, 4:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rexall/577054/30 "2011-04-04T16:17:55Z")
an old USA franchise drugstore chain. also sponsored Amos and Andy radio show. a chain larger in locations than Walgreens or CVS today. They sold lots of items outside of pharmaceuticals like Walgreens does (minus the food), and had store brands. ---
**Author:** ![CalMeacham](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/calmeacham/32/35_2.png) [@CalMeacham](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CalMeacham)\ **Post date:** [April 4, 2011, 4:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rexall/577054/31 "2011-04-04T16:26:37Z")
> [@](#): > > For starters, do you know where and when the “Rx” thing got started? The explanation I’d heard was that the **R[sub]x[/sub]** was adapted from the symbol for Jupiter, but the Wikipedia entry calls this a Folk Etymology, and says it is medieval latin abbreviation for _recipe_ (meaning “Take…”) “Rexall” undoubtedly turned the “Rx” into the pronounceable “Rex-” and added “-all”, giving a full name (and probably suggesting that they had everything you might need to take). > **[Medical prescription](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Medical_prescription)** > > A prescription, often abbreviated ℞ or Rx, is a formal communication from physicians or other registered healthcare professionals to a pharmacist, authorizing them to dispense a specific prescription drug for a specific patient. Historically, it was a physician's instruction to an apothecary listing the materials to be compounded into a treatment—the symbol ℞ (a capital letter R, crossed to indicate abbreviation) comes from the first word of a medieval prescription, Latin recipe (lit. 'take tho... ---
**Author:** ![snowmaster](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/e99b99/32.png) [@snowmaster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/snowmaster)\ **Post date:** [April 4, 2011, 4:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rexall/577054/32 "2011-04-04T16:44:00Z")
Rexall! The drug store that isn’t. We have a store on Hampton beach, NH with Rexall signs but they sell a lot more beach gear than anything drugstore related. ---
**Author:** ![PoorYorick](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/ecccb3/32.png) [@PoorYorick](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/PoorYorick)\ **Post date:** [April 4, 2011, 5:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rexall/577054/33 "2011-04-04T17:05:03Z")
I remember the circular comic book rack. Twelve cents for the regular comic books, 25 cents for the big issues. ---
**Author:** ![TheoS](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/e99b99/32.png) [@TheoS](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TheoS)\ **Post date:** [April 4, 2011, 5:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rexall/577054/34 "2011-04-04T17:16:11Z")
I worked for the manufacturing company back in the late '70’s. They had a 7 story building off Kingshighway in St. Louis and it was one of the most interesting places I’ve ever seen. They manufactured multiple different OTC medications but fell onto hard times with some poor (risky) decisions. I heard they ran into some big issues with product liability lawsuits that were critical to an already struggling market environment. Some of the most interesting business personalities I have ever encountered! ---
**Author:** ![Wheelz](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wheelz/32/5718_2.png) [@Wheelz](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Wheelz)\ **Post date:** [April 4, 2011, 6:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rexall/577054/35 "2011-04-04T18:43:56Z")
There was a Rexall in the strip mall next to the elementary school I attended (Chicago suburbs; late 60s - early 70s), and it was a frequent after-school stop. I bought all my baseball cards there, candy, kites, and other kid-related stuff. There was a penny gumball machine and if you got a gumball with a red stripe, you won a free candy bar. (I don’t recall any unique smells there, though.) ---
**Author:** ![Zeldar](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/b77776/32.png) [@Zeldar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Zeldar)\ **Post date:** [April 4, 2011, 8:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rexall/577054/36 "2011-04-04T20:21:24Z")
> [@Wheelz](#): > > There was a Rexall in the strip mall next to the elementary school I attended (Chicago suburbs; late 60s - early 70s), and it was a frequent after-school stop. I bought all my baseball cards there, candy, kites, and other kid-related stuff. There was a penny gumball machine and if you got a gumball with a red stripe, you won a free candy bar. > > (I don’t recall any unique smells there, though.) The smell I remember most distinctly was a lot like Lysol, but blended with other patent medicine aromas, too. A hint of sweeping compound, too. And on occasion those warmed nuts, popcorn and other soda fountain things. Heady aroma! Does anybody remember stuff like Musterole, Mentholatum, castor oil, cod liver oil, and other repugnant remedies that may have been banned by now? Mercurochrome? There were a lot of stinking “beauty products” too that would have contaminated the basic pleasant smell. ---
**Author:** ![kittenblue](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/ba8739/32.png) [@kittenblue](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kittenblue)\ **Post date:** [April 4, 2011, 10:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rexall/577054/37 "2011-04-04T22:45:49Z")
There’s a Rexall across the street from a branch of my bank here in Cleveland. Only one left that I know of. ---
**Author:** ![Student\_Driver](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/3da27b/32.png) [@Student\_Driver](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Student_Driver)\ **Post date:** [April 4, 2011, 11:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rexall/577054/38 "2011-04-04T23:00:33Z")
> [@Zeldar](#): > > Does anybody remember stuff like Musterole, Mentholatum, castor oil, cod liver oil, and other repugnant remedies that may have been banned by now? Mercurochrome? Cod liver and castor oils are still pretty commonly available, Mentholatum is a second-tier brand to Vicks VapoRub but still around (and store generics to VapoRub are usually repackaged Mentholatum). Mercurochrome is still around but in name only-- the original mercury-based stuff was taken off the market a decade or so ago, but the name seems to be applied to other mercury-free tinctures like [this](http://www.amazon.com/Sanvall-Mercurochrome-Oz-Sanar-Naturals/dp/B003IPOOOC). Haven’t seen mustard plasters in ages, though. ---
**Author:** ![aceplace57](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/aceplace57/32/3500_2.png) [@aceplace57](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/aceplace57)\ **Post date:** [April 4, 2011, 11:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rexall/577054/39 "2011-04-04T23:17:16Z")
We had a couple Rexall in my hometown. My aunt worked in one of them. She sold cosmetics and perfumes. They even sent her to some one day workshops for training. We always had the free calenders hanging in our kitchen. I miss those drugstores. They were usually owned by the local Pharmacist. ---
**Author:** ![Infovore](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/infovore/32/420_2.png) [@Infovore](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Infovore)\ **Post date:** [April 6, 2011, 6:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rexall/577054/40 "2011-04-06T18:12:42Z")
> [@Little\_Nemo](#): > > There are still a few Rexall drugstores in operation. > > eta: According to Google maps, there’s one in Ojai. So you can check out the smell if you wish. You just brought back a memory! That Rexall was right up the street from my childhood house, in a shopping center that also had Safeway ((now Vons) with video games! I became quite the Frogger champ there) and a TG&Y (variety store). My mom and I used to take walks there every couple of days, and I bought many a record album from their bins back the '70s. They had an amazing selection of candy, including some that I couldn’t find anywhere else (like these little Leaf things that were quite tasty). And yes, there was a distinctive “drug store” smell. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rexall/577054.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rexall/577054.md?page=3)