# You get to go to a top apothecary in 1900--what do you buy? **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [October 29, 2014, 2:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/you-get-to-go-to-a-top-apothecary-in-1900-what-do-you-buy/702905 "2014-10-29T14:21:28Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Captain\_Amazing](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/6de8d8/32.png) [@Captain\_Amazing](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Captain_Amazing)\ **Post date:** [October 31, 2014, 1:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/you-get-to-go-to-a-top-apothecary-in-1900-what-do-you-buy/702905/21 "2014-10-31T01:44:57Z")
> [@LouisB](#): > > I’ve never heard of paregoric being used as a cough medicine; would it be effective as such? Pretty much all the opiods are antitussives, I think. ---
**Author:** ![Aeschines](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/aeschines/32/16251_2.png) [@Aeschines](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Aeschines)\ **Post date:** [October 31, 2014, 1:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/you-get-to-go-to-a-top-apothecary-in-1900-what-do-you-buy/702905/22 "2014-10-31T01:52:27Z")
> [@Captain\_Amazing](#): > > Pretty much all the opiods are antitussives, I think. Yes, they are extremely effective. That’s why laudanum was such a miracle drug in the 1800s: it took care of pain, diarrhea, and cough. ---
**Author:** ![Rick\_Kitchen](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/rick_kitchen/32/522_2.png) [@Rick\_Kitchen](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rick_Kitchen)\ **Post date:** [October 31, 2014, 2:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/you-get-to-go-to-a-top-apothecary-in-1900-what-do-you-buy/702905/23 "2014-10-31T02:17:34Z")
> [@WhyNot](#): > > Nope. [Synthesized in the 1940s](http://www.chemheritage.org/visit/events/public-events/2011-03-08-bbl-gardner.aspx). > > I’m curious, what do you want it for? Got someone you really hate? It’s good skin cleanser. ---
**Author:** ![bump](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/7c8e57/32.png) [@bump](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bump)\ **Post date:** [October 31, 2014, 2:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/you-get-to-go-to-a-top-apothecary-in-1900-what-do-you-buy/702905/24 "2014-10-31T02:21:14Z")
> [@Rick\_Kitchen](#): > > It’s good skin cleanser. Sure, but it’s toxic as hell. Just go use Hibiclens (chlorhexidine 4%)- it’s just as effective of an antiseptic, but not nearly so toxic. ---
**Author:** ![Rick\_Kitchen](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/rick_kitchen/32/522_2.png) [@Rick\_Kitchen](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rick_Kitchen)\ **Post date:** [October 31, 2014, 2:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/you-get-to-go-to-a-top-apothecary-in-1900-what-do-you-buy/702905/25 "2014-10-31T02:27:58Z")
But the ads tell me to buy it… ---
**Author:** ![SirRay](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/cc9497/32.png) [@SirRay](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SirRay)\ **Post date:** [October 31, 2014, 4:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/you-get-to-go-to-a-top-apothecary-in-1900-what-do-you-buy/702905/26 "2014-10-31T04:15:54Z")
By 1900, wouldn’t an apothecary in the United States essentially be a drug-store? And by 1900, wouldn’t most drug-stores in the United States also have soda fountains (here I’m picturing the young George Baily in Mr. Gower’s drug store from “It’s A Wonderful Life”)? So, in that case, a real old fashioned (well, just “in-fashion” then) two-scoop ice cream soda. 😛 ---
**Author:** ![Terminus\_Est](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/terminus_est/32/3087_2.png) [@Terminus\_Est](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Terminus_Est)\ **Post date:** [October 31, 2014, 4:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/you-get-to-go-to-a-top-apothecary-in-1900-what-do-you-buy/702905/27 "2014-10-31T04:23:30Z")
> [@SirRay](#): > > By 1900, wouldn’t an apothecary in the United States essentially be a drug-store? > And by 1900, wouldn’t most drug-stores in the United States also have soda fountains (here I’m picturing the young George Baily in Mr. Gower’s drug store from “It’s A Wonderful Life”)? > > So, in that case, a real old fashioned (well, just “in-fashion” then) two-scoop ice cream soda. 😛 You could get a Coca-Cola with the coke still in it. ---
**Author:** ![Penfeather](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/penfeather/32/384_2.png) [@Penfeather](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Penfeather)\ **Post date:** [October 31, 2014, 5:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/you-get-to-go-to-a-top-apothecary-in-1900-what-do-you-buy/702905/28 "2014-10-31T05:01:05Z")
[Radium Suppositories.](http://esmeraldasquietlife.files.wordpress.com/2010/04/radium-suppositories-2.jpg) With “health-giving electric atoms”. ---
**Author:** ![Elemenopy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/b5e925/32.png) [@Elemenopy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Elemenopy)\ **Post date:** [October 31, 2014, 5:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/you-get-to-go-to-a-top-apothecary-in-1900-what-do-you-buy/702905/29 "2014-10-31T05:04:40Z")
I would definitely load up. Just for fun. 7-up with real lithium, because you never know. Original Coca-cola…heh. and definitely soothing syrup. (with morphia) Apparently my husband and his cousins got into some ancient paregoric over the holidays when they were little and were knocked out for the whole weekend. :eek: Also, some other things would be interesting. Like original Florida water, cosmetics in general (rouge etc.), orange bitters, tooth powders, and perfumes. ---
**Author:** ![VarlosZ](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/v/d78d45/32.png) [@VarlosZ](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/VarlosZ)\ **Post date:** [October 31, 2014, 5:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/you-get-to-go-to-a-top-apothecary-in-1900-what-do-you-buy/702905/30 "2014-10-31T05:43:35Z")
> [@Aeschines](#): > > Laudanum would be a highly useful painkiller, cough medicine, and anti-diarrhea medicine… That’s basically true of all opiates. Laudanum may or may not be better at some of those things than heroin or opium, but it would be just a matter of degree. Opiates in general are almost all quite similar to each other. If you’ve ever taken 3 or 4 oxycodone at once instead of the 2 it says on the bottle, you pretty much know what heroin is like. Anyway, in the OP’s scenario, I’d keep it simple and just load up on opiates and coke – maybe a 70/30 ratio, respectively. ---
**Author:** ![clairobscur](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/839c29/32.png) [@clairobscur](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/clairobscur)\ **Post date:** [October 31, 2014, 8:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/you-get-to-go-to-a-top-apothecary-in-1900-what-do-you-buy/702905/31 "2014-10-31T08:16:57Z")
> [@Penfeather](#): > > [Radium Suppositories.](http://esmeraldasquietlife.files.wordpress.com/2010/04/radium-suppositories-2.jpg) With “health-giving electric atoms”. You win the thread. ---
**Author:** ![Becky2844](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/91b2a8/32.png) [@Becky2844](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Becky2844)\ **Post date:** [October 31, 2014, 8:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/you-get-to-go-to-a-top-apothecary-in-1900-what-do-you-buy/702905/32 "2014-10-31T08:58:48Z")
Cough medicine would cover a lot of the goody drugs so bottles of that. **kayaker** has already mentioned the best (furniture.) So, fabric. Bolts of cloth from way back then. ---
**Author:** ![Penfeather](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/penfeather/32/384_2.png) [@Penfeather](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Penfeather)\ **Post date:** [October 31, 2014, 9:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/you-get-to-go-to-a-top-apothecary-in-1900-what-do-you-buy/702905/33 "2014-10-31T21:46:49Z")
> [@clairobscur](#): > > You win the thread. The use of these suppositories has an effect on the human body like recharging has on an electric battery, except batteries don’t die of leukemia after three months of jamming an intensive source of ionising radiation up their jacksy every night. ---
**Author:** ![Baker](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/bb73d2/32.png) [@Baker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Baker)\ **Post date:** [November 1, 2014, 2:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/you-get-to-go-to-a-top-apothecary-in-1900-what-do-you-buy/702905/34 "2014-11-01T02:41:29Z")
> [@Aeschines](#): > > Laudanum would be a highly useful painkiller, cough medicine, and anti-diarrhea medicine, Back when we were writing “Finish the…” stories here on the Dope, in the very first one I had one villain murder another person by OD’ing him on laudanum. I wasn’t sure how much it would take, so I called my sister, the pharmacist, to ask about it. Her first response, in an odd tone, was “why do you need to know?”:eek: So I had to explain about the story. ---
**Author:** ![pkbites](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pkbites/32/204_2.png) [@pkbites](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pkbites)\ **Post date:** [November 1, 2014, 3:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/you-get-to-go-to-a-top-apothecary-in-1900-what-do-you-buy/702905/35 "2014-11-01T03:04:21Z")
I wouldn’t buy anything either, I’d take the $100 to a saloon. I want to know what Pabst, Miller, & AB brews tasted like back then. Bet they were at least a little different than now. ---
**Author:** ![Dangerosa](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/22d042/32.png) [@Dangerosa](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dangerosa)\ **Post date:** [November 1, 2014, 3:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/you-get-to-go-to-a-top-apothecary-in-1900-what-do-you-buy/702905/36 "2014-11-01T03:45:20Z")
> [@Aeschines](#): > > Yes, they are extremely effective. That’s why laudanum was such a miracle drug in the 1800s: it took care of pain, diarrhea, and cough. As well as being “mother’s little helper.” I was reading an article about all the middle age women on antidepressants and thinking…we just moved from laudanum to valium to prozac… ---
**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:** [November 2, 2014, 2:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/you-get-to-go-to-a-top-apothecary-in-1900-what-do-you-buy/702905/37 "2014-11-02T02:53:47Z")
> [@WhyNot](#): > > Has Phenylpropanolamine been invented yet? Could I bring the pharmacist instructions for how to make it? Damn, I miss that stuff. Only decongestant ever worked with a darn, and they had to ban it for a few strokes. Bah, humbug. Great shit, but I don’t miss the sudden psycho turns. NPR might’ve saved my life when they ran a story long before the ban that talked about that (you mean it wasn’t just me?) and the strokes. Sudden killer strokes in healthy people. Nasty stuff. ---
**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:** [November 2, 2014, 2:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/you-get-to-go-to-a-top-apothecary-in-1900-what-do-you-buy/702905/38 "2014-11-02T02:56:01Z")
> [@Rick\_Kitchen](#): > > It’s good skin cleanser. But it tastes terrible. ---
**Author:** ![kayaker](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kayaker/32/441_2.png) [@kayaker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kayaker)\ **Post date:** [November 2, 2014, 3:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/you-get-to-go-to-a-top-apothecary-in-1900-what-do-you-buy/702905/39 "2014-11-02T03:17:25Z")
Coincidentally, I have the front/back page of the [1907 Practical Druggist](http://i681.photobucket.com/albums/vv174/kayaker01/imagejpg2_zps03c4b7ad.jpg) hanging, framed, in my bathroom. Primarily for the lower left corner’s cocaine advertisement. ---
**Author:** ![LouisB](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/dfb087/32.png) [@LouisB](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LouisB)\ **Post date:** [November 2, 2014, 11:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/you-get-to-go-to-a-top-apothecary-in-1900-what-do-you-buy/702905/40 "2014-11-02T23:06:03Z")
Let’s say I go off the deep end and forget my addiction to opiates. I decide to mix myself a batch of laudanum. What do I need? I ain’t really gonna do it, I promise. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/you-get-to-go-to-a-top-apothecary-in-1900-what-do-you-buy/702905.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/you-get-to-go-to-a-top-apothecary-in-1900-what-do-you-buy/702905.md?page=3)