Warner’s Safe Rheumatic Cure. First edition.
New York: H.H. Warner, late 19th Century. Color lithograph trade card.. With cut-outs. 10.5 x 9.5cm.
Trade card showing a girl attending to a man with dwarfism, seated on a chair, and with his two wrapped feet resting on an ottoman. She hands him a bottle of Warner’s Safe Rheumatic Cure. Image also shows the box for the cure in the lower right corner. H. H. Warner, entered the patent medicine trade in 1879, and expanded his line of products to include the Safe Rheumatic Cure in 1885. The marketing of his "Safe" cure usually alluded to its benefits to persons whose health was already in peril.
Warner's Safe Cure bottles contained a preparation that was marketed as a cure for all diseases and problems relating to the kidneys and the liver. Warner traced all types of disease back to problems with these two organs--even malaria. While the number of diseases that Warner's cured--listed on the label of this bottle and in period advertisements--seem grandiose today, during the 19th century many people regarded doctors with some suspicion, and buying a remedy from a chemist or apothecary was standard practice. Perhaps more so than any other manufacturer of a "cure-all" medicine, Warner used advertising to great effect. His almanacs, distributed by post, contained numerous testimonials from satisfied customers. Item #51-5522
Price: $100.00