Tar heel junior historian [2006 : fall, v.46 : no.1]

In 1S9S L unsford Richardson opened the L. Richardson Drug Company, shown here in 1899, and began to sell his N icks Family Remedies wholesale to drugstores throughout the state Image courtesy of the Greensboro Historical Museum Archives. memory- In 1935 his chil¬ dren estab¬ lished the Richardson Foundation to promote scien¬ tific and charitable projects. Today Procter and Gamble Company produces VapoRub and an extended line of Vicks products. Nearly ninety years after Richardson's death, his "magic" salve contin¬ ues to relieve the discomfort of sick people through¬ out the world. but his legacy and vision live on. In the years after his death, a mis¬ sionary school, a local hospital for African Americans, and a World War II Liberty ship were named in his / White Uiuj Ca Vicks Antiseptic i MOUTH-WASH AND GARGLE 254 value IOc Vicks products were advertised widely throughout the South. This window ad dates from the 1930s. Image courtesy of the North Carolina Museum of History. Activity: Fan Mail The following is a letter sent to the Vick Chemical Company about the wonders of Vicks VapoRub. Although the story is somewhat of a "tall tale,” it is one of many fan letters that Lunsford Richardson's company received. Have you ever considered writing a fan letter to someone? Think about an invention that you use every day, and try writing a letter to its inventor that tells him or her how much you enjoy the product. Texas, 1917 No matter what happens, we won't part with the jar of Vicks. My son's puppy was slow crossing a railroad track and a fast train cut off his tail. We nibbed Vicks on him and it grew another tail. The miracle, however, was performed when the little boy next door, who had always wanted a puppy, rubbed Vicks on the part of the tail that had been cut off and grew himself a dog! Inventive Spirit: Pain Relief When was aspirin invented? The father of modem medicine, Hippocrates, working between 460 and 377 BC, left records of pain-relief treat¬ ments that included the use of powder made from the bark and leaves of the wil¬ low tree to help heal headaches, body pains, and fevers. In 1829 scientists discov¬ ered a pain-relieving compound called salicin in willow plants. Salicylic acid was tough on stomachs. In 1853 Charles Gerhardt neutralized the acid but did not pursue marketing his new find. Several years later, Feliz Hoffman, an employee of German company Bayer, found Gerhardt's formula, marketed it, and sold it. Aspirin was patented March 6, 1 889, and sold as a powder. Tablets came along in 1915. Why headache powders? It was very common for druggists in the early 1 900s to buy These packets of BC and Goody's headache pow¬ ders were made in the 1960s and 1990s in Durham County and Forsyth County, respectively. Images courtesy of the North Carolina Museum of History raw materials and make their own prescrip¬ tions. Pills were harder for the local druggist to make, so pain-relief powders developed as a regional heritage. BC Headache Powder: Pharmacists Germain Bernard and Commodore Council created their headache powder in 1906 at the Five Points Drug Company in Durham. Stanback Headache Powder: Thomas Stanback, of Salisbury, created his headache powder in 1911, as a young phar¬ macist in a Thomasville drugstore. He moved to Spencer to work at the Rowan Drug Store while its pharmacist vacationed. There he gave samples of his new headache power containing aspirin to rail¬ roaders, who carried it up and down the Southern line. Stanback persuaded his younger brother Fred to try selling the pow¬ ders to area stores. Thomas prepared the product by night, and Fred sold it by day. Thomas used a flour sifter, then a sifter with a hand crank to speed production. The brothers began renting a building in Spencer in 1927 and sold their powders from Richmond, Virginia, to Columbus, Georgia. In 1 932 a new Italian-made fold¬ ing machine was purchased, and produc¬ tion moved to Salisbury. Full-scale national advertising began. Goody': Headache Winston-Salem pharmacist Martin "Goody" Goodman created his headache powder in 1 932. A. Thad Lewallen Sr. bought the for¬ mula and trademark a few years later. His marketing strategy based on sampling introduced Goody's Headache Powder to the Southeast and beyond. Samples were handed out to factory workers at shift changes. This promotional method created a dedicated following. Demand soon out¬ stripped production. In 1941 a modem pro¬ duction facility and an increased sales force furthered boosted Goody's. Bromo-Seltzer: Isaac Edward Emerson, a native of Chapel Hill and 1 879 graduate of the University of North Carolina at Chapel H01, moved to Maryland in 1881. In 1 888, working behind the prescription count¬ er of a modest drugstore, he created a rem¬ edy for headaches and indigestion. His background in chemistry and pharmacy led to the granular effervescent salt he named Bromo-Seltzer and packaged in cobalt blue glass bottles. — Suzanne Mewborn 8 THJH, Fall 2006