Elleda Wilson: In One Ear: Patently awful
Apr. 8—An advertisement for Boschee's German Syrup in The Daily Astorian on April 8, 1887, warranted a closer look: "Astonishing success ... in curing consumption (tuberculosis), severe coughs, croup, asthma, pneumonia and in fact all throat and lung diseases ... Three doses will relieve any case ..."
A publication called Paper Trail offered some background on this patent medicine and its purveyor, Dr. G. G. Green, who advertised his "medicines" and wealth in a "brag book" he sent to "the trade for the entertainment of their patrons" in 1889.
Obviously the product was lucrative for the good Dr. Green, as the photos in the book showed his ornate and opulent living room (shown), and his mansion and 11-acre grounds, which included the company laboratory and glass house (to make the glass bottles for his products) in Woodbury, New Jersey. Oh, and he had his own private and elegant railroad car, too, made by the Pullman Co.
Anyway, it's not surprising that people who took this syrup felt "cured," no matter what the affliction, and made Dr. Green's life of grandeur possible: Boschee's syrup's main ingredient was laudanum, a tincture of opium. (bit.ly/Boschees1, bit.ly/Boschees2)
