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Tiny Survivor From America’s Patent-Medicine Era
Standing only 1¾ inches tall, this wonderfully graphic little metal tin once held Dr. D. Jayne’s Sugar Coated Sanative Pills, a celebrated Philadelphia patent medicine marketed as a stomachic, laxative, purgative and cathartic.
The original label gives dosage instructions ranging from a single pill to as many as seven—Victorian medicine apparently believed that if one pill failed, the answer was simply more enthusiasm.
Precisely Dated to the Early FDA Era
The side reads:
“Guaranteed by Dr. D. Jayne & Son under the Food and Drugs Act, June 30, 1906, No. 1691.”
That numbered federal guarantee places the package firmly after the landmark 1906 Food and Drugs Act and most likely within the circa 1907–1916 period.
The ornate upper wrapper bears the name Dr. D. Jayne & Son, Philadelphia and depicts the company’s impressive building surrounded by the wording “Established 1830.” That date refers to the heritage of the business rather than the manufacture of this particular tin.
Condition
Remarkably complete for a tiny package intended to be discarded after use. Retains its original ribbed cap, labeled top, elaborate company wrapper, dosage label and federal guarantee statement.
Displays expected age toning, staining, surface wear, abrasions, small areas of paper loss and an old handwritten marking on the cap. The extensive graphics and lettering remain quite legible. Whether any original contents remain inside has not been verified.
A scarce and exceptionally displayable piece of Philadelphia pharmaceutical history, patent-medicine advertising and early federal drug-regulation history.
