The Rise and Fall of the Warner Empire: Life After Safe Cure (Part IX)

Although H. H. Warner lost control of the Safe Cure business that he had coaxed into existence in 1879 and grown into an international success, he apparently never lost his entrepeneurial spirit. Unfortunately for him, he never experienced any degree of success.  Following his bankruptcy filing in 1893, Warner separated from his second wife, Emily Olive Stoddard, and moved for a time to New York City. There is some speculation that he attempted to form another medicine company in Philadelphia in 1908-1915; however this has not been documented. It has also been speculated that he moved for a period to Mexico, looking after lumber investments. While there, he may have met Christina de Martinez, who later took Warner’s name and resided with him in Minneapolis.

Between 1915 and 1919, Warner promoted yet another medicine business, the Nuera Manufacturing Company or Nuera Remedy Company in Minneapolis. At the time of Warner’s death in January, 1923, it was referred to as the Guaranteed Remedy Company and thereafter as Warner’s Renowned Remedies Company.  The 1924 Minneapolis City Directory lists the Warner’s Renowned Remedies Company managed by R. P. Rutherford located at 728 Security Building. The Security Building was located at 2nd Avenue South and 4th Street and later became known as the Midland Bank Building. I have included two photographs of the building from the archives of the Hennepin County Public Library in Minneapolis. Judging from the vehicles in one of the photographs, it appears that they were taken in the early 1930′s.

Following his death, a small advertising booklet for Warner’s Renowned Remedies heralded “Dr. H. H. Warner” as “Humanities benefactor – Founder and Former Owner – Warner’s Safe Remedies. It offers numerous mail order only remedies for ailments like Goiter, Stumak, Ake, Gall Stone, Vaginal and the Renowned Kidney Remedy. Christina de Martinez Warner was never officially married to H. H. Warner. Indeed, there is no evidence that he had ever divorced Emily. Nevertheless, Christina lived with Warner on Blaisdell Avenue in Minneapolis. Minneapolis City Directories for that period list C. M. Warner is listed as widow of H. H. Warner and president of the Warner’s Renowned Remedies Company from 1930 to 1933 and vice-president between 1934 and 1941. The last record for the company was in 1942 and listed Mrs. Eva Ross as president. Christina died in 1949.

After his death in 1923, Warner was buried in his first wife’s family plot in Lakeview Cemetery in Skaneateles, New York. The grave is located in an old area of the cemetery and marked with an impressive red marble gravestone.

Special thanks to Jack Stecher who has thoroughly researched Warner’s life, including his life after he left the Safe Remedies Company in Rochester. Jack has published his work in his articles entitled “H. H. Warner: World Renowned Patent Medicine KIng – Biographical Sketch.” Thanks also to the Hennepin County Library for their assistance in researching the Minneapolis City Directories and finding photographs of the Security Building.

Warner’s Safe References – “The Snake-Oil Syndrome”

In an effort to make this blog both interesting and informative, I have tried to highlight sources of information on H. H. Warner and his patent medicine enterprise. Without question, the most complete published work is the article by Edward C. Atwater entitled “Hulbert Harrington Warner and the Perfect Pitch,” published in New York History magazine in 1975. The article is thoroughly researched and provides as good a source as exists on the topic. Indeed, Atwater’s article has served as a primary source for countless books and articles in the last 30 years.

I have recently discovered another book that I would recommend. It is entitled  “The Snake-Oil Syndrome: Patent Medicine Advertising” by A. Walker Bingham published in 1994. The book is loaded with great information about patent medicine advertising, including a brief discussion about H. H. Warner and examples of his advertising. The bad news is that the book appears to be out of print, so you will need to check your library to get a copy or folk out about $125 to a book dealer.

The Rise and Fall of the Warner Empire: The Warner’s Safe Remedies Co. (Part VIII)

Warner’s slide into insolvency was hastened by the Panic of 1893, which some historians compare to the Great Depression of the late 1920′s and 1930′s. However, the fact of the matter is that H. H. Warner was the architect of his own misfortune. His once great patent medicine empire could not support the weight of his wildly speculative investments and ever diminishing interest in managing his once great enterprise. His collapse surprised many, who had seen him as favorite son of Rochester. Indeed, in December, 1887, he had been elected as president of the newly formed Rochester Chamber of Commerce. Ironically, Warner’s inaugeral address to the organization highlighted the importance of reinvestment of capital to promote business growth. The Chamber later selected Warner as their Man of the Year over a lesser known camera maker named George Eastman. Clearly, the Kodak would never last.

 By 1893, however, Warner’s successes were ancient history. The British directors of the H. H. Warner & Co. Ltd. voted that his stock should be forfieted as a penalty for his mismanagement. With his last valuable asset stripped away, Warner filed for bankruptcy and spent the remaining years of his life attempting to regain his business prominence. Although he was out as the owner of the company, it continued to exist without him. Atwater reports that the American branch of the company was sold to Rochester businessmen, J. J. DeMay and S. B. Keaner, who moved it back to Rochester to occupy the Duffy Malt Whiskey warehouse and it survived on an ever diminishing scale until the mid-1940′s.

Under the management of DeMay and Keaner, the company produced remedies under the name Warner’s Safe Remedies Company, which included a Diabetes Remedy, Rheumatic Remedy, Kidney & Liver Remedy, Acute Rheumatic Compound, Compound: A Diuretic, Nervine and Sedative.  As Seeliger reports, these bottles had the same embossing with different labels to designate the specific contents. An approach similar to that used with the H. H. Warner & Co. Ltd. bottles in Melbourne. The Safe Remedies Co. bottles generally appear as amber, aqua and clear variants, although a select few may have color variations that make them more valuable.

From its beginning in 1879, Warner’s Safe Remedies had been a dramatic success growing almost exponentially and spreading out to the four corners of the globe. Perhaps in the end, its rapid success with Warner at the helm was its undoing. Perhaps he began to believe that everything he invested in was bound to produce the riches he had become accustomed to. Whatever the reason, by 1893, Warner’s intuitive skills for investing and marketing failed him. The star that had burned so brilliantly was burning itself out. Although Warner would live another 30 years, he would live them in the shadow of his former successes.

The Rise and Fall of the Warner Empire: Business Setbacks (Part VII)

 If Warner had a fatal flaw, it was, perhaps, a restless spirit for new ventures. He was not satisfied with success in the fireproof safe business and turned to the patent medicine business. Success in the patent medicine business did not satisfy his appetite and pretty soon, he was throwing himself into other ventures. Unfortunately for him, success would not attend these ventures.

His first financial failure came as he was just beginning to make his mark in the medicine business. Warner partnered with other Rochester businessmen, including Arthur G. Yates, a self-made coal magnate, for the organization of the Rochester Grape Sugar Company in Kansas CIty. The company was formed to produce glucose. It failed. Moreover, Warner and Yates agreed to act as sureties for each other’s debts.

Undeterred, Warner joined another venture in 1881, when a group of seventeen Rochester businessmen formed the Horseshoe Silver Mining Company with $1 million in capital. The Company was organized to mine silver on the western slope of the Continental Divide near Denver. With ownership of 24,200 shares of stock, Warner was elected as president. It appeared that the Company would benefit from another syndicate organized to construct a tunnel for the Union Pacific Railroad in the vicinity of the mining company’s property. Despite a flurry of positive publicity touting the collaborative benefits, no payoff was realized. According to a column in the June 22, 1893 New York Times, Warner also invested $191,000 in the Genesee Gold Mining Company, $28,000 in the San Jose Mining & Canal Company and $57,000 in the Sareno Mining Company in Mexico.

Nothwithstanding his prior mining failures, in 1892, Warner purchased the Hillside group of mines from John Lawler and Edmund W. Wells for a staggering $450,000 (about $10.5 million today). He dubbed the venture the Seven Stars Mining Company and agreed to pay $50,000 down with the balance in a year. By the time that Warner’s finances began to unravel in 1893, he had mustered only $235,000 toward the balance due. Under the agreement, the mining property reverted back to its former owners, who also kept Warner’s deposit. Ironically, between the time the mine was discovered by Lawler in 1887 and its closing in 1951, it produced gold and silver worth barely $300,000.

Whatever the reason, Warner sacrificed his considerable fortune on speculative mining ventures. Despite his undeniable business acumen, Warner failed to appreciate that he was producing all the gold he needed (albeit brown in color), from his Safe Cure business. Perhaps his downfall was inevitable. Despite his personal financial failures, his medicine company continued well into the 20th Century, albeit under the control of others.

As well shall see, Warner was not whipped. The pluck that made him a success in Rochester continued to drive him. Although he was out of the Safe Cure business, Warner was not out of the patent medicine business.

 

 

The Warner Observatory – Part II

The Warner Observatory was perhaps H. H. Warner’s most visible contribution to Rochester, with the possible exception of his Safe Cure Building on St. Paul Street. While Warner no doubt possessed a philanthropic streak, it would have been out of character for him not to have had a marketing angle as well. At one level, that angle was to imbue the scientifically bereft field of patent medicine with legitimacy based on the science of astronomy. The interesting part is that Warner was no more a medical doctor than Swift was a degreed astronomer, but their partnership served the needs of both.

In his article, Atwater notes that the Warner Observatory tapped into the Victorian fascination with comets and the publicity associated with them. Combined with the prestige apparently associated with Dr. Swift, the Observatory was destined to attract favorable attention.

Ever the salesman, Warner left nothing to chance. He featured his Observatory in his advertising, including a tradecard depicting two children using a Safe Yeast container as a telescope, and on the back cover of the 1885 Safe Cure Almanac. He offered annual prizes of $200 in gold to any American astronomer who discovered a new comet or parts of meteorites found on earth that contained organic material and $50 for any meteorite seen falling during the current year. He also offer a $200 prize for an essay entitled “Comets, Their Composition, Purpose  and Effect on Earth.” It is reported that Warner had paid out $1600 in prize money by 1883.

During the decade that the Warner Observatory was in operation, Dr. Swift is credited with the discovery of six new comets and 900 nebulae. Ultimately, the Observatory became a victim of the financial setbacks which doomed Warner’s Safe Remedies business. The above photo shows the Observatory in its declining years. LIke the Warner Mansion, the Observatory succumbed to the wrecking ball in 1929.

The Warner Observatory – Part I

There is little doubt that Warner’s ability to market his product accounts for his great success. He missed few opportunities to pitch his Safe Remedies to the public and to cloke them with the air of legitimacy. Perhaps one of his successful efforts in that regard was his sponsorship of the Warner Observatory and its principal scientist, Dr. Lewis Swift (pictured above). Warner was introduced to Dr. Swift prior to launching his patent medicine line in 1879. Dr. Swift had won gold medals from the Imperial Academy of Sciences in Vienna for his discovery of comets. Feeling that his astronomical efforts were not appreciated in Rochester, Dr. Swift was ready to pack it in and move west to Colorado when Warner intervened.

Dr. Swift or “Professor” Swift, as he became known, was born in 1820 in Clarkson, New York. Handicapped by a childhood accident, Swift devoted his time to the study of astronomy. It appears that his titles were honorary and not the result of the award of any advanced degrees. Indeed, he was an astronomer by avocation only and the operator of a hardware store vocationally. However, his sightings of previously undiscovered comets elevated his reputation and enabled him to give lectures. His notoriety allowed him to begin the process of raising money for an observatory in Rochester.

Warner assured the “famous comet finder” that if Swift could raise the money to purchase a large telescope, Warner would furnish a place to put it. The original estimate for construction of the Observatory was $20,000. Dr. Swift was able to fulfill his part of the bargain and a 16-inch refractor telescope was ordered from Alvan Clark & Son in Massachusetts. Ultimately, the Observatory cost Warner $100,000 and was constructed of white Lockport sandstone and appointed with rare native hardwoods. The plans for the Observatory also called for an astronomical library, astronomical equipment and a residential space for Dr. Swift and his family.

But what did Warner get for his investment? More to come.

Warner’s Foreign Offices: London (1882 – 1939?)

Perhaps one of Warner’s most prestigious foreign branches was his London office opened in 1882. Not only was the office in a major world capital, but it produced some, if not most of the most colorful Warner’s available to collectors. (See Warner Colors). This includes 40 oz. Animal Cures in various shades of amber and green, the Safe Cure in pint and half-pint in amber, shades or green and aqua, the Diabetes Cure in pints in shades of amber to green, the Nervine in pint and half-pint in shades of amber and green, the Rheumatic Cure in pints in shades of amber and green, two sizes of Compound and sample miniatures in amber and green.

Over the course of its existence until the 1930′s, the London office shifted its locations around the City. According to research based upon Warner advertising and London City Directories, H. H. Warner & Co. Ltd. operated out of the following locations:

1885   81 Southhampton Row, WC

1889, 1899, 1902   86 Clarkenwell Road, EC

1909, 1914, 1920 and 1923   18 & 20 Laystall Street, Rosebury Avenue, EC

1927   18 Laystall Street, EC1

1931-1932   18 &20 Laystall Street, EC1 (Space shared with M. F. Frederick, Mechanical Engineer)

1934    18 & 20 Laystall Street, EC1

1939    63a Hall Road, Peckham SE15

See http://bottlediggers.netfirms.com/cures.html. In addition to supplying the Safe Cure needs of the Brits, the London office apparently also supplied Safe Cure across the English Channel to France and possibly to Belgium and Switzerland as well.

I have attached a copy of what was likely an insert in a box of Safe Cure or Safe Compound. I have also enlarged part of the flyer. This flyer is particularly interesting on three fronts. First, although it does not include a copywrite or publication date, it states “Renowned for Nearly Fifty Years.” Assuming we use 1879 as the date when Warner first introduced his medicines to the public (in Rochester), that would suggest this insert dates to the late 1920′s. Second, this also confirms that he operated out of the 18 & 20 Laystall Street address well into the 20th Century. Finally, it suggests that Warner’s London office was still supplying products to Paris, Kreuzlingen and Brussels after the turn of the last century. This likely accounts for the wide variety of Safe Remedies bottles from London.

The Rise and Fall of the Warner Empire: Politics (Part V)

It often seems that those who are successful in business decide that they should favor the world of politics with their wisdom. H. H. Warner was no exception. Having made his mark, first in the safe business and more recently in the patent medicine business, Warner decided on politics as his next area of endeavor. His involvement though was not as a candidate for elective office, but rather as an activist in the Republican Party.

Atwater reports that in 1884, Warner was chosen as a delegate to the Republican National Convention from the thirtieth New York district. In grand style, he rented two Pullman cars and transported fifty local Republicans and members of the press to the convention in Chicago. Based on the reports in the Rochester Union and Advertiser  and the Rochester Democrat and Chronical from May and June, 1884, the Warner party did not travel in complete sobriety. Quoting the reporter:

“The ride was dusty but not wholly dry” and by the time the convention opened, the Rochester boys “turned up cheerful and well preserved.”

Atwater at 180. At the Chicago convention, Senator James G. Blaine (above left) of Maine, a former Speaker of the House and Secretary of State was nominated over the incumbent President Chester A. Arthur. Warner repeatedly cast his votes for Abraham Lincoln’s son, Robert, was not formally nominated as a candidate. Warner was unsuccessful as a candidate for vice-president of the convention. Blaine ultimately lost the election to Grover Cleveland (above right).

Warner returned to the Republican National Conventions in 1888 in Chicago and 1892 in Minneapolis. He supported favorite son candidate, Chauncey Depew and later the successful candidate, Benjamin Harrison in 1888 and Blaine again in 1892. The trips to these conventions were also aboard well-provisioned Pullman cars. After that, Warner faded from political life and moved on to other ventures that would ultimately bring the downfall of his patent medicine empire.

Warner’s Collector Profile: Interview of Jack Stecher

 

I first met Jack on March 6, 1999 at the Baltimore Antique Bottle Club Show. Although I had collected Warner’s Safe Cures since the mid-1970′s, I had not had occasion to get to know anyone that was a devoted Warner’s collector.  1999 was my first visit to the Baltimore Show (which, by the way, is a great show).  I was immediately drawn to Jack’s sales table, which had some great Warner’s for sale. I spent a good portion of that show talking to Jack about collecting Warner’s.

For those of you who don’t know Jack, he is a walking encyclopedia of Warner’s Safe Cure knowledge.  He started collecting them before Mike Seeliger published his book in 1974. Because he lived and worked in Rochester, he was at the center of the Warner universe and assembled a collection of bottles and advertising that was virtually unmatched. 

Because I want this blog to provide readers with more than just Warner history and pictures of bottles, I decided to put together a questionnaire to allow me to profile some well-known Warner’s collectors. Jack graciously agreed to be my guinea pig. Below are my questions and Jack’s answers:

1.    When did you first start collecting Warner’s Safe bottles?

       It’s almost too long ago to remember!  Would you believe the mid 60s?  My first purchase was a repro K & L Cure Warner’s from a flea market.  I didn’t know the difference  between an original or reproduction bottle back then. 

2.    Why?

   Shortly after our local bottle club formed, I had conversation  with Jacob DeMay’s granddaughter, Joy Kyper.  DeMay operated the Warner Safe Remedies Co. in Rochester and frequently traveled to London to assist in their operations.  The Kyper family stories fascinated me and I began the search for more information about the famous man, HH Warner and his company. 

  3.    What was the first Warner’s Safe bottle that you added to your collection?

   The Warner’s Safe Bitters.  I purchased the bottle at a Laconia, New Hampshire bottle show, probably about 1967   or so.  I spent $100. for it and thought my wife was going to kill me when I got home.  She thought it was great!  Go figure.

 

  4.    What is the last Warner’s Safe bottle that you added to your collection?

   Probably a Tippecanoe, with full contents and label.

 

5.    Out of the Warner’s Safe bottles that you own or have owned, which was your favorite and why?

   That’s easy.  My favorite was always the labeled Animal Cure, with contents that featured both a horse and cow on the label.  It came to me after Mike Seeliger had offered it to  me originally, when he broke up his collection.  I didn’t have the money to buy it at the time, so Mike sold it to a gent in Michigan.  Later, I had seen an ad that a Warner collection  was up for sale.  I called and found out that he had the labeled Animal cure, along with a green London mammoth cure (they’re not called animal cures in England, just large  safe cures!), and I bought them both.

  

6.    Is there a Warner’s Safe bottle that you always wanted, but were never able to add to your collection?  If yes, which one?

   I could say a labeled London mammoth cure, but then I always wanted the aqua London Safe Cure with the medicine type top too.  I never owned either.

  

7.    Apart from Warner’s Safe bottles, is there another piece of Warner’s advertising or paper that is your favorite? If yes, what is it?

     I own and display in my family room nine Warner advertising posters from the 1880s era.  My favorite has always been a dated 1886 color litho of an old man, with a white beard, and cane, strolling along, arm in arm with a  buxom young woman, fan in hand.  The caption reads: ” Take Warner’s Safe Cure”.  The message conveys a theme, wouldn’t you say?

 

8.    What’s your best story (or stories if you have more than one) about getting a Warner’s Safe bottle?  The more details, the better.

       I refer to #5., but can add another. Back in the 1980s, while set up at a local flea market, a gentleman came by and told  me of having an original, unopened wooden case of Warner’s Log Cabin Extracts.  However, he collected the old 78 records and only wanted to trade.  I told him I didn’t have any 78s  but to call me if he ever changed his mind and wanted to  sell me the Warner’s.  Several years later his wife called me and asked if I were still interested, as she wanted to clear   out all his old “junk” after his passing that year. Needless to  say, I bought them but do not have any today, as I foolishly  sold them off one at a time to buy other bottles. Hey, having a case of a dozen log cabin extracts must make them to be too plentiful, right?  Don’t we all wish we could go back in time and change some our decisions?

 

9.    If H. H. Warner were still alive and you could interview him, what questions would be at the top of your list?

   Where did you put all the bottles that you didn’t use when you went out of business? 

    Why didn’t you make an aqua Tippecanoe bottle?  And, if you did, where is it?

   You had such a great thing going, why did you ever venture into promoting  stocks and bonds, or buying real estate in Mexico, or silver mining?   Did you get too greedy?

  What happened to you after you left Rochester, and moved to  NY City before moving on to Minneapolis, Mn. and starting the WS Renowned Remedies Co. with your Mexican partner, Christina Martinez?

 

10.  Other than Warner’s Safe bottles, what is your favorite bottle or bottles? Why?

   I have always had a strong interest in “bitters”.  My favorite bitters is the  blue-green barrel embossed Old Sachem Bitters and Wigwam Tonic.  I have     nine Old Sachems of  different color, but not an aqua one.  Another favorite is the  rare Dr. Hill’s Restorative and Strengthening Bitters-Farmer, NY.  Farmer, NY does NOT exist any longer.  The name was changed to Interlaken, NY.  And that’s another story!

  

11.  What’s the best way to encourage young bottle collectors to develop an interest in Warner’s Safe bottles?

   Get into the research on Warner history…it’s fascinating.     Buy the bottles you can afford, and don’t worry about the rare ones.  Go to bottle shows and ask questions, and then put out your want list.  Buy only the best condition, or color,  if available.  Pass on the damaged bottles, no matter how tempting, unless you know they’re extremely rare.

 

Beware of Fraud! (Part II)

As it turned out, Warner’s concern about imitators attempting to fraudulently steal his product were not without justification. In November, 1882, after having successfully beat back Dr. Charles Craig’s attempt to get back into the Kidney & Liver Cure business, Warner was contacted by a druggist in Chicago asking if his Cure ever soured. Given the alcohol content, the response was “no.”

Warner dispatched Harry Granger, his superintendent, to Chicago to investigate the specious Safe Cure. Granger discovered that the counterfeit cure was being sold in stores in both Chicago and Milwaukee. Warner warned his retailers by telegram to beware of the fraudulent product. Granger’s investigation led him a lithographer, one, Frank Roehr, who was found in possession of twenty-one cases of electroplates and dies for printing labels, pamphlets and circulars for Warner’s Safe Cure, as well as Lydia Pinkham’s Vegetable Compound, Hood’s Sarsaparilla, among others. Granger’s probe led to an outfit called the “Chicago Medicine Exchange.”  In addition to the counterfeit labels and advertising, Roehr was found in possession of various types of salacious literature and gambling cards.

As it turned out, Granger was precisely the agent Warner needed to root out the fraud. Before becoming Warner’s superintendent, he had worked for the United States Secret Service. The episode prompted Warner to expand his anti-counterfeiting forces and, as we have seen, to take his anti-fraud message directly to his customers in his almanacs and on his packaging. If there was a positive side to the whole thing for Warner, it no doubt convinced him (assuming he needed convincing), that his product had great market penetration after only three years in the public eye.

See Atwater drawing upon the reports of the Rochester Union and Advertiser of December 15, 1883.