Warner’s Safe Cure: The Most Beautiful Woman in America

Although we are sometimes amazed when we look at advertising from the Victorian era, some things do not change. Certainly, if someone from that time was to look at today’s advertising they would be embarrassed and even appalled by what little is left to the imagination of the reader. Having said that, it is worth noting that some things never change. Beauty sells. It sold in the late 19th Century and it sells today. The models that strut the catwalks of the 21st Century are not so far removed from those whose pictures graced trade cards and alamancs in the Guilded Age. Witness a couple of examples from Warner’s advertising. In 1899, a Warner’s Safe Cure ad declared “The Most Beautiful Woman in America says…I was on the verge of collapse, when a friend advised me to take Warner’s Safe Cure.” The ad features the then famous Alberta Gallatin (1861-1948). I am not certain who declared her to be the most beautiful woman in America. It appeared in the Washington Evening Times on February 1, 1900:

The other Warner’s Safe ad that came to mind was the Free Sample card.

I’m not sure if the woman pictured on the Free Sample card is the same Ms. Gallatin or not. Nevertheless, the point is the same – attractive, talented people use Warner’s Safe Cure. Perhaps you should consider it.

Perhaps even more interesting is the small footnote that appears at the very bottom of the ad featuring Ms. Gallatin. It says “[a] thoroughly competent and regularly graduated woman physician will give medical advice free to any woman needing same. Address: Mrs. Alice McCulloch, MD (Personal), Warner’s Safe Cure Co., Rochester,  N.Y.”  In an era when standardized medical education was in its infancy, a female physician would have been a rare commodity. My search for additional information on Dr. McCullough was unavailing. It is  odd that the Warner Safe Cure Co. virtually hid this bit of information in the advertisement,  but not surprising given the state of women’s rights at the close of the 19th Century.  Makes you wonder how many women sought out her advice.

Warner’s Safe Rheumatic Cure

Rheumatism is one of those nonspecific diseases that I have always associated with elderly people. Another way of saying aches and pains. Dorland’s Medical Dictionary (27th Ed.) defines it as:

[A]ny of a variety of disorders marked by inflammation, degeneration, or metabolic derangement of the connective tissue structures of the body, especially the joints and related structures, including muscles, bursae, tendons and fibrous tissue. It is attended by pain, stiffness, or limitation of motion of these parts. Rheumatism confined to the joints is classified as arthritis.

Like I said, aches and pains. Apparently, rheumatism concerned folks in the 19th Century enough that they were willing to part with their hard earned dollars for the promise of relief from any number of patent medicine proprietors, including H. H. Warner.

In the world of patent medicine, most illnesses were the result of some affliction of the blood or the kidneys. Rheumatism was no exception. In his 1888 Artist’s Album, Warner devoted an entire page to Rheumatism saying “RHEUMATISM IS A BLOOD DISORDER AND MUST BE REACHED THROUGH THE KIDNEYS IN THE BLOOD.” (See above). The ad goes on to attribute this so-called blood disorder to “an acid condition of the kidneys caused by bad stomach action, indigestion, and false action of the kidneys and liver in blood purification.” It finally promises relief through alternating use of Warner’s Safe Cure and Warner’s Rheumatic Cure.

On an interesting note, if you look at the bottom of the page, you will see a testimonial for Rheumatic Cure attributed to Mrs. Carrie D. T. Swift of East Avenue, Rochester, NY. I suspect that she was the wife of Professor Lewis Swift, the astronomer who ran the Warner Observatory. Certainly, Mrs. Swift would have been motivated to support the products of her husband’s benefactor.

Warner’s Safe Rheumatic Cure was also the subject on one of Warner’s early trade cards depicting a poor soul with both feet bandaged and elevated and being attended by a lovely Victorian woman with Cure in hand. This card has no written pitch save that depicted on the box of Safe Rheumatic Cure on the lower right hand corner of the card. Obviously, the message of the card was thought to be self-expanatory.

The label on the bottles also offered relief from Sciatica, Lumbago and Gout. Indeed, most people associate the use of foot bandages as indicative of gout rather than rheumatism. The Rheumatic Cure must have been a good seller, because it migrated to most of Warner’s foreign offices including London, Frankfurt, Dundein and Melbourne. For whatever reason, the Toronto (3-Cities) and Pressburg Offices did not issue a Rheumatic Cure. As with most of the Warner’s Safe Cures, regulation gave rise to the use of “Remedy” rather than “Cure,” although the claims remained largely the same.

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.

Warner’s Safe Advertising: Trade Cards

Perhaps one of the most impressive things about the Warner’s Safe empire is that he had such presence in the marketplace. In future posts, I want to focus on his array of inducements to buy his products; however, for now, I will start with the simple. Like most merchants of the day, Warner distributed an untold number of trade cards depicting his products usually along with a caricatured Victorian scene on the front and some bit of wisdom on the reverse. Trade cards were the direct mail of their day and whole websites are devoted to collecting them.

Most of Warner’s trade cards were designed to sell his Safe Cure and his Safe Yeast and most are generally available to interested collectors on eBay or at shows and range in price from $5 – $20. The exception would clearly be the Battle of Tippecanoe cards that fetch well in excess of that price, if you can find them. On occasion, you will see someone attempting to sell the front or back cover of a Warner’s Safe almanac as a trade card. Whether intentionally or merely as the result of ignorance, such offerings are dishonest. Not only are these clippings not trade cards, they are scraps of a damaged almanac or pamphlet. So, caveat emptor.

Warner’s Safe trade cards are a great addition to any Warner’s collection, because they illustrate a part of what made Warner successful in his business. That is, the ability to reach into the homes of Victorian America and convince them that his products were essential to a life well-lived.