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| Click on image to inhale the oxygeny goodness. |
This Victorian trade card, which warns us against Frauds, Imitations, Humbugs and Counterfeits, advertises Compound Oxygen by Starkey and Palen. The card dates to about 1890.
Though the reverse of the card is damaged, I have been able to do some research to find out what compound oxygen was. Drs. Starkey and Palen, it seems, sold their compound oxygen—an inhalable gas—in glass bottles. With the help of a medical practitioner, the gas could be inhaled to help treat respiratory problems.
Seems like good Victorian quackery to me. But, what do I know?
The front of the card shows a healthy looking gent with his cobalt blue bottle of the stuff (it was usually sold in blue bottles) which he seems to be administering to himself by aid of a strange device with a straw. I guess it works for him. He seems happy enough with his Nineteenth Century inhaler. The real appeal of this card is this handsome chromolithograph which still retains its brilliant colors. It’s a nifty glance into a gentleman’s office/study of the 1890s. I love it!
1 comment:
Hhmm. A bottle of air? Sounds like the last few recovery programs we've had in the U.S. Except that the air was hot.
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