Object of the Day: Maltine

Well, here we are! Sorry we’re tardy this morning, but it’s been the typical post-holiday Monday. However, we’re back at the helm and ready for another fun week.

So…did everyone eat, and eat and eat? I’ll bet you did. If so, you may want some Maltine.

What’s Maltine, you may ask? I’ll tell you. It’s actually a series of elxixirs, most of which included some combination of phosphate of iron, quinia, and strychnia. Mmmmmm…sounds healthy. It comes in a giant bottle carried by a putto. Seriously.

Look for yourself if you don’t believe me. 

Now, I seriously doubt that Maltine is available at your local pharmacy. But, it was a popular bit of quackery swill in the 1880s—developed by one John Carnrick. Maltine, like most elixirs of the era, made a lot of wild claims and, by using rosy-cheeked tots in its advertising—implied that it was safe for the kiddies. After all, how bad could strychnine be for you?

It seems that strychnine wasn’t enough of a seller, so, around 1894, Carnrick and his partner, some fellow named Reed, decided to add Coca Wine to the mix. In case you didn’t guess, that’s not a cola—it’s cocaine juice. Well, as you can imagine, that kept people coming back. After all, they were addicted.

Perhaps that explains the putto’s expression.

Maltine came in a variety of emulsions, each for different uses. Each claimed to be healthful and insisted it could cure all manner of ailments.

The reverse of this card—which is undeniably handsome, I must say—has been slightly damaged after being yanked out of the album which protected it for the last century and a few decades. Still, we can make out most of it. Let’s see what Maltine can do for you.

ITS COMPOUNDS ARE 
MALTINE with COD LIVER OIL. The best and most
     palatable emulsion and the greatest
     remedy in the world for all diseases of the
     lungs.
MALTINE with PEPSIN and PACREATINE. The
     surest cure known for dyspepsia, the disease
     most common to Americans. 

MALTINE with CASCARA SAGRADA. Used with
     invariable benefit in all cases of chronic con-
     stipation and the troubles resulting thre-
     from, acting both as a tonic and a laxative.
MALTO-YERBINE. An efficient remedy for pulmon-
     ary affections, bronchitis and for ordinary
     coughs and colds.
MALTINE with HYPOPHOSPHATES. Valuable in
     consumption, rickets and deficient ossifica-
     tion.
MALTINE with PHOSPHATE of IRON, QUINIA
     and STRYCHNIA. A most excellent nerve
     tonic.
MALTINE with PEPTONES. A highly concentrated
     food, containing a large proportion of the
     nutritive elements of beef artificially digested.
     It will be found of great benefit in all
     wasting diseases and in convalescence from
     fevers, &c.
MALTINE preparations can be obtained from all drug-

And, then, we’ll never know.

However, I don’t think I’ll be making my own batch of Maltine anytime soon. I’ll just wait for that bleary-eyed cherub to bring me some.