Alcohol and Drugs History Society

Alcohol's big role in the new Harry Potter Movie

The NY Times article says "Previous Harry Potter movies have shown drinking, but this one takes it to a new level." Here's the link.

Drink Talking (book)

Drink Talking : 100 Years of Alcohol Advertising. by Penny Dade, (Series: Library of historic advertising) [London]: Middlesex University Press, 2008. 160p. Here's the link to the publisher's webpage for the book.

Weed, booze, cocaine and other old school "medicine" ads

Intriguing assemblage of old illustrated advertisements on the blog "Pill Talk," June 9, 2009, here.

Weed, Booze, Cocaine and Other Old School "Medicine" Ads

Posted by Mark Jun 9th, 14:50

Granted, hindsight is 20/20, but some awfully strange substances have been used for pharmaceutical purposes in the past -- and some might argue, continue to be used today. Here are some vintage advertisements touting items that we might balk at taking today.

Cocaine:

Lloyd Cocaine Toothache Drops
In the US, cocaine was sold over the counter until 1914 and was commonly found in products like toothache drops, dandruff remedies and medicinal tonics.



Metcalf's Coca Wine
Coca wine combined wine with cocaine, producing a compound now known as cocaethylene, which, when ingested, is nearly as powerful a stimulant as cocaine.



Vin Mariani Wine
The marketing efforts for coca wine focused primarily on its medicinal properties, in part because it didn't taste very good and in part because the cocaethylene effects were perceived to "fortify and refresh body and brain" and "restore health and vitality."

Heroin:

Bayer Heroin
From 1898 through to 1910, heroin was marketed as a cough suppressant by trusted companies like Bayer -- alongside the company's other new product, Aspirin.



Smith Glyco-Heroin
A mixture of heroin and glycerin. "No other preparation has had its therapeutic value more thoroughly defined or better established."

Opium:

Pantopon Roche Injectable Opium
"Try Pantopon in place of morphine for dependable, optimum relief of pain."

Morphine:

Ayer's Cherry Pectoral
Depending on which list of contents you reference, this cure for colds, coughs and "all diseases of the throat and lungs" contained either morphine or heroin.



Mrs. Winslow's Soothing Syrup
Contained 65 mg of morphine per fluid ounce. "For children teething."

Quaaludes:

Quaalude-300
Brand name for the now-illegal sedative methaqualone. "Now the physician has one less tired, sleepy and apprehensive patient to contend with."

Cigarettes:

Dr. Batty's Asthma Cigarettes
Cigarettes with unknown contents claimed to provide temporary relief of everything from asthma to colds, canker sores and bad breath. "Not recommended for children under 6."

Alcohol:

Anheuser-Bush's Malt-Nutrine
Starting in the late 1800s, many breweries produced "food tonics," malt beverages containing around 2% alcohol that were promoted as "food in liquid form," aiding in digestion, increasing appetite and aiding in sleep. "A boon to nursing mothers."



Pabst Extract
A malt tonic from Pabst. "The best tonic prepares the way for happy, healthy motherhood."

Chloroform:

Kimball White Pine and Tar Cough Syrup
Until 1976, chloroform was used in consumer products like cough syrup, toothpastes, ointments and other pharmaceuticals.

Marijuana:

Cosadein
This cough remedy contained, among other things, codeine, chloroform and cannabis.

Soda:

Coca-Cola
Coca-Cola was invented in the late 1800s as a "coca wine" (see above) mix of wine and cocaine, but the alcohol and cocaine were later replaced with syrup and coca leaves, respectively. Nevertheless, typical coca wine claims of increased vitality remained for many years.



"A valuable brain tonic, and a cure for all nervous affections -- sick head-ache, neuralgia, hysteria, melancholy."

Amphetamines:

Biphetamine
A combination of two amphetamines; known popularly as "black beauties." Marketed for its weight loss benefits.



Norodin
Brand name for methamphetamine. "The selective cerebral action of Norodin is useful in dispelling the shadows of mild mental depression."



Dexedrine
Brand name for dextroamphetamine. "Many of your patients -- particularly housewives -- are crushed under a load of dull, routine duties that leave them in a state of mental and emotional fatigue...Dexedrine will give them a feeling of energy and well-being, renewing their interest in life and living."

Barbiturates:

McNeil Butisol Sodium 
Brand name for butabarbital. "Mabel is unstable...it's 'that time' in her life. To see her through the menopause, there's gentle 'daytime sedation' in Butisol Sodium."



Nembutal Suppositories
Brand name for pentobarbital. "When little patients balk at scary, disquieting examinations...When they need prompt sedation (and the oral route isn't feasible)...try Nembutal sodium suppositories...There is little tendency toward morning-after hangover."



Lakeside Pentobarbital and Phenobarbital
"When crisis demands quick-acting hypnotics."

Unknown-Content Quackery:

Dr. Miles' Nervine
"Since I have been taking Nervine, nothing bothers me."



Wolcott's Instant Pain Annihilator
"A speedy & permanent cure for headache, toothache, neuralgia, catarrh and weak nerves."



Dalley's Magical Pain Extractor
"Molly Pitcher, the heroine of Monmouth, avenging her husband's death."



Dr. Ham's Aromatic Invigorator
A "cure for Dyspepsia, Low Spirits, Nervousness, Heartburn, Colic Pains, Wind in the Stomach or Pains in the Bowels, Headache, Drowsiness, Kidney and Liver Complaints, Melancholy, Delirium Tremens, and Intemperance."

Coffee advertising (article)

Robert W.Thurston, "Ad Infinitum: A Gallery of Coffee Advertising," Roast: The Magazine Dedicated to the Success of Coffee Roasters, May/June 2009.

Alcohol and Tobacco in "Advertising and Society"

Carol Pardun, PhD, director of the U. of So. Carolina School of Journalism and Mass Communications, and President Elect of the Association for Education in Journalism and Mass Communication has authored Advertising and Society: Controversies and Consequences, 2009, Wiley-Blackwell, with two chapters on alcohol and tobacco. "Tobacco advertising : when people do dumb things" and "Alcohol advertising : a match made in heaven or a pact with the devil?" Publisher's webpage is here.  Pardun does research on the effects of advertising on adolescents.

Advertising and alcohol in interwar France (article)

Sarah Howard, "The Advertising Industry and Alcohol in Interwar France," Historical Journal 51/2 (2008): 421-55.

Ale and advertising in late Victorian and Edwardian England (article)

Jonathan Reinarz, "Promoting the Pint: Ale and Advertising in late Victorian and Edwardian England," Social History of Alcohol and Drugs 22/1 (Fall 2007): 26-44.

Absolut vodka redraws the border between Mexico and the USA

In a controversial advertising campaign in Mexico, the vodka maker Absolut presented the border between Mexico and the USA as it has existed in the 1830s when California, Texas, and the other southwestern states were part of Mexico. Some people in the USA have called for a boycott of the Swedish vodka. For more, see here.

Controversy over Brazil's restrictions on alcohol sales and advertising

Big retail chains and others are fighting restrictions in Brazil on alcohol sales and advertising. The Brazilian government temporarily banned alcohol sales along federal highways and has proposed a ban on alcohol ads on daytime TV and radio. Some people compare the effort by the Brazilian government with the strict anti-tobacco legislation enacted in 1999 at a time when few other governments pursued similar legislation. For more, see here.

Beer brands confusing in USA

In Forbes, Jack Trout complains that the big American brewers ignore a basic rule of marketing by creating a profusion of brands with similar names. He adds that they may be sensible in keeping the name of the ultimate owner off the beers that they brew for the craft market. For instance, most people don't know that Blue Moon is owned by Molson Coors. For more, see here.