Venereal Disease

September 23

Carl Robert Keyes Daily Advert Update , , , , , ,

What was advertised in a revolutionary American newspaper 250 years ago today?

Virginia Gazette [Dixon and Hunter] (September 21, 1775).

“EVERY MAN HIS OWN DOCTOR.”

Like many other printers, John Dixon and William Hunter supplemented revenues from newspaper subscriptions, advertisements, and job printing by hawking patent medicines.  They ran an advertisement for “Dr. KEYS[E]R’s celebrated PILLS” in the September 23, 1775, edition of their newspaper, marketing a familiar remedy for “the Veneral Disorder.”  In addition to curing venereal diseases, the pills reportedly “restored Persons afflicted with dropsical Disorders, the Gravel [or kidney stones], Palsey, Apoplexy, White Swellings, Stiff Joints, and the Asthma.”

Yet, Dr. Keyser’s Pills were especially known for their efficacy in treating venereal disease, so much so that Dixon and Hunter offered a short history intended to assure prospective patients that they could depend on finding relief from their symptoms if they purchased the pills.  “His Majesty ordered the most rigid and nicest Examination, by twenty seven of the principal Physicians and Surgeons,” the printers reported.  They did so “not only immediately upon the Persons having been treated with the Medicine, but even for the Space of two Years afterwards, to see if the cures of all the numerous Patients were durable.”  This trail demonstrated that the pills were indeed effective: “to the eternal Honour of Dr. Keyser, there was not found a single Instance of Failure.”  Such an extraordinary outcome prompted the king to establish a hospital “where these Pills alone are administered.”  In addition, physicians on the continent had also “pronounced the Use of [Dr. Keyser’s Pills] superior in Efficacy, to all the Modes of Practice hitherto discovered.”

Beyond their effectiveness, the pills had another important advantage.  “EVERY MAN HIS OWN DOCTOR,” the headline proclaimed, echoing a similar headline, “Every One their own Physician,” that James Rivington, a printer in New York, previously used in promoting Dr. Keyser’s Pills.  Prospective customers, Dixon and Hunter suggested, could purchase the pills and use them without exposing themselves to the embarrassment of consulting a physician or, even worse, having their symptoms become visible to others.  “The Patient is most effectually cured,” the printers explained, “without any inconvenience to himself, or being exposed to the Shame or Confusion of his Disaster being known to the nicest Observer.”  Referring to “his Disaster” was a telling alternative to “his Disorder,” one intended to stoke anxiety in hopes of convincing readers afflicted with venereal disease to purchase Dr. Keyser’s Pills.  The printers conveniently acquired “a fresh Parcel lately from PARIS,” where the doctor’s widow continued making the pills.

May 23

Carl Robert Keyes Daily Advert Update , , , , , , ,

What was advertised in a colonial American newspaper 250 years ago today?

Dunlap’s Maryland Gazette (May 23, 1775).

“Proper medicines in all stages of the Venereal disease put up with the most faithful attention to the symptoms.”

Patrick Kennedy, a surgeon and apothecary, advertised an “assortment of genuine Patent Medicines” available at his “Drug-Store” in Baltimore in the May 23, 1775, edition of Dunlap’s Maryland Gazette.  He carried many familiar items, including Bateman’s Drops and Stoughton’s Bitters, as well as “a few boxes of Patent dentifrice powder, for cleaning and beautifying the teeth.”  He also “compounded [prescriptions] with care and fidelity.”

Beyond those medicines and services, Kennedy devoted a significant portion of his advertisement to addressing readers who contracted syphilis and other venereal diseases.  “Proper medicines in all stages of the Venereal disease,” the apothecary advised, “put up with the most faithful attention to the symptoms.”  In other words, Kennedy devised prescriptions baes on the specific symptoms that patients reported to him.  When doing so, he observed “the most profound secrecy” to protect the privacy of his clients.  Prospective patients could trust Kennedy’s discretion concerning such delicate matters.  In addition to residents of Baltimore who visited his shop, he offered these services to “Persons afflicted with this disorder in the country.”  He instructed them to send “a line descriptive of their case” and then he would supply “remedies of the most approved kind, with ample directions.”  Providing written directions substituted for in-person consultations, allowing patients to use the medicines responsibly and effectively.  Although some may have been anxious about submitting their requests in writing, they may have found doing so less embarrassing than discussing their symptoms with the apothecary in his shop.  Ordering medicines from a distance made the patients nearly anonymous compared to face-to-face interactions at Kennedy’s shop.  His promise of “profound secrecy” also applied to those orders.

For those who had avoided misfortune and wished to keep it that way, the apothecary promoted the “Antivenereal preventive Wash.”  He explained that “repeated experiments” demonstrated its “assured efficacy in destroying the recent venereal infection; as it never fails to search after and cleanse away the acting cause of the malady.”  Kennedy hoped that readers would consider this preventative regimen worth the investment since it “preserv[ed] the constitution from the long course of medicines” that they would otherwise take after contracting venereal diseases.  As Benjamin Franklin had advised a few decades earlier, an ounce of prevention was worth a pound of cure!  Kennedy hoped that sentiment would resonate with prospective clients who sought to avoid venereal diseases.