Laxative 1

Laxatives, laxatives, and more laxatives… These were popular from the earliest tins I have to the latest, lots of laxatives. They (us) thought that a good B.M. was the cure for everything. Here’s a few examples… “We cannot speak to strongly upon the absolute necessity of keeping the bowels open in cases of suppressed menstruation,” “assure relief without harshness or violence” (pooh or I’ll kick the crap out of you!), “...for headache, indigestion, dizziness, biliousness, nervousness, sleeplessness, aids in these conditions and tends to relieve them permanently by removing the cause”. Tak-A-Lax, Tru-Lax, Choco-Lax, Real-Lax, Tasty-Lax, Anal-Lax (a bit obvious), and my favorite; Urge-Lax. “Here’s a good tip; use Good Tips!” Or for Results Laxative, “pilgrims of the night, eat like candy, results are dandy” (pilgrims of the night?).

Text Box: This is one of the oldest laxative tins I have (maybe around 1890?) it is still full of product and came with an interesting insert. It’s 3 1/2“ x 2 1/4” x 1/2” and it cost 25C at the time.

These tins are from around 1900, somewhere around there, and quite scarce.

Dr. SHOOPS is for: constipation, bad breath, bad taste (hey Eddie Murphy could take one before making his next movie) muddy or sallow complexion, face eruption, headache, dizziness, sour stomach, coated tongue, belching (why would you want to stop that?) biliousness, and another “etc.” thrown in for good luck. On the inside of the lid are 3 pictures of Dr. Shoop’s empire.

I don’t have to introduce this stuff, it’s well known and has been around since 1905. These tins range from 1905 to 1950 or thereabouts.

In 1997 the American Food & Drug Dept. decided it caused cancer and yanked it from the shelves; Phenolphthalein was the culprit. There’s still a question of whether the Ex-Lax ban was warranted, check out the link for the whole story.

Seventeen tiny little Dr. Edwards tins from 1900 to 1950 I would estimate.

The smallest of these tins is only 1 1/4” tall...I can’t help wonder; why bother? Note the backwards swastika (Buddhist symbol of good fortune) on the earliest of these Dr. Edwards’ tins. Obviously long before the rise of Nazism as this symbol is often confused with Hitler’s bastardization of it.

What...do they buy you brunch?

These are all 2” square and range from around 1910 to 1940, I’m not sure how many more there are as I’ve seen 4 or 5 others.