Monday, August 14, 2017

Putting a basket on your head is as good a plan as any these days


I think we've all had this feeling at times, especially here in 2017 and especially on Mondays.1

This 3-inch-by-4½-inch Victorian trade card has had its borders trimmed a bit. It serves as an advertisement for both Dr. Jayne's Tonic Vermifuge (for various ailments) and Dr. Jayne's Carminative, for a host of "bowel complaints." A carminative is a drug that is intended to relieve flatulence.2

Dr. David Jayne was born in Pennsylvania (of course) around 1799, and you can read more about him here.

Here's an excerpt from the tiny type on the back of the trade card. The full back is shown below.
One the other side we present you with a copy of Schlésinger's beautiful picture, entitled, "Le Dernière Mode," — meaning in plain English, "The Latest Fashion." The young girl having adjusted the basket to her own satisfaction, seems by the archness of her expression to inquire, "How do you like it?" This is the sixth of our Album Series, and we trust will be as favorably received and appreciated as the preceding issues.

We would now call your attention to the value, as a Tonic and Dyspeptic Remedy, particularly for grown persons, of Dr. Jayne's Tonic Vermifuge. For the varied and distressing symptoms of that wide-spread complaint, Dyspepsia, it is an excellent curative, and if taken in small doses after each meal, (using the Sanative Pills when required,) it will gradually restore the disgestive organs to a healthy condition. Whoever is afflicted by a debilitated system, or oppressed with languor, will find it an entirely safe and practical medicine.
Here is an index of this series of Dr. Jayne trade cards.


Footnotes
1. "Uh oh. It looks like somebody’s got a case of the Mondays."
2. Or, as Ashar and I would say, "tooting."

1 comment:

  1. Mode is a feminine noun in French, and thus "The Latest Fashion" should have been translated as La [not Le] Dernière Mode.

    Meanwhile, gotta love the now-obsolete diphthong in "Diarrhœa".

    The individual who "presented" this card, Stephen B. Mann of West Galway, Fulton County, New York, was born May 15, 1852 and died January 16, 1883. Source: https://books.google.com/books?id=_lQNAwAAQBAJ&pg=PA1013&lpg=PA1013&dq=%22stephen+b.+mann%22+west+galway&source=bl&ots=OT8Tp_AKM-&sig=Uu1lELgdPeZ7Jj7ej1b5WeANbYo&hl=en&sa=X&ved=0ahUKEwirn9qc19fVAhXHzlQKHZ1TAZQQ6AEINzAG#v=onepage&q=%22stephen%20b.%20mann%22%20west%20galway&f=false

    Thus, the date of this card is likely not later than 1883.

    Indeed, the Museum of the City of New York puts the card in the 1860-1900 time frame. Source: http://collections.mcny.org/Collection/[Dr.-Jayne%27s-Tonic-Vermifuge-and-Carminative.]-24UAKVN35KM.html

    Stephen B. Mann owned a store (possibly a dry goods store with a pharmacy) in West Galway. Source: https://books.google.com/books?id=3QNIAQAAMAAJ&pg=RA1-PA39&lpg=RA1-PA39&dq=%22stephen+b.+mann%22+west+galway&source=bl&ots=wwcBwq2eRN&sig=fIlWguhHyU_OY-vkxMv2Zj22Rmk&hl=en&sa=X&ved=0ahUKEwif6OvD2dfVAhUIh1QKHYoKCRIQ6AEIKTAB#v=onepage&q=%22stephen%20b.%20mann%22%20west%20galway&f=false

    Near the end of his life, he was also a Director of the Amsterdam, Chuctanunda and Northern Railroad (date of charter, September 23, 1879). Source: https://books.google.com/books?id=_ZglAQAAIAAJ&pg=PA282&lpg=PA282&dq=%22stephen+b.+mann%22+west+galway&source=bl&ots=EzmqbQnlHO&sig=YUKmhkrj5Z92udOppWCDh3FAhzg&hl=en&sa=X&ved=0ahUKEwirn9qc19fVAhXHzlQKHZ1TAZQQ6AEIKzAC#v=onepage&q=%22stephen%20b.%20mann%22%20west%20galway&f=false

    -- M.F.

    P.S. If the above-listed HTML italics codes do not work correctly, feel free to fix them on your end, Chris.

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