artefacts
When the bark is worse than the bite!
Ralph Tapping takes a look at more of the questionable treatments offered in pharmacies in days gone by, including a rather toxic snake bite remedy Following upon my previous article …
Health follies
Pharmacy historian Ralph Tapping has been looking into some of the questionable treatments sold in pharmacy in the recent past Laudanum and other preparations containing tincture of opium, for example …
Artefacts: Putting a lid on it
Ralph Tapping looks back at the long and detailed history of ceramic pots in pharmacy These days creams, ointments, gels and many foodstuffs are presented in glass screw-capped jars with …
Artefacts: plasters & poultices
One hundred years ago preparations to soothe and medicate the skin were regularly prescribed and compounded, including ointments, creams, plasters and poultices Preparing a plaster involved spreading a pliable base …
Only in the USA!
A very strange product ad emerges from the past. It could only come from the home of the brave, writes Ralph Tapping With all the political turmoil going on in …
Of pomades & bear’s grease
Modern manscaped metrosexuals were not the first to males to use complex cosmetics. Ralph Tapping explores historic examples of male hair-care products Bear’s grease was popular in England from the …
A significant discovery
A pharmacy closure brings to light a treasure of historic artefacts and facts, writes Ralph Tapping In 1956 when I started out on my career in pharmacy at a pharmacy …