These blog posts were written by guest blogger, Sonja McCrimmon. Medical issues are interesting to examine when looking at the collection of medical articles that are available at the Museum.
Author’s note: This article is dedicated to the victims of the 1918 Spanish influenza pandemic. It contains words and attitudes which, while formerly in common use, are now recognized as racist and demeaning. The November 14, 1918 (page one) issue... [Continue Reading]
Last week’s article provided some history of the 1918 Spanish flu pandemic which decimated the world’s population, claiming millions of lives, making it arguably the twentieth century’s most lethal pandemic. As the summer of 1918 rolled into fall, the Spanish... [Continue Reading]
Today’s article – the first of a three-part series – examines the worldwide implications of the Spanish influenza. Next week’s article focuses on how this 1918 pandemic affected Central Okanagan residents. This article is not intended to cause fear or... [Continue Reading]
We’ve got problems right now. Big problems. But in 1893 they had some pretty wild problems! Thanks to a copy of a letter from the BC Archives, the Lake Country Museum has a unique glimpse into what life was like... [Continue Reading]
Now who is this Dr. Chase? In the nineteenth-century manner, Chase earned his fame and fortune with equal parts of hard work and self-promotion. Born in New York State in 1817, Alvin Chase came to Ann Arbor in 1856 to... [Continue Reading]
Dan Bruce, our Curator, bought this little booklet to complement our patent medicine collection. It doesn’t have a publication date but there’s a rudimentary ‘Baby Book’ with a place for a picture and some birth statistics. Written in pencil is... [Continue Reading]
I have always liked arrowroot biscuits but I didn’t realize the history behind them until I started researching the museum’s can of Montserrat’s Arrowroot. Arrowroot has a long history of cultivation in the Caribbean as a food staple. Arrowroot thickens... [Continue Reading]
I thought that Zam-Buk might be boring. I vaguely remember a tin of it at home when I was a child although I don’t remember it being used. It was just there. According to the script on the tin it... [Continue Reading]
This medication was first manufactured by Hazeltine & Co in 1864 apparently started out labeled as a remedy for consumption although it was really only ever a cough remedy and the jury is still out on that. One source says... [Continue Reading]
Leonard Ear Oil is the first patent medicine in the collection that I found that was condemned as useless by a medical authority. In 1925, DR. ARTHUR J.CRAMP (Director of the Bureau of Investigation, American Medical Association) condemned Leonard Ear... [Continue Reading]
