History of the Comstock Patent Medicine Business and Dr. Morse's Indian Root Pills Flashcards
Robert B. Shaw · Public domain edition · 67 cards · 18 chapters
Robert B. Shaw traces the Comstock family's patent medicine firm from its 1830s origins through the litigation that split it, examining how Dr. Morse's Indian Root Pills were made and sold. The deck covers the founders, the 1853 partnership, the Comstock & Brother trademark registration, and the disputed origin of the pills.
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Chapter 1 · Question
What did the Comstock factory mean to Morristown's economy?
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Chapter 1 · Answer
The author describes the W.H. Comstock factory as the only manufacturing activity for miles around and easily the village's largest single employer. It was also the chief recipient and shipper of freight at the nearby railroad station, and for some years the company supplied a primitive electric service to the community. The Comstock Hotel served as the principal village hostelry until it burned.
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Section 13 cards
What did the Comstock factory mean to Morristown's economy?
The author describes the W.H. Comstock factory as the only manufacturing activity for miles around and easily the village's largest single employer. It was also the chief recipient and shipper of freight at the nearby railroad station, and for some years the company supplied a primitive electric service to the community. The Comstock Hotel served as the principal village hostelry until it burned.
Chapter 1
Why is it hard to reconstruct the Comstock records, and what was recovered?
After the factory was abandoned, vandals ransacked it, throwing records, documents, wrappers, advertising circulars, and unpackaged pills from the shelves onto the floors, making systematic examination impossible. The former proprietors had apparently preserved all records for over a century in the attic over the packaging building. Despite careless treatment, enough records were recovered to reconstruct most of the enterprise's history.
Chapter 1
How typical was Comstock among patent-medicine manufacturers?
The author argues Comstock was far from unique: the 1895 Druggists' Directory lists approximately 1,500 manufacturers of proprietary remedies, most much smaller than Comstock and probably backroom enterprises run by untrained but ambitious druggists. A few were considerably larger. The author argues Comstock typified the more strongly established manufacturers, so studying it should illuminate the whole industry.
Chapter 1
Section 24 cards
Who founded the Comstock drug business, and what happened to it after his death in 1837?
Edwin Comstock founded the business in New York City and was no longer a novice when he established it. After Edwin died in 1837, his brother Lucius S. Comstock continued the business in partnership with another brother, Albert Lee, under the style of Comstock & Co. Two more brothers, John Carlton and George Wells, were employed as clerks.
Chapter 2
What credentials did Lucius S. Comstock claim for himself?
Lucius not merely appended the designation "M.D." to his name and claimed membership in the Medical Society of the City of New York, but also described himself as a Counsellor-at-Law. He had been employed as a clerk by Edwin between 1833 and 1837 before the business passed to him.
Chapter 2
What did the new firm Comstock & Brother register with the Smithsonian in 1851?
As early as June 30, 1851, Comstock & Brother registered four trade names with the Smithsonian Institution: Carlton's Liniment, a certain remedy for the Piles; Carlton's Celebrated Nerve and Bone Liniment for Horses; Carlton's Condition Powder for Horses and Cattle; and Judson's Chemical Extract of Cherry and Lungwort. The repetition of his name suggests J. Carlton was the principal inventor of the firm's remedies.
Chapter 2
What was the 'affair of the letters' between Lucius and his brothers?
Lucius believed J. Carlton and George Wells were taking his mail from the post office. In May 1851 the Day Book reported a complaint that the brothers and a clerk took letters addressed to Dr. L.S. Comstock at 57 John Street; test letters with orders were planted and allegedly opened at No. 9. The brothers denied it in the Morning Express, claiming the letters were directed to Comstock & Co.
Chapter 2
Section 34 cards
What did J. Carlton and George Comstock claim gave them the right to open Lucius's mail?
They argued that as heirs of the dissolved firm of Comstock & Co. Brothers, they had as much right as Lucius to receive and open letters addressed to it. J. Carlton also claimed a share in the predecessor firm Comstock & Co., which they said had never been dissolved. The brothers further asserted Lucius was estranged from his aged mother and nearly all his relatives.
Chapter 3
How did the 1853 Comstock & Brother partnership divide capital and medicine rights?
Formed October 1, 1853, after J. Carlton Comstock's death, it comprised George Wells Comstock, William Henry Comstock, and Baldwin L. Judson. George contributed half the capital; the other two, one quarter each. However, exclusive possession of all trademarks, recipes, and rights to the medicines was reserved to George alone.
Chapter 3
What happened to Lucius Comstock's business and career after the litigation?
In summer 1853 Lucius assigned all his assets to creditors. He moved from John Street to 45 Vesey Street and billed himself as a wholesale chemist, druggist, and perfumer, but apparently no longer prospered. He turned mainly to law, served as a Union Army surgeon in the Civil War, and resumed law until his death in 1876. He was foreman of the grand jury that indicted Boss Tweed in 1872.
Chapter 3
How did Andrew J. White come to contract with the Comstocks for Dr. Morse's Indian Root Pills?
In summer 1855 White approached the Comstock firm at 50 Leonard Street, presenting himself as sole proprietor of Dr. Morse's Indian Root Pills, which he said he had made under the name A.B. Moore in Buffalo. In fact his main connection had been as a clerk, and he had only recently become a partner. The Comstocks accepted his claims, which the author calls careless, and signed a contract on August 10, 1855.
Chapter 3
Section 44 cards
Who was the actual originator of Dr. Morse's Indian Root Pills?
Andrew B. Moore was the originator, as shown by legal documents including an 1859 injunction for White and Moore. The plaintiffs, the Comstocks, by their acts had disenabled Moore from using his own name. The chapter states there never was a Dr. Morse other than Andrew B. Moore, and the Comstocks never claimed any origin in legal documents other than their purchase from White.
Chapter 4
What did the fabricated Dr. Morse story claim about his discovery of the pills?
The fabricated story said Dr. Morse studied medicine, traveled widely including three years among western Indians, and discovered the secret of the pills. Returning home, he found his father near death after eight celebrated doctors gave him up. Morse gave him plants and roots learned from the Indians, and the father recovered, later reaching age ninety-five. The chapter calls this an entire fabrication.
Chapter 4
Why did patent-medicine makers ascribe Indian origins to their nostrums?
The chapter states it was common practice throughout the patent-medicine era to ascribe an Indian, or at least geographically remote, origin to nostrums and panaceas. Quoting James Harvey Young, from the 1820s onward the Indian strode nobly through the American patent-medicine wilderness, with products like Kickapoo cure-all and Nez Perce Catarrh Snuff. The author presents this as marketing convention, not fact.
Chapter 4
How did the origin story of Judson's Mountain Herb Pills compare to Dr. Morse's?
The chapter calls Judson's origin even more romantic, embodied in a full paperback novel published by B.L. Judson & Co. in 1859. Dr. Cunard, a wealthy traveler fluent in thirty languages, rescued an Aztec princess from Navajo sacrifice, foretold an eclipse using his almanac, and received the Aztec healing formula. He then cured his dying mother, paralleling Dr. Morse's story.
Chapter 4
Section 54 cards
How did the 1855 A.J. White & Co. partnership divide contributions and profits?
The August 10, 1855 agreement created A.J. White & Co. to manufacture and sell Dr. Morse's Indian Root Pills and for no other purpose. White contributed no money or property, only the right to the pills; the Comstocks supplied all tangible assets and business premises. Comstock received three fourths of profits and White one fourth, so the firm bearing White's name was controlled by the Comstocks.
Chapter 5
What did Moore agree to when hired by A.J. White & Co. in June 1858?
On June 21, 1858, Moore was hired by A.J. White & Co. and abandoned his competing manufacture. The Comstocks insisted on a formal written agreement in which Moore agreed to discontinue any manufacture or sale of the pills and to assign all rights, title, and related engravings, cuts, or designs to A.J. White & Co. This followed his election not to buy the business himself.
Chapter 5
What did Moore and White do on New Year's Day 1859?
Without prior notice, Moore and White left the Comstock office, taking as many books, accounts, records, and other assets of A.J. White & Co. as they could carry. They then established their own business, also named A.J. White & Co., at 10 Courtlandt Street, resuming manufacture and distribution of Dr. Morse's Indian Root Pills under a close facsimile of the Comstock firm's label.
Chapter 5
Why does the chapter find the public's acceptance of the Morse and Cunard stories curious?
The author notes the stories were told straightforwardly to be believed, but that Morse and Cunard were never seen or heard publicly, never in newspapers, never officeholders, never in directories, biographies, or encyclopedias, appearing only in Comstock and Judson advertising. He suggests such credulity may have been normal in the 1850s, yet the same Morse history was still printed in Comstock almanacs over fifty years later.
Chapter 5
Section 64 cards
How did the Comstocks respond to losing control of the A.J. White name?
They had spent over three years promoting the A.J. White trade name but could not stop a competitor from using it. They officially claimed the old firm still existed under their control, then tacitly conceded by introducing new Indian Root Pills labels under B. Lake Judson's name and signature, directing outstanding A.J. White & Co. accounts to the new Judson firm.
Chapter 6
What did Blakely propose to Blakely's employers about shipping pills into Canada?
Blakely suggested entering the pills so as to avoid part of the enormous 30% duty, believing an understanding could be reached to do it safely. He recommended routing goods via Oswego and steamer to Millport to save the delay of the Kingston route and avoid the scrutiny given at the Kingston customhouse.
Chapter 6
What legal actions did the Comstocks take against White and Moore in 1859?
On April 14, 1859, at the Comstocks' instigation, the sheriff raided White's premises at 10 Courtlandt Street and seized books, accounts, and correspondence taken on January 1. The Comstocks also had White and Moore arrested for larceny over the notes and receipts, and in September White was arrested for forgery and extradited to Pennsylvania.
Chapter 6
How was the Comstock-White dispute finally settled in 1861?
On March 26, 1861, White and Moore relinquished all claims and demands arising from sales of Dr. Morse's Indian Root Pills prior to January 1, 1859. Announcements were printed to debtors of the late A.J. White & Co. No copy of the agreement was found, so the inducement offered to White and Moore is unknown.
Chapter 6
Section 73 cards
What 1866 legal actions preceded the breakup of the Comstock partnerships?
Records show a lawsuit in 1866 between George Comstock and William H. Comstock and Judson, whose precise issue and settlement are unknown. On December 21, 1866, George W. obtained an injunction restraining William Henry and Judson from collecting partnership accounts, disposing of B.L. Judson & Co. assets, or continuing business under that name or its trademarks. A February 1, 1867 law bill covered a settlement agreement with George.
Chapter 7
Why did the business move to Morristown, New York, in April 1867?
The chapter states no specific reason has been found, but surrounding circumstances suggest presumptions. The Comstocks' business was always strongest in rural 'back-woods' areas: in 1857 the six states of Ohio, Indiana, Illinois, Michigan, Wisconsin, and Iowa accounted for over two thirds of domestic sales, and Canada West over 90 percent of Canadian sales. William H. Comstock had earlier taken over a Brockville, Ontario business across the river.
Chapter 7
How did the 1857 customer ledger distribute Comstock & Brother's accounts?
The ledger shows the liveliest sales territory was the Middle West and Canada West. Illinois had 415 customers, Canada West 434, Wisconsin 303, Indiana 298, New Jersey 212, Michigan 194, Pennsylvania 192, Iowa and Ohio 179 each, and New York State only 88. New England accounts were negligible, and despite travel in the Maritime Provinces, no substantial business developed there.
Chapter 7
Section 84 cards
Why did the Comstocks build a second plant at Morristown, New York?
The author offers a conjecture: customs duties or other restraints may have hindered the Canadian Brockville plant from supplying the United States market, so a plant on the American side of the border was needed. Morristown was convenient for water and rail transport, local farm labor, and supervision, since a ferry connected it directly to Brockville across the river.
Chapter 8
When did the Comstock business move its manufacturing to Morristown, and under whose ownership?
Surviving receipts show the move was carried out in March or April of 1867. Although the Morristown undertaking was regarded as a continuation of the New York business, it was operated by William Henry Comstock as sole proprietor for many years. The terms of any settlement with Judson are unknown, and the later "Judson Pill Co." at Morristown was merely a mailing address for one department.
Chapter 8
What does the chapter say about William H. Comstock's activities in Brockville before 1867?
The author states Comstock likely established himself at Brockville around 1859 or 1860 after travels through Canada West. He apparently took over an existing business, described as "Successor to A.N. M'Donald & Co.," and Dr. McKenzie's Worm Tablets seem to have come with that acquisition. He shifted the center of his activities there about 1860 while still active in New York City.
Chapter 8
What conditions does the author credit for the patent-medicine industry's "golden era"?
The author describes a fifty-year span between the Civil War and World War I, aided by improved transportation, wider circulation of newspapers and periodicals, and cheaper and better bottles. Federal drug laws were still more than a generation away. The author notes many nostrums normally contained high alcohol or habit-forming elements, yet only a scant few manufacturers achieved the scale of Dr. Morse's Indian Root Pills.
Chapter 8
Section 94 cards
Who managed the Morristown pill factory day-to-day, and who succeeded him in 1885?
E. Kingsland, former chief clerk of the Judson and Comstock offices in New York City, was brought to Morristown as factory superintendent while Mr. Comstock managed the business from Brockville. Kingsland retired from the plant in 1885 and was succeeded by Robert G. Nicolson, a Glasgow native who had been foreman for years; Nicolson's son Robert Jr. later succeeded him early in the present century.
Chapter 9
What were typical weekly wages and the workforce at the Morristown factory in the late 1800s?
In the 1870s through 1890s, girls earned $3 to $5 a week and men $7 to $12, the latter an acceptable rate for a permanent, experienced adult man. Most employees were women or girls, at a time when paid employment for women was not commonplace. A time book shows about thirty regular workers in 1885; Mrs. Doris Planty mentions a workforce of 40 to 50 around the turn of the century.
Chapter 9
How did the 1875 railroad affect the Comstock factory's layout and shipping?
The Utica & Black River Railroad arrived in 1875, cutting a thirty-six-foot right-of-way through the property and dividing it into a 'lower shop' for making pills and tonics and an 'upper shop' for packaging and clerical work. A station stood almost at the doorstep, so many shipments went by rail and the company's ten to fifteen daily bags of mail went directly to the trains, bypassing the local post office.
Chapter 9
What powered the factory after 1880, and what utilities did the company later provide the village?
Pills were originally mixed by hand; in summer 1880 the factory installed a steam engine and belt-driven mixing machinery, including at least one rotary pill machine bought from J.W. Pindar in England for about $100. Around the turn of the century it installed a generator for lighting, the first in the locality, extending wires to company houses and other homes as a miniature public utility; its lines were eventually sold to the Central New York Power Corporation.
Chapter 9
Section 104 cards
How did the pill factory affect Morristown beyond employment?
The author argues the factory was more than an employer: for ninety years it animated the village, pioneered utilities and social services, linked Morristown to the outside world of drug stores and hypochondriacs, and distinguished it from other languishing St. Lawrence County villages. Though one may wonder whether the pills helped anyone, the author says they benefited all citizens of Morristown.
Chapter 10
What dummy companies did Comstock maintain in Morristown, and why?
After moving North, Comstock kept several dummy companies that were really no more than mailing addresses. Besides the Comstock company, directories listed the Judson Pill Co., preserving a former partner's name, and E. Kingsland & Co., perhaps flattering the former chief clerk and plant superintendent. Kingsland's main product was Chlorinated Tablets, also sold as Little Pink Granules.
Chapter 10
How was Dr. Howard's Blood Builder marketed regarding sexual vitality?
The chapter says it was hinted the pills had a particularly beneficial effect on sexual vitality, with advertising claiming action through the blood upon the sexual organs of both men and women. It was also claimed unrivaled for systems shattered by debauchery, excesses, self-abuse or disease, and came with a regimen of fresh air, sleep, avoiding lascivious thoughts, and ice-cold bathing.
Chapter 10
What was the most difficult and essential function of the patent-medicine business?
The chapter states that, given the business's characteristics, selling—described in Comstock letters as 'putting the pills through'—was the most difficult and essential function. Almost every form of advertising and publicity was used over the century, and the author presumes printing and publicity costs far exceeded manufacture and packaging costs.
Chapter 10
Section 114 cards
What two advertising media did the Comstock firms emphasize most?
The chapter states that although hardly any advertising method was neglected, emphasis was always placed on two media: almanacs and country newspapers. Newspaper announcements were inserted mostly in rural papers nationwide, with the Indian Root Pills and Judson's Mountain Herb Worm Tea pushed most intensively.
Chapter 11
How large were Comstock almanac shipments in the early 20th century?
For the early years of the present century, from July until the following April, shipments of almanacs usually ran well in excess of one million per month, pouring out of the small Morristown railroad station. The chapter calls it reasonable that around one billion almanacs were distributed over the company's entire history.
Chapter 11
What did the 1918 Morse's pills advertising claim the pills could cure?
As late as 1918, years after the Federal Food and Drug Act of 1906, the pills were still recommended as a cure for a long list including biliousness, dyspepsia, constipation, scrofula, kidney disease, jaundice, piles, dysentery, malaria, eczema, worms, and female complaints. Two pages also claimed, on the authority of Prof. La Roche of Paris, that appendicitis could be cured without surgery.
Chapter 11
How did the Morse's Indian Root Pill almanac content change over time?
In the 1880s the almanac was a 34-page pamphlet, about two thirds advertising and testimonials, including the story of Dr. Morse's father's illness and his son's return with the herbs, plus calendars, astronomical data, advice, and jokes. Before 1900 the discovery story was abridged to a brief summary, and during the 1920s it was abandoned altogether, though the ingredients were still called natural herbs and roots used by Indians.
Chapter 11
Section 124 cards
What did the Mountain Herb Pills and Indian Root Pills share in their advertising?
The chapter states that the two medicines were often recommended for many of the same diseases, and that they used identical text in explaining their effect upon several disagreeable conditions. Their advertising also prominently reminded readers of human fragility and warned of an untimely death if proper medication were neglected.
Chapter 12
How did Comstock's 1865 'General Orders' advertisement work?
Written in military style from the 'Department of this Continent,' it ordered 'Skedadlers, Deserters, Skulkers' and the sick to report to an officer and buy a box of Judson's Mountain Herb Pills at the regulation price. Those who complied received a free pardon and restoration to the 'Grand Army of General Health,' signed by 'A. Good Health, Lieutenant-General.'
Chapter 12
What was the 'free diagnosis' swindle described in the chapter?
The author describes a familiar petty swindle: a supposedly benevolent retired doctor, clergyman, or nurse offered free advice by mail. The victim sent stamps and symptoms, then received a recipe whose ingredients were obscure and rarely stocked. The 'benefactor' could supply them for a trifling sum, often sending nothing or a cheap concoction, and usually closed each scheme before investigation.
Chapter 12
What evidence does the chapter give about the genuineness of testimonials?
The author argues that although the stories about Dr. Morse and Dr. Cunard were easily concocted, the testimonials were probably genuine, since many survived in letters scattered on the factory floor. He notes some may have lacked good faith, since dealers seeking lenient credit or favors submitted them, citing B. Mollohan's 1879 letter as an example.
Chapter 12
Section 134 cards
Why did storekeepers and manufacturers have to be lenient with credit in the nineteenth century?
The chapter explains that money was scarce and many rural economies were still based largely on barter, making it hard for farmers to generate cash for store goods. Country storekeepers therefore had to extend credit generously, and manufacturers and jobbers in turn had to be lenient in enforcing collection, as Mollohan's complaint about slow-paying accounts illustrates.
Chapter 13
What problem did Thomas Cathey raise in his 1880 letter to Comstock?
Cathey, claiming to be the first agent for the pills in his settlement, complained that several agents around Enfield, Illinois, interfered with him, especially William A. Stavson, who sold pills at 20 cents a box. Cathey asked Comstock to stop the other agents and requested sole rights to three townships: Indian Creek, Enfield, and Carmi. The chapter says the company's response is unknown.
Chapter 13
Why did the company stop newspaper advertising, and what replaced it?
An 1885 invitation to agents declared that for some years the pills had not been advertised in newspapers, which the company said were filled with sensational catch-penny advertisements for quack nostrums. The chapter notes the exclusive representation scheme partly substituted for newspaper advertising, with the company seeking one agent per town and village and offering prizes like watches and jewelry.
Chapter 13
What ingredients did Indian Root Pills contain in the 1930s and 1940s, and what did they share?
Under the Federal Food and Drug Act, ingredients had to be listed, revealing aloes, mandrake, gamboge, jalap, and cayenne pepper. The chapter notes all were derived from esoteric plants in remote locations, a feature prized by patent-medicine makers, and remarks it is remarkable that Indian chiefs supposedly familiar with these remedies knew drugs from Asia and Africa.
Chapter 13
Section 142 cards
Why did Comstock advertise warnings against calomel and offer rewards?
The company frequently incorporated warnings against the use of calomel (mercurous chloride) in its advertising and even promised rewards to persons proving that any of its preparations contained calomel. The chapter states it is not known where the calomel and some other harsher ingredients were used, but certainly not in the Indian Root Pills or the Mountain Herb Worm Tea.
Chapter 14
How did Dr. McNair's and Dr. Larzetti's Acoustic Oil differ?
They were identical in every respect, as the labels and directions, aside only from the names of the doctors, were exactly the same for both preparations. A careless printer even made circulars headed "Dr. Mc Nair's Acoustic Oil" that concluded with the admonition, "Ask for Larzetti's Acoustic Oil and take no other."
Chapter 14
Section 153 cards
What three items did the Comstock business manufacture in its final decades?
In the 1930s, 1940s, and 1950s, only three items were made and sold: Dr. Morse's Indian Root Pills, Dead Shot Worm Pellets, and Comstock's N & B Liniment. The worm pellets were devised by Mrs. Hill, described as an old English nurse with extended experience in British foundling hospitals. A footnote notes the affiliated Dr. Howard Medicine Co. made other items, and the company took an Army foot powder contract during World War II.
Chapter 15
Why does the chapter say printing was as important as pill-making to the business?
The company paid printers and stationers more frequently than it paid for all drugs and packaging materials combined, because of the heavy flow of almanacs, handbills, labels, trade cards, direction sheets, and billheads. The author argues the printing press contributed just as much to the success of Indian Root Pills as the pill-mixing machine. Almanacs were still being printed as recently as 1938.
Chapter 15
Why did Comstock remedies escape naming in muckraking attacks?
The author says the Comstock remedies enjoyed relative immunity from attacks like Samuel Hopkins Adams's 'The Great American Fraud' in Collier's and the AMA's Nostrums and Quackery; none was named. He suggests this may be because they were deemed harmless or because the company's remote small-village location escaped unfriendly attention. The preparations still had to comply with new drug laws, publish ingredients, and sharply reduce claimed cures.
Chapter 15
Section 164 cards
What foreign branches or agencies did the company list after 1900?
After 1900 foreign business grew important, with heavy shipments from Morristown to the West Indies and Latin America. The company also listed branches—perhaps no more than warehouses or agencies—in London, Hongkong, and Sydney, Australia. The author suggests Morristown supplied the lucrative Latin American trade while Brockville handled English, Oriental, and Australian business during the era of Imperial preference.
Chapter 16
How did Indian Root Pill sales change between 1910 and 1950?
Domestic sales of Indian Root Pills, in quantities of one gross or more, fell from nearly 6,000 gross in 1910 to a mere 18 gross in 1950. Foreign sales in 1950 were still fairly substantial at 579 gross, chiefly in the West Indies, Puerto Rico, and South America, but this did not compensate for the domestic collapse. The author estimates 1950 receipts at not much over $10,000.
Chapter 16
Which distributors placed very large single orders for the pills?
For decades from 1900 into the 1930s, shipments of normally 100 gross or more in single orders went to Gilpin, Langdon & Co. of Baltimore and Columbia Warehouse Co. of St. Louis, important regional distributors. Substantial orders also came from legitimate drug houses such as Lehn & Fink, Schieffelin & Co., Smith, Kline & French, and McKesson & Robbins. Among 1930 foreign orders, United Fruit Company was by far the largest single customer.
Chapter 16
What kept the Morristown plant operating into the 1950s?
The author argues it was obviously only the foreign business—chiefly the West Indies, Puerto Rico, and South America—that kept the plant operating as long as it did; without it the factory would probably have closed about 20 years earlier. A wartime military contract for foot powder gave some stimulus, but decline became more precipitous after the conflict. The 1950 order book shows a business withered to almost nothing.
Chapter 16
Section 174 cards
What finally forced the Comstock family to close the Morristown factory?
The decision was forced on the family on May 15, 1959, by the death of William Henry Comstock II, known as "Young Bill," who had been president of the company since 1921. Like his father, he had been a prominent Brockville citizen, served a term as mayor, was defeated in a parliamentary contest, and was known as a sportsman and speedboat operator.
Chapter 17
What were the last two shipments of Indian Root Pills, and when did the factory close?
The last two shipments went to old customers: one package of one-dozen boxes to Gilman Brothers of Boston on March 31, 1960, and two-dozen boxes to McKesson & Robbins at Mobile, Alabama, on April 11, 1960. With that final consignment the factory closed, ending ninety-three years of continuous operation in Morristown.
Chapter 17
How did the product's packaging and claims change in the final years?
In the final days the pills were packaged in a flat metal box with a sliding lid and described modestly as the Handy Vegetable Laxative. The ingredients were printed on the box, and nothing more was heard of Dr. Morse's remarkable discovery from his long sojourn with the Indians of the western plains. Gone were the sweeping claims of marvelous cures for every conceivable ailment.
Chapter 17
What happened to the company's employees and buildings after the business ended?
The few superannuated employees were assured of protection against all medical expenses, by the company or the Comstock family, for the rest of their lives. The Canadian factory in Brockville was torn down a few years later. The Morristown buildings were sold and stood untenanted; the lower pill-mixing building was finally torn down in 1971, while the upper packaging building remained in fair condition.
Chapter 17
Section 184 cards
Which two books does Shaw describe as largely pictorial and uncritical?
Shaw names Gerald Carson's One for a Man, Two for a Horse (1961) and Adelaide Hechtlinger's The Great Patent Medicine Era (1970). He characterizes both as largely pictorial, essentially uncritical, and mainly aimed at recapturing the colorfulness and ingenuity of patent-medicine advertising.
Chapter 18
What source does Shaw highly recommend for early American patent-medicine history?
Shaw highly recommends George B. Griffenhagen and James Harvey Young's Old English Patent Medicines in America, published in 1959 as paper 10 in the United States National Museum Bulletin 218, Contributions from the Museum of History and Technology, pages 155-183.
Chapter 18
Who continues to make Dr. Morse's Indian Root Pills after the Comstock dissolution?
The W.H. Comstock Company Pty. Ltd. of Australia, originally a subsidiary of the Canadian company, still manufactures and sells the pills and Comstock's Worm Tablets. It is headed by the former branch manager for the Comstocks, who acquired the rights for Australia and the Orient after the Brockville company dissolved. Distribution also reaches New Zealand, Singapore, and Hong Kong.
Chapter 18
How are the pills packaged and marketed in Australia, and how long have they been made?
Packaging and directions are modern, with the pills described as 'The Overnight Laxative with the Tonic Action.' A reproduction of the old label and the facsimile signature of William Henry Comstock, Sr., are still portrayed. Shaw states the Indian Root Pills have been manufactured continuously for at least 115 years, and the Comstock business has survived nearly 140 years.
Chapter 18
Source and licence
Text used: Project Gutenberg eBook #13397 (Public domain in the United States). Generated from the full text; cards paraphrase the source.
Version: Public domain edition. Retrieved 2026-11-01. Cards reviewed 2026-11-01.
These cards paraphrase the text for study. They are not a substitute for reading the book, and they do not reproduce long passages.
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