DR HAYNE'S ARABIAN BALSAM, E Morgan & Sons Providence,R.I.1890's Cure Bottle

Description

DR HAYNE'S ARABIAN BALSAM
E. MORGAN & SONS
PROVIDENCE,R.I.
1890's Medicine cure Bottle
4 1/4 inches
no cracks chips
Early Rhode Island Cure bottle.
Such a product was Dr. Haynes’ Arabian Balsam, which appears to have originated in the 1850s. An advertisement in 1858 read: “DR. HAYNES ARABIAN BALSAM. 40,000 Bottles Sold In Less Than Two Years Without Advertising. Prepared and sold by the inventor, A. Haynes, M.D., South Braintree, Mass.” The twelve-paneled, aqua, mold-blown bottle shown in the accompanying photo (about 4
1
⁄
4
’’ high) is embossed, “HAYNES ARABIAN BALSAM” and (circling below the neck) “PROVIDENCE, R.I.” This suggests it dates after circa 1871 when it was being sold from that city by Jesse Miller & Sons. (The company was later acquired about 1876 by Ebenezer Morgan and his partner James Pidge, but Morgan bought out Pidge in 1885 and, at his death in 1890, the firm became E. Morgan and Sons, continuing as such into the 1960s.Perhaps the only thing “Arabian” about the product was its name (there was also a Cheeseman’s Arabian Balsam), probably intended to lend a touch of the exotic. Actually its contents were rather typical of a medicine sold as an expectorant and counterirritant for the relief of colds and the coughs and hoarseness stemming from colds. Its active ingredients were listed as “Rectified Oil of Turpentine and Oil of Thyme in a Bland Vegetable Oil Base.” Herbalists considered thyme “an effective antiseptic for the whole system.” Turpentine—now considered “dangerous” taken internally—was once thought effective for treating diseases involving mucous membranes, especially those of the respiratory organs. It was also commonly used in liniments, and indeed Haynes was also claimed effective for sprains and bruises, minor burns, stiff muscles, and insect stings and bites.