The label is the star. Its elaborate lettering advertises a 25-cent remedy for everything from headaches and rheumatism to seasickness, sore throats, bruises, and chilblains. It is a vivid example of how a household medicine was marketed in the late nineteenth century: one bottle, an extraordinary list of promised uses, and a price large enough to print at the bottom.
THE MAKER & PORTLAND, MAINE
John Q. Twitchell and James P. Champlin ran a wholesale grocery business on Commercial Street, at the head of Merrill’s Wharf. A circa-1885 photograph preserved by the Maine Historical Society shows the firm and its employees. The company also bottled extracts and sold this named patent medicine.
Imagine this bottle leaving Portland’s busy waterfront trade for a shop counter or family medicine cupboard. Its paper label was meant to catch a buyer’s eye; its embossed glass kept advertising the maker even after the paper wore away. Here, more than a century later, both are still together. The Smithsonian also holds an example of Twitchell, Champlin & Co.’s Neuralgic Anodyne in its collection.
DATE & WHAT THE LABEL SAYS
The label bears a July 17, 1883 copyright date. That dates the label design’s copyright, not the day this bottle was filled. I would describe this example as late nineteenth century, likely circa 1885–1900 rather than promise an exact production year.
The advertised uses included neuralgia, headache, rheumatism, colds, sore throat, colic, cramps, dysentery, diarrhea, seasickness, bruises, sprains, cuts, and chilblains. Those are the maker’s historical claims, preserved on the original label—not modern medical claims.
MEASUREMENTS & CONDITION
- Height: 6 1/8 inches.
- Glass: No chips or cracks.
- Embossing: Maker’s name and product name on the sides.
- Label: Original, attractive, and readily legible, with visible age toning and small areas of paper loss. Please use the close-up photographs to judge its condition.
- Interior: Some original dried residue remains inside. It has been left undisturbed
A handsome display piece for a Maine, pharmacy, advertising, or antique bottle collection—especially compelling because the original label and its matching embossed bottle have survived together.
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