1. "Victorian Drug Addiction"
Posted by Kimberly on Oct-2nd-03 at 5:03 PM

I found my Victorian medical reference booklet, it is for
something called "Vin-o-Vitae" or the "Wine of Life" it is:
The Great Female Regulator & it will also help with the
assorted aches & pains of childbirth & pregnancy (childbirth
made easy!!!). It is also good for hysterics, nervous
prostration & for young girls it can be used in establishing
menses. They also sell Dr. Granger's Sarsaparilla & an "opium
free" Soothing Syrup for teething babies & let's not forget the
Hog Cholera Remedy.

That's fun Kimberly!
Although, having heard female friends talk, who would want to try to "establish menses"?  "I want cramps NOW!"

  Maybe they meant regulating it, it can be a little sporadic at the very beginning before it becomes a regular cycle.

WHAT were its contents? Is anything now sold like it?
Or do the FDA's regulations ban it and other worthless products?

They are kind of vague about what it is made of. They have
at least a dozen different potions -- a Chill Cure & Dr. Granger's
Tonic Stock Food & a Liver Regulator & some liniments for both
people & animals. Most are said to not contain "injurious drugs"
like opium or chloral but it doesn't say anything about it being
as potent as Jack or Jim. As a matter of fact they have Dr.
Granger's Blackberry Diarrheoa Cordial -- that sounds tasty. But,
it cautions that it is free from opium, and, there "is no
possible danger that its long continued use will bring on a
malady worse than the disease sought to be relieved" I guess
they knew what they were talking about.

Quote: Every hour of a girl's life from the years of twelve
to eighteen ought to be watched with untiring diligence. If
her menses are well established, all will go well in her
womanhood and motherhood, but if, either through her own or
her mother's carelessness, her menses do not get started
regularly, then she must suffer. And what suffering, only the
thousands of patient wives can tell!

I wonder what kind of carelessness they are referring to?
Why would menses need help, how could they control this?
Do you suppose they are only inferring iron-defeciency?

Kimberly's post listing all the Victorian medications and their
claims to cure-all reminded me of today's medicines. We hear ads now
on TV and radio for various miracle cures for depression and impotence
or whatever you may have.  (side effects may cause annorexia, oily
discharge, diareaha, sleeplessness and mental imbalance).
No thanks, I'll just be depressed, thank you anyway.
Even though there were ads, I wonder if educated Victorian families
bought these products?  

Ohmigawd, that is too funny!    Like the girl or her mother have any control over it, like theres some flow valve or something that needs to be checked!  It almost sounds like what they are refering to is if a woman doesn't have a regular period, she will never or can't get pregnant when she is a wife and it will be all her or her mother's fault.  Jeez!


I don't know, Kat?  I'm trying to figure that out myself.  We know now that if a woman or girl is underweight, she can have an erratic period or possibly stop all together.  I'm curious what was in this stuff that was supposed to help regulate a girl's menses? 

Like some of today's advertising ("The Purple Pill") it may be a cure in search of a disease. Or just a cover story for something else that can't be mentioned in polite company?

Did they even know about hormones back then? Would wine have
caused an increase in estrogen? What could they have been using?
I think since it says it makes childbirth near painless it was
probably something rather potent, and it was to be taken during
the pregnancy & not just during labor & then they had the other
kinds of syrups for babies & then women were told to get their
daughters to take it -- they were certainly progressive. No one
was sposed to ever feel a thing. It really isn't any wonder
people are so easily addicted now.

From what I can tell these potions were sold by a door to door
salesman & not a real doctor since you don't pay for anything
but the medicine.

Anaesthesia was invented via chloroform circa 1860s. Queen Victoria used and praised it (as I remember). It made dentistry "painless".

She demanded it during the births of her later children.

I remember seeing a special on the History Channel about
medical discoveries, the doctor who really discovered it
wasn't taken seriously & I think he ended up in an asylum,
he lost his mind, sumpin' like that.

I suspect the "loss of mind" was due to something other than chloroform. But maybe its overuse can do that? I don't know.

Actually, it seems like they said he lost his mind from
life in general. And lack of respect from his peers.

If you read any book on the history of science or medicine, you will find many examples of pioneers who were treated with disdain and disgust.
"Pioneers end up with arrows in their backs."

>I wonder what kind of carelessness they are referring to?
>Why would menses need help, how could they control this?
>Do you suppose they are only inferring iron-defeciency?


What kind of carelessness could stop a woman's menses from being regular?

It's my understanding that some of these "cures" helped induce abortions, and that the women who read the advertisements in those days understood all of the "code words" buried in the message.

"Although, having heard female friends talk, who would want to try to "establish menses"?  "I want cramps NOW!"

Benjamin,
Any woman who's menses was late and was not in the position of having a child would have wanted this!

Gramma