Old Postcards

[waywardangler]

Yes, Tales, you put that first one on your back as a plaster containing smartweed and you will forget all about your backache!

[Dean Perdue]

I like the donkey pulling the kids in the shoe.Some of these old cards really give the 60's and 70's a run for the money.

[talesofthesevenseas]

It's funny, but I recognized the artwork in the backache card from another one that I had seen. I wonder if they had to give the kids whiskey to get them to sleep after dosing them with these toothache drops?!!

[waywardangler]

Cocaine toothache drops!!!???  Who needs drug dealers when you can buy those direct from your druggist?

[Mindings]

It was amazing what you could get back then. Victorian England was full of opium dens. In even earlier times children were given Porter to drink (A Mild Beer) as it was safer than water.

[talesofthesevenseas]

Not just in the UK, we had opium dens here in the USA too, in most major cities in our Chinese communities. But the patrons were not just Chinese immigrants, our well-mannered Victorian ancestors were just as inclined to indulge themselves as our own generations have been. Brothels were also legal until fairly recent times, exactly when of course varies from state to state, but in general, the early 1900's saw and end to legalized prostitution, which although it helped to control the spread of venereal disease, it did have the effect of making living/working conditions far worse for the prostitutes themselves. Living in legalized houses of prostitution, although terribly exploited, women at least got a roof over their heads, enough food and clothing and were able to conduct business in a relatively safe environment. In an era when women had very few ways to make an "honest" living that could meet their needs for food and clothing. Education was regarded as a waste of money for a girl who would just marry and be a housewife anyway. There were very few options for any kind of independence. When brothels were closed down activity moved out into the streets where these women were put into more dangerous situations by being alone with their customers.  

There is an excellent book about this called "The Lost Sisterhood - Prostitution in America 1900 - 1918" by Ruth Rosen.
http://books.google.com/books?id=rpTU7RwfaooC&printsec=frontcover&dq=the+lost+sisterhood+rosen&source=bl&ots=2EfYcnXQ5y&sig=S8jlGv3xodKFazENU1Uo6vtkDW0&hl=en&ei=6qELTcaUAoSssAOrt9CSCw&sa=X&oi=book_result&ct=result&resnum=2&ved=0CB0Q6AEwAQ#v=onepage&q&f=false

And the Opium Museum has some fascinating photos of our Victorian ancestors getting hammered:

http://www.opiummuseum.com/index.pl?pics&67

[talesofthesevenseas]

Coca wine was another big seller back in the day. Albert Einstein was a big fan of Mariani's coca wine, which was one of the best sellers. Just by coincidence, someone is selling a very interesting crate of "Wine of Pepsin" which has the original paper caps intact and the contents still in the bottles on my local Craigslist this morning. I'm not sure what is in this particular brand. A lot of the alcohol from the 1920's during prohibition was rebranded as medicinal so that it could still be sold. I'm not sure if the "1899 Port" on the crate is a date or something else.

http://sfbay.craigslist.org/nby/atq/2117621468.html