Bottles and ExtrasFall 200438

PROLOGUE

In Part I of the article entitled,“YUKON JACK,” the history of the well-known prospector and pioneer of theYukon Territory, Leroy Napoleon (“Jack”)McQuesten, was related;

His development of the “SourdoughThermometer” that utilized the famousproprietary medicine, Perry Davis’Painkiller as one component wasdescribed;

The classic milk-glass figural“Klondike” pocket-flask was shown anddiscussed. The believed relationship ofthe flask blown to commemorate the gold-seeking pioneers of the Yukon, like JackMcQuesten, was explained;

The part in the “Yukon Jack”McQuesten history played by his KoyukonAthabascan Indian wife Katherine(“Kate”) James Satejdenalno McQuestenwas also presented;

The fact that McQuesten had a popularwhiskey and honey liqueur named in his

“YUKON JACK”

Part IIby Cecil Munsey

Copyright © 2004

• “The Cat and the Painkiller”

• “Perry Davis’ Painkiller”

honor was covered;It was also mentioned that the

McQuesten River and the McQuestenMineral Belt in the Yukon, were namedto honor the pioneering efforts of “YukonJack” McQuesten.

“The Cat and the Painkiller”

Undoubtedly there isn’t an Americanalive who is not familiar with the writingsand sayings of the “Lincoln” of ourliterature, Samuel Langhorne Clemens(“Mark Twain”) – see Figures 1 - 4.

It is generally accepted that hismasterpieces, The Adventures of TomSawyer and The Adventures ofHuckleberry Finn, are children’s books.While that is true, it is just as true thatthey are also adult books. Part of hisgreatness is that he had messages for bothyoung and old.

Like Charles Dickens, Twain employedhumorous satire to underscore socialinjustice. It is Twain’s role as a humoristand philosopher that is the focus of thisfirst of the two sections of the story of JackMcQuesten that is presented here as PartII of the article, “YUKON JACK”.

Recall McQuesten’s “SourdoughThermometer,” where the last product tofreeze in the Yukon winter, was a bottleof the alcohol-laced patent medicine –Perry Davis’ Painkiller. Then note thefollowing excerpts from Twain’s, TheAdventures of Tom Sawyer, Chapter XII,“The Cat and the Painkiller” [Figure 5].Tom is suffering his first big case of lovesickness. Tom suddenly lost interest inlife because Becky Thatcher had stopped

coming to school. Aunt Polly became veryconcerned and decided to do somethingabout Tom’s problem. Most will recallAunt Polly as the symbol of the typicalultra-conventional housewife of the1800s:

“She began to try all manner ofremedies on him. She was one of thosepeople who are infatuated with patentmedicines and all new-fangledmethods of producing health ormending it. She was an inveterateexperimenter in these things. Whensomething fresh in this line came outshe was in a fever, right away, to try it;not on herself, for she was never ailing,but on anybody else that came handy.She was a subscriber for all ‘Health’periodicals and phrenological frauds;and the solemn ignorance they wereinflated with was breath to her nostrils.All the ‘rot’ they contained aboutventilation, and what to drink, and howmuch exercise to take, and what frameof mind to keep one’s self in, and whatsort of clothing to wear, was all gospelto her, and she never observed that herhealth journals of the current monthcustomarily upset everything they hadrecommended the month before. Shewas as simple-hearted and honest asthe day was long, and so she was aneasy victim. She gathered together herquack periodicals and her quackmedicines, and thus armed with death,went about on her pale horse,metaphorically speaking, with ‘hellfollowing after.’ But she neversuspected that she was not an angel ofhealing and the balm of Gilead indisguise to the suffering neighbors.”

Figure 2 Figure 4

Figure 3

Figure 1

Bottles and Extras Fall 2004 39

“The water treatment was new, now,and Tom’s low condition was awindfall to her. She had him out atdaylight every morning, stood him upin the woodshed and drowned him witha deluge of cold water; that shescrubbed him down with a towel like afile, and so brought him to; then sherolled him up in a wet sheet and puthim away under blankets till shesweated his soul clean and ‘the yellowstains of it came through his pores’ –as Tom said.”

“Yet notwithstanding all this, theboy grew more and more melancholyand pale and dejected. She added hotbaths, shower baths, and plunges. Theboy remained as dismal as a hearse.She began to assist the water with aslim oatmeal diet and blister plasters.She calculated his capacity as shewould a jug’s, and filled him up everyday with quack cure-alls.”

“Tom had become indifferent topersecution by this time. This phasefilled the old lady’s heart withconsternation. This indifference mustbe broken up at any cost. Now sheheard of [Perry Davis’] Painkiller forthe first time. She ordered a lot at once.She tasted it and was filled withgratitude. It was simply fire [highalcoholic content] in a liquid form. Shedropped the water treatment andeverything else, and pinned her faithto Painkiller. She gave Tom ateaspoonful and watched with deepestanxiety for the result. Her troubles

were instantly at rest, her soul at peaceagain, for the ‘influence’ was brokenup. The boy could not have shown awilder, heartier interest if she had builta fire under him.”

“Tom felt that it was time to wakeup; this sort of life might be romanticenough, in his blighted condition, butit was getting to have too littlesentiment and too much distractingvariety about it. So he thought overvarious plans for relief, and finally hitupon that of professing to be fond ofPainkiller. He asked for it so often thathe became a nuisance and his auntended by telling him to help himselfand quit bothering her. If it had beenSid, she would have had no misgivingsto alloy her delight; but since it wasTom, she watched the bottleclandestinely. She found that themedicine did really diminish, but it didnot occur to her that the boy wasmending the health of a crack in thesitting-room floor with it.”

“One day Tom was in the act ofdosing the crack when his aunt’s catcame along, purring, eying theteaspoon avariciously, and begging fora taste.

“Tom said: ‘Don’t ask for it unlessyou want it, Peter.’”

“But Peter signified that he did wantit.”

“‘You better make sure.’”“Peter was sure.”“’Now you’ve asked for it, and I’ll

give it to you, because there ain’t

anything mean about me; but if youfind you don’t like it, you mustn’t blameanybody but your own self.’”

“Peter was agreeable. So Tom priedhis mouth open and poured down thePainkiller. Peter sprang a couple ofyards in the air, and then delivered awar whoop and set off round and roundthe room, banging against furniture,upsetting flowerpots, and makinggeneral havoc. Next he rose on hishind feet and pranced around, in afrenzy of enjoyment, with his head overhis shoulder and his voice proclaiminghis unappeasable happiness. Then hewent tearing around the house againspreading chaos and destruction in hispath. Aunt Polly entered in time tosee him throw a few double somersets,deliver his final mighty hurrah, andsail through the open window, carryingthe rest of the flowerpots with him.The old lady stood petrified withastonishment, peering over her glasses;Tom lay on the floor expiring withlaughter.”

“’Tom, what on earth ails thatcat?’”

“’I don’t know, aunt,’ gasped theboy.

“’Why, I never see anything like it.What did make him act so?’”

“’Deed I don’t know, Aunt Polly;cats always act so when they’re havinga good time.’”

“’They do, do they?’ There wassomething in the tone that made Tomapprehensive.”

“’Yes’m. That is, I believe theydo.’”

“’You do?’”“’Yes’m.’”“The old lady was bending down,

Tom watching with interestemphasized by anxiety. Too late hedivined her ‘drift.’ The handle of thetelltale teaspoon was visible under thebed valance. Aunt Polly took it, heldit up. Tom winced, and dropped hiseyes. Aunt Polly raised him by theusual handle–his ear–and cracked hishead soundly with her thimble.

“’Now, sir, what did you want totreat that poor dumb beast so for?’”

‘“I done it out of pity for him–because he hadn’t any aunt.’”

“’Hadn’t any aunt! – you numskull.What has that got to do with it?’”

“’Heaps. Because if he’d ‘a’ hadone she’d ‘a’ burnt him out herself!

Figure 5

Bottles and ExtrasFall 200440

She’d ‘a’ roasted his bowels out of him‘thout any more feeling than if he wasa human!’”

“Aunt Polly felt a sudden pang ofremorse. This was putting the thingin a new light; what was cruelty to acat might be cruelty to a boy too. Shebegan to soften; she felt sorry. Her eyeswatered a little, and she put her handon Tom’s head and said gently:

“’I was meaning for the best, Tom.And, Tom, it did do you good.’”

Tom looked up in her face with justa perceptible twinkle peeping throughhis gravity:

“’I know you was meaning for thebest, auntie, and so was I with Peter.It done him good, too. I never see himget around so since–‘“

‘“Oh, go ‘long with you, Tom,before you aggravate me again. Andyou try and see if you can’t be a goodboy, for once, and you needn’t take anymore medicine.’”

From the Autobiography of MarkTwain, edited by Charles Neider comes aninteresting and appropriate quoteregarding the above story of the cat andthe painkiller:

“It was not right to give the cat the“Painkiller;’ I realize it now. I wouldnot repeat it in these days. But in those‘Tom Sawyer’ days it was a great andsincere satisfaction to me to see Peterperform under its influence – and ifactions do speak as loud as words, ittook as much interest in it as I did. Itwas a most detestable medicine, PerryDavis’ Painkiller.”

“Perry Davis’ Painkiller”

One of the most famous of the patentand proprietary medicines that bottlecollectors are very familiar with is PerryDavis’ Painkiller that was invented in1839. Beyond Perry Davis’ Painkiller asa component of Jack McQuesten’s famous“Sourdough Thermometer” and as “…amost detestable medicine,” mentioned in“The Cat and the Painkiller” (above), thereader is offered here a capsule history ofthe medicine that has thrived and survivedfor over 160 years.

To begin, in Mark Twain’s own words,spoken by and as Samuel LanghorneClemens [Figure 2] – Twain’s real name– about his experience as a nine-year-old

boy:

“It was a most detestable medicine,Perry Davis’ Painkiller. Mr. Pavey’snegro man, who was a person of goodjudgment and considerable curiosity,wanted to sample it and I let him. Itwas his opinion that it was made ofhell-fire. These were the cholera daysof 1859. The people along theMississippi were paralyzed with fright.Those who could run away did it. Andmany died in the fright in the flight.Fright killed three persons wherecholera killed one. Those who couldn’tflee kept themselves drenched withcholera preventatives and my motherchose Perry Davis’ Painkiller for me.”

Left: Figure 6

The painkiller part of the story of PerryDavis (1791-1862) started in Dartmouth,Massachusetts during the winter of 1839.In Perry Davis’ own words,

“My stomach became very sore. Mydigestive organs became weak. Myappetite failed. Night sweats followed.Then my kidneys were affected. Pilesin their worst form were preying uponme. The canker in my mouth turnedvery troublesome. Under all thesecircumstances I thought I was fitsubject for the grave.”

The sick Davis decided to invent someconcoction that would relieve his miserywhile he awaited the sound of “Gabriel’shorn.” He supposedly selected the“choicest gums and plants” in the worldand “directed by the hand of Providence”

put together the famous “Perry DavisPainkiller [Figures 6 and 7].”

Davis put his product, to be usedinternally and externally, on the marketin 1840 and by 1843 he was doing quitewell with it and living in Providence,Rhode Island and had listed himself inthe City Directory under the title“Physician.”

Even though he jealously guarded his“God-given” formula, an analysis wasmade of his product by a druggist. Theingredients, in a 5-plus-gallon batch, wererevealed to be: “Gum myrrh 2 1/4 pounds,Capsicum 10 ounces, Gum benzoin 6ounces, Gum opium 8 ounces, Gum fuiaic[sic] 3 ounces and alcohol 5 gallons.”

It was the cholera epidemic of 1849that made the “painkiller” famous. Beforethe year was out Davis was selling 6,000bottles a month. At about the same time,sea captains coming through the greatseaport of Providence, began to takeDavis’ product with them on their voyagesall over the world. Soon Perry Davis &Son opened a branch office in London.According to Mr. Davis, sales “increasedmore than a thousand-fold.” (It isinteresting to note at this point that PerryDavis [Figure 8] was a generous financialsupporter of both the Baptist Church andthe Temperance Movement.)

At the age of 71, in 1862, Davisbreathed his last breath. His son,Edmund, took over the business andcarried on until he died in 1880. Thebusiness was then sold and remained inProvidence until 1895, at which time itwas removed to New York City.

Below: Figure 7

Bottles and Extras Fall 2004 41

And without any apparent trouble,Perry Davis Painkiller survived the PureFood and Drug restrictions of 1906.Today, 163 years later, it can still bepurchased under the title “Liniment,Painkiller Brand” in both the UnitedStates and Canada.

The term liniment implies external usebut after all it is liquid – who knows? Ifeven tempted, remember, “Yukon Jack”McQuesten’s “sourdough thermometer”where the ultimate measuring device ofcoldness was the fourth bottle. That bottlewas Perry Davis’ Painkiller which,because of its alcohol content, didn’tfreeze solid until the weather reached –76º F.

References:

Books:Amato, Robert A. Packaging Power

(Yukon Jack). New York: JobsonPublishing Corporation, 1989.

Belknap, E. M. Milk Glass. NewYork: Crown Publishers, Inc., 1949.

Holbrook, Stewart H. The Golden Ageof Quackery. New York: The MacmillanCompany, 1959.

Munsey, Cecil. The Illustrated Guideto COLLECTING BOTTLES. New YorkHawthorn Books, Inc. 1970.

Twain, Mark. The Adventures of TomSawyer. New York: Harper & Brothers,1875, Chapter XII.

Twain, Mark. The Adventures ofHuckleberry Finn. London, Chatto &Windus, 1884.

Wearin, Otha D. Statues That Pour –The story of Character Bottles. Denver,Colorado: Sage Books, 1965.

Periodicals:Hansbrough, Vivian. “There’s History

in Figure Bottles.” Hobbies, January,1958.

Lane, W. C. “Glass of Our Pioneers– Bottles 1650-1800.” Hobbies,December, 1935.

London, Jack. “The Wife of a King.”Overland Monthly, Volume 34, August1899.

Munsey, Cecil. “Tom Sawyer’s BoutWith Patent Medicine.” The Bottleneck,Volume 2, No. 9, September 1967.

Munsey, Cecil. “Perry Davis’Painkiller.” The Bottleneck, Volume 2,No. 10, October, 1967.

Internet:

Captain Jack:http://users.stargate.net/skye

Jack London:http://sunssite.berkeley.edu/london/

Jack London:h t t p : / / w w w. p a r k s . s o n o m a . n e t /

jlstory.html

Jack London:http://www.geocities.com/jacklondons/

Figure 8

Perry Davis & Son advertisement. Advertising lithograph for the painkiller.

Cecil Munsey13541 Willow Run RoadPoway, CA 92064-1733

858-487-7036cecilmunsey@cox.net

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