Itchy & Scratchy: 1938

Wonder what the price for Insulin was ?

The two men leaning aganist the building look like they could be brothers.

…24 tablets for 49¢

[Each number is a price in cents. For example Sal Hepatica in three sizes: 24, 49 and 97 cents. - Dave]

Har har har! I just realized that they are offering a choice of 24¢ or 49¢ worth of Alka Seltzer. At first, I thought that the dot in the middle was a decimal point. Even by today's standards, $24.49 for a couple of Alka Seltzer tablets would be considered a bit pricey.

My grandfather used to buy Pepsin tablets not the syrup. They came in little brown bottles and were itty bitty little things.

This slice of life--as perfectly preserved as a lab slide--captures a reality long long gone. What can you get at a pharmacy now for a quarter? Also preserved for eternity, that hapless man, scratching his balls.

Some things never change.

Haarlem Oil seems to be still used under that name as a horse medication in some parts (Texas and New Zealand were two places a quick web glance revealed), and is apparently juniper berry oil or tar.

This site has an article from 1908 about how the Pure Food & Drug Act prevented the manufacture of domestic (U.S.) Haarlem Oil.

Here's a link to someone selling a vintage box of Gold Medal Haarlem Oil on eBay for $3.99. Alas, it appears the box is empty. No kidney relief in sight...

Haarlem seems to have been the more popular spelling as judged by hits in the newspaper archive. From 1940:

Sounds like an Eddie Murphy movie. Wonder what it was? Google has zero hits. Harlem was a name from the Dutch Settlement of New Amsterdam, better known by the British name of New York.

Clue from a 1936 newspaper below - Dave

Good thing the J & J talc comes in Large.

I think the guy in the middle has a itch or something.

[Maybe he could use some J&J. - Dave]

You could get Dutch Harlem Oil Capsules for 25 cents back then. Just try finding them for less than $1 each now. And if you have to ask how much Syrup of Pepsin costs now, you can't afford it.

I though he played 3rd base for the White Sox....but seriously, wouldn't it be nice if stores today posted their price so easy to read.

dss