Essence of Peppermint, pontiled, circa 1790 - 1850.

These small, square cross-section, bottles from Jerry's collection are only 70mm (2 3/4") tall, and 21mm (3/4") across the base. Both are made of colourless 'flint' glass, with a folded and flared lip and a pontil mark on the base (one solid, the other a weak solid pontil or a glass chip pontil).

They are both embossed on four sides: "BY THE / KING'S PATENT / ESSENCE OF / PEPPERMINT", with only minor differences in the style of embossing:

Patent Medicines. The term 'Patent Medicine' originally referred to medicines, such as the Essence of Peppermint once contained in the bottles above, that had been granted a patent by the British monarch. Originally the granting of such a patent conferred respectability on a medicine (which is why it was embossed on bottles such as this one) but by the early 19th century the term had, at least in the minds of the general public, lost its connection with actual patents and was used to describe virtually any 'medicine' which could be bought over-the-counter without a prescription.

The continued use of the embossed phrase 'By The King's Patent' into the mid and late 19th century was probably more related to tradition than to it's being a label of respectability. The term 'patent medicine' remained in use on both sides of the Atlantic well into the 20th century.

The first Royal Patent granted for a medicine was awarded in 1711, to Benjamin Okell for Dr Batemans Pectoral Drops (it appears that there probably never was a 'Dr Bateman', and that Okell invented him as a marketing ploy). This was rapidly followed by a patent for Stoughtons Elixir in 1712. From then onwards throughout the 18th and early 19th centuries a steady stream of medicines that had been granted a Royal Patent appeared on the market in Britain and the British colonies. These included , amongst dozens of others, Betton's Britsh Oil (patented 1742), Turlingtons Balsam of Life (1744), Friars Drops (1777) and Sibly's Solar Tincture (1795). Essence of Peppermint was patented in 1762.

Bottled medicines were not the only ones to be granted patents. Numerous pills, powders, and ointments sold in pots, boxes or paper packets were also patented. The 'seal' below was used on packets of 'Dr James' Fever Powders' from at least as early as 1764, to indicate that the packets contained the genuine article. Any without the seal were "pernicious" counterfeits.

Above: An 18th century 'Kings Patent' seal, printed on packets of Dr James' Fever Powders. From an advertising pamphlet of 1764 (Jerry's Collection).

Similarly to a modern patent, a Royal Patent granted the owner of the patent a monopoly on the manufacture, distribution, and sale of a product for a fixed period (usually 14 years). The similarity to modern patents pretty much ends there. Unlike modern patents there was no requirement in Royal Patents for the 'inventor' to reveal the method of manufacture, or to demonstrate the usefulness or effectiveness of the product. In the case of medicines the ingredients only had to be described in the most general terms. Recipes could in effect be kept secret, and it was quite possible for medically useless, or even dangerous, concoctions to get a Royal Patent as easily as genuinely useful medicines.

The 1762 patent for Essence of Peppermint was awarded to John Juniper, originally from the midlands (probably the Nottingham area) but at that time a chemist and apothecary in Soho, London. As was normal with such patents, Juniper was granted the sole right to "prepare, make and vend" Essence of Peppermint for 14 years. Within a year Juniper was advertising his medicine "By the Authority of His Majesty's Royal Letters Patent" in London newspapers, describing it as being "Approved of by several eminent Physicians" and stating that "Its well-known virtues are those of speedily relieving Cholicky Pains, and all Disorders arising from Wind or Flatulency, as well in infants as in others [...] it agreeably warms the habit in weak and decayed constitutions and ... strengthens the nerves", as well as comforting the stomach in "Belchings, Sickness, Loss of Apetite, &c".

Juniper died in 1798 and left the rights to his medicine to John Heath, who by 1800 was advertising himself as the sole proprietor.

Essence of Peppermint was probably originally sold in plain unembossed phials, but some time before Junipers death (possibly as early as 1767 but more certainly by 1790, see Jones, 1981, p8), problems with imitators and counterfeiters seem to have pushed him to start using embossed bottles, probably very similar to, or the same as, the type shown here (for an update on this, see Stop Press! below).

By the early 1800s, and possibly earlier, Essence of Peppermint had followed the fate of Turlingtons Balsam and most other successful patent medicine of the time and was being widely counterfeited, but there is no way of knowing with certainty if the two bottles above were used for the genuine article, or were filled by imitators.

British or American? Bottles very similar to these have been found throughout Britain and North America (both the USA and Canada). As with other British medicines that became successful in the United States, counterfeiters were common there as well as in Britain, and glassmakers in America started to produce copies of Essence of Peppermint bottles to supply their home market.

The shape of the bottle had by that time become closely associated with the contents, and so the American bottles retained the size, shape and embossing of the originals. It is only through other details that British and American versions can be distinguished from each other.

Although some early American examples from east coast (and especially New England) glasshouses were possibly very similar to English bottles, in general American medicine bottles were, from about the 1820s onwards, quite distinctive from their English counterparts.

American Essence of Peppermint bottles were generally made in aqua glass. They tend to have typically American small open pontil marks. and usually have a thin, simple (rather than folded) flared lip. British pontilled Essence of Peppermint bottles, on the other hand, are generally made from colourless 'flint' glass, with a thicker folded-and-flared lip, and will usually (but not always) have a solid pontil mark.

Both of the bottles above are probably English. The damaged example was found in the south of England and is definitely English. Although the other has all the characteristics of an English bottle there is a small question mark over it, because it was found in the eastern US. There is a slim possibility that it is an early American example.

Dating. Many of the old British patent medicines such as Essence of Peppermint, Turlingtons Balsam, and Batemans Drops were very long-lived. As time passed widespread imitation caused them to became less closely associated in the public mind with the original inventor (and, in some cases, with the original recipe!). As a result they tended to eventually become generic medicines that were made, bottled and sold by several, or even several thousand, different 'proprietors'. The one constant identifiable thread linking the early and the late versions of these medicines was in many cases the appearance of the bottle (both shape and embossing). The bottle became, in effect, the 'brand' of the medicine. An extreme example of this is Turlingtons Balsam, which was sold in bottles embossed with the date 1754 right into the 20th century. Essence of Peppermint was still being sold in bottles the same size and shape as the ones featured above in the early 20th century, 120 years or more after the bottle was first introduced.

Two Turlingtons Balsam bottles, the one on the left dating to about 1800 - 1840, that on the right to about 1900. Both are embossed with the date Jan 26 1754, as can just be seen on the side of the later example. (Jerry's collection)

The lack of change, over a period of many decades, in both the design of Essence of Peppermint bottles and the glassmaking methods used in their manufacture, means that the two bottles featured here, and the many other survivors like them, can only be very approximately dated. The date range for the two featured on this page is approximately 1790 to 1840. I have no detailed information about the context in which these were found, which might have provided additional dating information.

Essence of Peppermint was still being sold in bottles of very similar size, shape and embossing until the late 19th or even the early 20th centuries in Britain. Later types do not have hinge mould bases or pontil marks, and are found in both colourless and pale green / aqua glass.

Printers, booksellers, and patent medicines. There was, throughout the 18th and 19th centuries, a traditional link between booksellers, printers, and the patent medicine trade. A number of the big London - based proprietors of patent medicines, such as Dicey & Okell were, first and foremost, printers and booksellers. The link between these trades was also strong in the provinces. John Drakard of Stamford in Lincolnshire was a bookseller and printer, and publisher of 'Drakard's Stamford News', an important provincial newspaper of the first two or three decades of the 19th century. Drakard took advantage of his newspaper business to heavily promote his secondary trade in the sale of 'patent' medicines.

The advertisement below is from the front page of the 4th August 1812 edition of Drakards newspaper. At this time Napoleon was busy with his invasion of Russia, and England and the USA were preoccupied with their War of 1812. Both are reported on pages 2 & 3 of the same issue of Drakards newspaper, after the patent medicine advertisements. The advertisment shown is for Samuel Solomon's Cordial Balm of Gilead, as available from Drakard's shops throughout Lincolnshire!

This association between printers and patent medicines was almost universal in England at this time. In York, for example, the trade directories of the 1820s, 30s and 40s show that the 'Booksellers, stationers, binders and printers' in the town included several 'Patent Medicine Venders'. In 1830 these included, amongst others, Alex Barclay of 3 Low Ousegate, Richard Burdekin of 16 High Ousegate, and Thomas Marsh of 80 Petergate, all selling Dicey's Daffy's Elixir, Sibly's Solar Tincture, Dalby's Carminative, and many other quack medicines alongside their stock of books and stationery.

JK, September 2007.

*STOP PRESS!

24th November 2007, 14:30hrs. Our patent medicine correspondent, Jerry Kemp, writes:

"What a great hobby! Will the excitement never end??!! Within the past few weeks a Peppermint bottle bearing the names of both Juniper and Heath has come to light! When found it still smelled strongly of it's original pepperminty contents.

The same shape as the two Peppermint bottles featured above, it is embossed on four sides: "JUNIPER'S / PEPPERMINT / SOLD BY / JP.HEATH". We hope to be able to bring you photos in the near future.

The bottle came from a late Victorian site, having been thrown away when it was already old, and so the context does not provide any useful dating evidence. However, it must date to after the death of Juniper in 1798, when he left the rights to the medicine to Heath, but before the death of Heath. We have yet to discover the date of death of John Heath. It is not yet even clear whether Heath remained in Nottingham after taking over the rights to the medicine, and so probably died there, or whether he moved to London.

The famous Bielby & Bewick workshop in Tyneside produced a mould for a bottle embossed 'Juniper's Peppermint sold by J. P. Heath' , in March 1812 (see Ellison, 1975). It is quite possible that the Beilby and Bewick mould is the one used to manufacture the recently discovered bottle, although bottles with the same embossing are likely to have been used by Juniper from the earliest days of his 'ownership' of the rights to Essence of Peppermint, in the late 1790s.

The Bielby & Bewick record clearly indicates that Heath was still active and selling Essence of Peppermint as late as 1812.

In her 1981 research paper Olive Jones speculated about the existence of peppermint bottles bearing Juniper's name, on the basis of a small fragment found at a Canadian site. That fragment only included parts of two sides, and was embossed "[...]ERS / [...]MINT". It is a very close match to the recently discovered bottle. There have been rumours of others over the years, but this recent discovery is the first confirmation of the existence of named peppermint bottles directly associated with Heath, the direct successor of Juniper.

Why no 'King's Patent' embossing? It may be significant that Heath thought that embossing the name of Juniper on the bottle was more important than 'The King's Patent'. Possibly Juniper's name was closely associated in the public mind with genuine or superior quality Essence of Peppermint, and was thought to be a better guarantee of quality than any Royal Patent. This flies in the face of assumptions that the Kings Patent was universally thought to imply quality of the product, at least so far as Essence of Peppermint is concerned. Of course, we have no indication of how prominently the King's Patent information may have been printed on the bottle wrapper.

The new discovery obviously cannot claim to be the 'original' type of embossed Essence of Peppermint bottle: that would have to say 'sold by J. Juniper', or something very similar. Even a bottle embossed "Juniper's Peppermint" would not really qualify, for the same reason that 'Daffy's Elixir' embossed on a bottle does not mean the bottle was filled by the original Daffy. The 'J. P. Heath' bottle is however probably closer to the original, in both age and embossing, than the generic types.

The earliest possible date for the Heath bottle is 1798 - 99. The Beilby and Bewick records show that such bottles were still being produced and used in 1812, but the latest possible date for the bottle depends upon the date of death for John Heath. Research is under way, but preliminary information suggests that John Heath died in late 1812 or early 1813: Watch this space!

Photographs of the Heath bottle have been obtained!

It is slightly taller and thinner than the two featured above, being 19mm wide and 75mm tall. It has a folded and flared lip, a circular solid pontil mark, and overall black staining of the type that is sometimes found on lead glass that has been buried for many years, and that rubs off quite easily. The embossing is very heavy except for the 'BY' on the 'SOLD BY' side, and the 'T' on the 'JP.HEATH' side, which are faint due to blowing into a cold mould.

© J. M. Kemp. 2007

References.

Ellison, M. (1975). The Tyne Glasshouses and Beilby and Bewick Workshop. Archaeologia Aeliana. Fifth Series. 3: 143 - 193.

Griffenhagen, G, & M. Bogard (1999). History of Drug Containers and their Labels. American Institute of the History of Pharmacy. Madison, WI.

Griffenhagen, G, & J. H. Young (1959). Old English Patent Medicines in America. Contributions from the Museum of History and Technology, Washington DC.

Jones, O. (1981). Essence of Peppermint, a history of the medicine and its bottle. Historical Archaeology 15 (2): 1 - 57.

Young, J. H. (1961). The Toadstool Millionaires. Princeton University Press.

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