Featured Mrs. Winslow’s Soothing Syrup (Baby-killer) Original Packaging

Hi everyone, got this at auction in a lot of four or five other bottles for £40. Though I can find quite a few of these without the wrapper this is the first and only that I can find that are in their original packaging. The wrapping is also sealed still though torn in places.

Given the dark story behind this medicine it’s odd to know I have an opiate in my house and macabre to think of the lives this bottle ruined. Though glad that we progressed and learned of the dangers of opiates.

Has anybody seen another in the original wrapping or know it’s possible worth? May not be a lot but I though put it unique and had to have it.

 

Would something like this (controlled substance), with contents intact, be legal to sell or even own? I have my doubts. I've seen stuff like this at estate auctions and have been curious on the legalities.

 

It may come as a surprise that many of us born in the 1950's were frequently given opiate distillates (paregoric) to combat the pain of teething as well as other minor ailments. Most of us are not currently wandering the streets looking for our next fix. It seems remarkable to me that a helpful medication is denied to the general population because of some who misuse it. We haven't banned gasoline because of huffers and don't get me started on alcohol.

Sorry, this is a bit of a sore spot for me (in more ways than one).
Don

 

Codeine cough syrup works as intended

 

It’s a shame that we as an antiques interest collective can’t rise up and implement science-research based medical exclusions for non strictly lethal/harmful drugs.

But joking aside I have now after more research found a few examples of this bottle with the packaging, sadly none that are unopened. Not sadly for me, a unique example is amazing.

Here is a fascinating and very in depth history of the syrup and it’s dark past :
https://www.peachridgeglass.com/2013/01/mrs-winslows-soothing-syrup-oooh-so-soothing/

 

the problem with opiates...is the added fentanyl....& carfentayl....
it killed Prince !

 

Ita actually morphine in this bottle, it was the main ingredient along with alcohol. Definately soothing, it’d knock you out by the sounds of it

 

No baby killer. The AMA just didn't like competition, so they concocted a scare story. Really the evil doers are the 'medical professionals'. Now you need a permission slip from them, by law, to buy from their associates in crime.

 

Re: is it legal to own or sell:
My understanding of the law would be most emphatically no.
If the contents are in fact intact, this is legally a narcotic; possession is a felony, and sale would be a more serious felony.
There is no exception that I know of for "vintage or antique narcotics."
Whether one is likely to be caught or prosecuted; I have no idea.
Personally, I'd be very cautious. I'd think it might be a bad idea to advertise it for sale in public.

 

That is what I thought, at least here in the states.

I found the below site interesting, has a list of some of the patent medicines that contained [now] highly controlled substances.

DANGEROUS DRUG BOTTLES
http://www.bottlebooks.com/dangerou.htm

 

Hi,
I remember having a wonderful fancy cut crystal stoppered bottle that was acid etched KCN for potassium cyanide. I used to keep my Tylenol in it until the nut that was putting cyanide in Tylenol capsules. I forget how many people died and they started to put paper glued to the bottles of Tylenol so it could not be "tampered" with.
greg

 

Personally my Mother used to rub Jack Daniels on our gums when we were teething.

 

With a capful for good measure , I'll bet !!

 

My older sister Pat (who we always accused my Mother of dropping on her head a few times because she was so dingy) called one night to ask what she could do with her teething baby to get him to go to sleep. My Mother told her to rub a little bit of whisky on his gums.

She called back about 45 minutes later to tell her it did not work, although he was no longer crying & fussy he still wasn't asleep. When asked what he was doing she replied he is sitting in his crib laughing. She then asked how much did she rub on his gums & she replied well he kept licking it off so I kept rubbing on more.

 

Nice page @Joe2007. There was a really cool illustration on that page too I’ve saved, attached it here.

This particular medicine is called the baby killer because the ingredients were never blatantly stated at least not the morphine or alcohol so if a child continued crying then a mother would assume this “safe” medicine was beneficial to the baby but it was quite the opposite.

[Print is from an 24th May 1875 issue of the Gazette and Courier. Can’t find much about the print. The magazines themselves are a scarcity.]

 

When my little brother was teething it was my mother who needed the Jack Daniels.

And you would think if this product was harming or killing babies mothers would have caught on eventually and stopped using it. Instead it seems to have had a very long production life.
Don

 

That is a valid point yeh @dgbjwc . With such effective initial branding and an inability for customers to take the makers or sellers to court I suppose it snowballed.