Skip to main content
U.S. flag

An official website of the United States government

Official websites use .gov
A .gov website belongs to an official government organization in the United States.

Secure .gov websites use HTTPS
A lock ( ) or https:// means you’ve safely connected to the .gov website. Share sensitive information only on official, secure websites.

History of Medicine

About   |  Collections   |  Exhibitions   |  Research Tools   |  Copyright   |  Get Involved   |  Visit   |  Contact

Here Today, Here Tomorrow: Varieties of Medical Ephemera
Here Today, Here Tomorrow: Varieties of Medical Ephemera banner. Here Today, Here Tomorrow is written in brown lettering above Varities of Medical Ephemera written in blue letter. Addiction written in blue lettering below an image of a woman laying in a bed with two children at her side. AIDS written in blue lettering below a red AIDS ribbon Bookplates written in blue lettering below an illustration of a man leaning against a stack of books holding a rod of Asclepius in his left hand. Children written in blue lettering below a color image of a boy sitting in a chair playing doctor on a dog lying on a table while three girls look on. Medical Education written in blue lettering below an illustration of a doctor making patient rounds in a hospital with three students attending. Medicine Show written in blue lettering below a color illustration of the cover of Graphic Scenes Kickapoo Indian Life in the South and West. Public Health written in blue lettering below a diagonal half white half black illustration with a cigarette in the center surrounded by a red circle with a line through it. The bottom right black diagonal has Thank you for not smoking here written in white lettering. Tuberculosis written in blue lettering below a predominantly blue poster with white and yellow lettering. In the center is an illustration of Santa Claus holding a little girl in one arm and an oversized Christmas seal in the other hand. Buy Christmas Seals Fight Tuberculosis is in yellow lettering at the bottom. Women written in blue lettering below a black and white image of a woman standing and taking the pulse of a man sitting in a chair. In the upper left corner are the words The Lady Doctor in black lettering.

Children

Pictures of smiling children have always been enticing images in advertisements, even for products with which children have no possible connection, such as the Anti Nervous Dyspeptic Tobacco, "a cool sweet smoke and lasting chew". Images of children also graced the covers of almanacs, brochures and booklets as well as posters, trade cards and post cards. A series of six postcards of children playing doctor (one of which is shown), in which the physician was most often a small boy and the patient an infant girl, was popular early in the century. Another genre was the coloring book, puzzle book or collection of nursery rhymes which proprietary medicine manufacturers published for children's amusement; the prime target of such booklets was, of course, the mother who would be expected to at least glance at the recorded testimonials.

A color image of a boy sitting in a chair playing doctor on a dog lying on a table while three girls look on.

Seeck and Kade,
Pertussin,
color poster,
USA, 1930,
34.4 x 27.5 cm.

Cream colored broadside printed with blue ink advertising Atkinson and Barker's Royal Infant Preservative. At the top it says important to mothers patronized by her most gracious majesty Queen Victoria and all the royal family. An illustration of Queen Victoria sitting on a chair next to a woman feeding a baby the Royal Infants Preservative.

Atkinson & Barker's Royal Infant Preservative,
broadside,
London, 1872,
22 x 13.8 cm.


A color trade card for Bacot's Best Liver Pills featuring an illustration of a boy and girl standing near a fence with deer on the other side. The boy is holding a pail behind his back.

Bacot's Best Liver Pills,
trade card,
Greenville, South Carolina, c. 1884,
11.3 x 7.3 cm.

Cream color trade card printed with blue in for Bartlett's Pepsinated Nutriment, the best food for infants and invalids. The head of a baby is in a blue oval towards the top of the card.

W. W. Bartlett & Co.,
Bartlett's Pepsinated Nutriment,
trade card,
Boston, c. 1880,
11.3 x 6.7 cm.


A brown and white trade card with 'Just found his mail pouch on the top' and Anti Nervous Dyspeptic Tobacco, a cool sweet smoke and lasting chew on the bottom. An illustration of a baby with a white cloth cover it with a tobacco pouch near its left leg.

Bloch Bros.,
Anti Nervous Dyspeptic Tobacco, Just found his mail pouch,
trade card,
Wheeling, West Virginia, c. 1890,
12.8 x 8.9 cm.

A cream colored page with the words save the children above an illustration of a head and shoulders young girl. Below the illustration it says diphtheria can Be cured.

C.N. Crittenton Co.,
Save the children, Diphtheria Can Be Cured,
4 page pamphlet,
Brooklyn, New York, 1881,
22.4 x 14.7 cm.


Color illustration of a blonde haired girl painting a drawing of herself with the words Our Little Artists above her.

Mrs. Dinsmore's Cough and Croup Balsam,
Our Little Artist,
12 page pamphlet,
Philadelphia, 1902,
12.3 x 7.7 cm.

Color cover of Hood's Sarsaparilla Painting Book featuring a little girl in a green dress painting the letter n in painting.

C. I. Hood & Co.,
Hood's Sarsaparilla Painting Book,
40 page die-cut pamphlet,
Lowell, Massachusetts, 1894,
23.7 x 17.8 cm.


Tan colored blotter for Hood's Sarsaparilla Painting Book.

C. I. Hood & Co.,
blotter for Hood's Sarsaparilla Painting Book,
Lowell, Massachusetts, 1894,
9.5 x 12 cm.

A color photograph post card titled The Little Doctor, featuring a girl wearing a red robe and glasses is examinging a bear being held by a girl seated in a chair.

The Little Doctor,
color photograph post card,
n.p., c. 1905,
14 x 9 cm.


A color trade card of the states Minnesota, Iowa, Oklahoma, Arkansa and Louisiana forming drawn to represent an old man within the red states surrounding them. Dakotah, Nebraska, Kansas, Indian Territory, Texas, Mississippi, Tennessee, Kentucky, Illinois, and Wisconsin. The title is A Corner on the Corn on the top.

Lyons and Ziegler,
A Corner on the Corn,
color trade card,
New York, c. 1895,
17.9 x 11.1 cm.

A black and white trade card for Baby Ease, featuring a person with a world globe for a head holding a bottle out towards a baby sitting on the ground.

J. P. Marshall,
Baby Ease,
trade card,
n.p., c. 1895,
12.6 x 7.4 cm.


A color trade card for Barosma featuring an illustation of a boy and girl at the beach. The girl holds an umbrella open above her head while the boy carries a dog in a green wheelbarrow.

Thompson Co.,
Barosma,
trade card,
New York, c. 1890,
10.5 x 6.9 cm.

A black and white photograph post card with the title BeBe Apothicaire at the top and Voyez, la figure s'eclaire, les traites se reposent, la curse disaparait. The photograph is of three little girls playing doctor dress up. The girl on the left talks to a girl wearing a doctor's robe and hat while the third girl sits in a chair with wheels on it.

Voyez, la figure s'éclaire...,
photograph post card from the series Bébé Apothicaire,
France, c. 1905,
13.8 x 8.6 cm.


A color trade card for Wilbor's Compound of Pure Cod Liver Oil. It features an illustration of a woman sitting on a boat holding an umbrella with an open book on her lap looking down at a baby wearing a dress sitting on the floor holding a spoon in its hand looking up at the woman.

Alexander B. Wilbor,
Wilbor's Compound of Pure Cod Liver Oil,
trade card,
Boston, c. 1890,
19 x 13.8 cm.

A color trade card Wright's Indian Vegetable Pills purify and regulate the blood. It features a boy and a girl sitting on the bed playing with string.

Wright's Indian Vegetable Pills purify and regulate the blood,
trade card,
n.p., 1891,
11.6 x 8 cm.


A hand colored post card with the title The Doctor, I don't quite know whether its diptheria, teeth, or chiblains. It features a boy wearing a dark robe holding his chin with his right hand and a stethoscope is draped over his arm. A girl stands behind another girl who is seated in a chair.

The Doctor,
postcard number 2 in a series of 6 hand colored post cards,
England, c. 1910,
13.8 x 8.7 cm. each.

Last Reviewed: January 25, 2024