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Trace the impact of aspirin from its ancient precursors, through world wars, to modern medicine in this curated collection, with selections in multiple languages from the National Library of Medicine.
18 Images
Acetylsalicylic Acid: The Story of Aspirin: Notes to accompany an exhibit at the National Library of Medicine, Marie Harvin, 1959
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These notes accompanied the 1959 NLM exhibit that detailed the history of aspirin, from the drug’s roots as willow bark used in ancient times, to the distilling of key chemicals to make the aspirin pills that we are familiar with now. Aspirin’s formulation has gone largely unchanged since the exhibit opened in the 1950s. Today, aspirin is still a popular over the counter medication; however, we now know much more about its limits and potential.
Ebers Papyrus, 1500 BCE
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The Ebers Papyrus is one of the earliest surviving medical texts, written around 1500 BCE in Egypt. It provides interventions for common health issues of the time, including willow bark as a remedy for general aches and pains. Willow bark is the progenitor of aspirin.
De Materia Medica, Dioscorides, 1499
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Originally written in Greek in the first century, De Materia Medica is a book on the medicinal properties of plants that was widely in use until the Renaissance. In it, Dioscorides recommends willow, or ‘ιτιά’, for colic, gout, and ear pain. Early physicians, such as Dioscorides and Galen, recommended willow bark as a treatment for a variety of symptoms and diseases.
El Sauce: Considerado bajo su Utilidad Terapéutica : Tésis para el Exámen Profesional de Medico-Veterinario Presentada al Jurado Calificador [Willow: Considered under its Therapeutic Usefulness: Thesis for the Professional Examination of Medical-Veterinarian presented to the Qualifying J
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Humans throughout history have uncovered a variety of ways to use willow. This veterinary thesis, published in Mexico in 1884, discusses the plant’s utility in treating sickness in animals, offering it as an alternative to quinine and arsenic for both monetary and safety reasons. The thesis is thorough in its physical description of willow and its chemical makeup. Only five years later, aspirin would be introduced to the market.
Dr. Miles' Aspir-Mint: a pleasant, effective, modern formula, Dr. Miles Medical Co., ca. early 20th century
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Aspirin has long had a global presence. This card shows an advertisement for Aspir-Mint, a flavored tablet made from a combination of aspirin and other chemicals. On the back of the advertisement, the “General Instructions for Taking” section from the front is replicated in German, Spanish, Italian, French, Swedish, Norwegian, and Polish.
In later years, flavoring of adult aspirin tablets and “labeling giving undue emphasis to the pleasant flavor of flavored aspirin” would be prohibited by the FDA.
Les Comprime's "Rhodine" Soulagent, Laboratoire des Produits Usines du Rhone, ca. 1923
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Here is a French postcard that advertises aspirin by emphasizing that it is manufactured in Rhone. The active ingredient in aspirin, acetylsalicylic acid, aka Rhodine, has been refined in Rhone since 1908.
Manual on Ship Sanitation and First-Aid for Merchant Seamen, Robert W. Hart, 1923
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By the 1920s, aspirin was well established as a necessity for first aid all around the world. This manual describes aspirin as “an extremely useful drug” and highlights a variety of uses for aspirin, including treating headache, backache, rheumatism, yellow fever, and influenza. The list of first aid essentials includes 1,000 aspirin tablets for a ship’s medicine chest.
Letter sent by the Surgeon Generals of the Army, Navy, and the U.S. Public Health Service to physicians in the Armed Forces: Number 6, National Research Council (U.S.) Committee on Information of the Division of Medical Sciences of the National Research Council, United States Public Health Service,
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During World War II, the supply of aspirin, also called “acetylsalicylic acid,” was greatly impacted. This letter relays that, while plentiful in the United States, in Germany (or German-controlled territories) the drug was in short supply and had to be substituted or done without.
Japanese medical equipment: Report number 151, U.S. Army 5250th Technical Intelligence Company Medical Analysis Section, 1945
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This previously restricted report on WWII-era Japanese medical technology lists 10 aspirin tablets as part of the core items included in an aviation first-aid kit.
Circular Letter: Number 5, Mediterranean Theater of Operations, U.S. Army, Office of the Surgeon, 1945
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During World War II, the United States worked to develop their understanding of acetylsalicylic acid. This letter from the Office of the Surgeon of the US Army details the newest research in the treatment of rheumatic fever with aspirin, referred to interchangeably with “sodium salicylates” here.
Letter from Maxwell Gordon to Joshua Lederberg, Maxwell Gordon, 1964
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Aspirin has been a common household product for decades. Often, public health officials use sales rates of over-the-counter medication to predict disease outbreaks in a community. This is not the case with aspirin. In this letter, Gordon explains that aspirin sales are generally steady all year, despite some spikes. He clarifies this is due to people stocking up while prices are reduced, not to increased “intake” or use.
An important function of the FDA is to develop and implement standards for the safety and effectiveness of all over-the-counter drugs, United States Food and Drug Administration, 1982
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This photo from 1982 shows a Food and Drug Administration (FDA) employee sitting at his desk, next to an oversized bottle of aspirin and other over-the-counter medications. Although aspirin’s formulation has remained largely unchanged since being patented in 1899, scientists have learned more about the medication’s safety and potential over the years. In 1986, the FDA issued warnings against using aspirin to treat flu or chicken pox symptoms in individuals under the age of 19, for fear of contracting or exacerbating Reye syndrome, a condition that causes swelling in the brain and liver.
Flu or Chicken Pox?: Treat It Right!, American Pharmaceutical Association, ca. 1986
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Despite aspirin’s widespread use during the flu epidemics of earlier eras, it is now recommended that you consult your doctor before using aspirin, since scientists have uncovered a connection to Reye syndrome, a condition that causes brain and liver damage, when aspirin is delivered to those 19 or younger. Public health notices from the American Pharmacological Association stressed the importance of correctly using aspirin after the connection became apparent. The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) led a similar campaign called “Rx for Flu or Chicken Pox: Kindness.”
Rx for Flu or Chicken Pox: Kindness, U.S. Food and Drug Administration, 1986
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After scientists uncovered a connection between Reye syndrome, a condition that causes brain and liver damage, and aspirin use in people under 19 years old, the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) led a campaign encouraging people to consult a doctor before using aspirin during viral illnesses like flu and chickenpox.
Rx for Flu or Chicken Pox: Kindness, U.S. Food and Drug Administration, 1985
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After scientists uncovered a connection between Reye syndrome, a condition that causes brain and liver damage, and aspirin use in people under 19 years old, the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) led a campaign encouraging people to consult a doctor before using aspirin during viral illnesses like flu and chickenpox.