For sale is an original rare glass vial for PIERCE’S PLEASANT PUREATIVE PELLETS marked with an 1877 patent date. This apothecary product would have contained sugar coated pills of “root & herb juice anti-bilious granules”. The glass vial stands about 2 1/4 inches tall. This Victorian era medical quackery product has its original label. The glass vial would have been sealed with a cork top. A first rate patent medicine collectible.
Dr Pierce (August 6, 1840 – February 4, 1914) was a great self promoter. He was an elected U.S. Representative from New York, a doctor, and a businessman. In 1862, he graduated from Eclectic Medical College in Cincinnati, Ohio. He practiced medicine in Titusville, Pennsylvania from 1862 to 1866, and moved to Buffalo, New York in 1867. He engaged in the manufacture and sale of patent medicines and established the Invalids’ Hotel and Surgical Institute. His manufacturing business started with “Doctor Pierce’s Favorite Prescription”, which he followed with other medicines, including Smart Weed and Dr. Pierce’s Pleasant Pellets. His venture proved a success, with nearly one million bottles of Dr. Pierce’s Smart Weed and other preparations shipped annually. He was a member of the New York State Senate in 1878 and 1879. Pierce was elected as a Republican to the 46th United States Congress, holding office from March 4, 1879 to September 18, 1880, when he resigned. After leaving Congress, Pierce resumed his business interests, and was publisher of a book, the People’s Common-sense Medical Adviser.
