For sale is a rare late 1800s JOHNSON’S ANODYNE LINIMENT ADVERTISING DRUG STORE SIGN. Johnson’s Anodyne Liniment was a patent medicine sold from 1881 until 1906 by the I. S. Johnson and Company, Boston, Massachusetts. The advert says the medicine is for internal or external use. The text at the base also reads “Originated in 1810 by an old family physician – the unique picture above is typical of the fact that although old in years JOHNSON’S ANODYNE LINIMENT commences each year with the vigor of youth”. This sign is a printed paper lithograph mounted on top of a tin sign. This drug store sign was printed by George S. Harris & Sons and is marked on the bottom “Lithographed by Geo. S. Harris & Sons Phila”. The sign has staining and rust consistent with its age. Sign measures about 14 inches by 11 inches. A top notch advertising sign or apothecary collectible for your man cave.
George S. Harris was born in 1823 and worked in Philadelphia as a lithographic and letterpress printer. Between 1847 and 1891, he produced lithographic trade cards, can and cigar box labels, circulars, calendars and stamped envelopes. George S. Harris and Sons was the largest lithographic firm in Philadelphia. By the late 1880s, the business employed around 600 people and shipped products worldwide. After George’s death in 1891, his sons operated the firm for another ten years before they partnered with Joseph Knapp to form the American Lithograph Company.
Anodyne liniment was a common pain reliever in the Victorian period, believed to reduce the sensitivity of the brain or nervous system. Johnson’s Anodyne Liniment was sold from as a remedy for diphtheria, coughs, colds, influenza, bronchitis, asthma, whooping cough, cramp and pain in the stomach, bowels, or side; rheumatism, spitting of blood, and all lung complaints; sore throat, spinal complaints, chronic diarrhoea, dysentery, chapped hands, burns, wounds, sprains and bruises.
