 Sells All the YearbyLaine Farley
In fact, the Cushman Inhaler, invented by H. D. Cushman in the mid-1880s is rather famous and inspires several collecting angles. The trade journal Pharmaceutical Era refers to it and Mr. Cushman a number of times in volumes for 1893-1894. In vol. 11, 1894, p. 140 there is a detailed description of the glass tube which is four inches in length and ½ inch in diameter, filled with pure crystals of menthol. Hollow corks at each end covered by perforated caps allow the air to pass through. The inhalers are described as “essential because customers ask for them” and Mr. Cushman is quoted as claiming it “sells all the year” to combat “sneezing, snuffling and coughing.” An ad on p. 19 of the Dec. 15, 1893 issue makes the rather interesting statement that it prevents and cures seasickness as well as headaches and neuralgia. In vol. 11, 1894 of the journal, p. 140, its mild exhilarating properties are touted as beneficial for insomnia, nervousness, and lassitude. Testimonials back up some of these claims. A writer on March 1, 1894, p. 239, asserts that his son was cured of catarrh, and a druggist touts the inhalers as “the only ones we can sell without a great deal of talking. They sell on their merits.” in a letter published on March 15, 1894, p. 283. Whether these compliments are legitimate or just creative advertising is subject to question. An added bonus for the druggist is the offer to send 250 Japanese napkins imprinted with the address of the drugstore. A later ad on p. 65 of the May 4, 1894 issue provides other enticements to the retailer in the form of “a handsome lithographed easel” for display of the distinctive inhalers. The Dec. 15, 1893 issue mentions that the inhalers can be used to fight the “dreaded foe the ‘grippe’” and that Cushman “furnishes some advertising novelties which the public will look at a second time” that can be obtained by writing to him and mentioning the Era. Perhaps the bookmark was one of these bonuses. An ad in Meyer Brothers Druggist, v26, issue 10, 1905, p. 85 offers free to druggists a book on menthol, almanacs and a calendar for 1906. Another incentive might have been trade cards similar to the one featured on Inhalatorium, a site for collectors of inhalers and asthma therapies (and you thought bookmark collectors were unusual). In addition to catarrh, neuralgia and headache, the card adds “diseases of the head including hay-fever, colds and bronchitis” to the list of ailments brought under control with a whiff of the menthol infused tube.
The next site I found, the Philadelphia Archaeological Forum (PAF), provided an explanation. According to this site’s article, “An Antidote to Industrial Smog?”: “The inhaler's physical resemblance to cigarettes and cigars was intentionally exploited in the imagery of Cushman's advertisements, and was designed to startle stuffy Victorian-era customers into wondering why respectable young women and children would dare to partake in such repulsive behavior.” It features another trade card example of a little girl in her nightgown holding the cigar-like device. Another site called Quack Cogitations provides an even more amusing analysis of the advertising strategy in the article, “Searching for a Good Smoke” from Dec., 2009: I think the viewer was supposed to be startled, repulsed, and wickedly attracted, all at the same time to the thought that this fashionable female was declaring her emancipation from the prohibition against women smoking: she was in control and was going to do what she wanted, the naughty temptress. But after the few moments' tease, all the flustered fathers, prickly old biddies, and frothing young men could feel their blood pressure calm down - She wasn't smoking after all; she was using the cigar-like Cushman's Menthol Inhaler - and only inhaling at that - for the cure of her headaches, neuralgia, and catarrh. It made me wonder whether Mr. Cushman had a sly sense of humor or if the irony escaped him altogether. Even more curious, he placed a large ad in the “Minutes of the . . . annual session of the Detroit Conference of the Methodist Episcopal Church,” 1894, p. 136, featuring another proper lady holding the cigar-shaped device. This ad touts its value to public speakers and singers, and has testimonials from an “eminent physician” who claims it can kill “influenza baccilli” in twenty-four hours. An ad on p. 234 of “Proceedings, Michigan Baptist Convention,” 1886 appealed to clergyman who might be suffering from colds, sore-throat, catarrh, hay fever, headache, asthma, and kindred ills. This ad is interesting because it illustrates the caps on both ends of the inhaler and has the patent date. Cushman also offered a free book on menthol in a similar ad in Keesling’s Book of Recipes and Household Hints, 1890, p. 238, and on p. 240 of the same work, he wrote a statement about the benefits of menthol as an antiseptic to treat “Old Sores, Itch, Ringworm, Eczema, Erysipelas, Salt Rheum and all eruptions of the skin,” along with “Piles, Cuts, Burns, Chilblains, Frosted Feet, etc.” Whew! I’m glad I don’t know what some of those are since they all sound dreadful. Although listed under “Recent Discoveries in Medicine,” this statement is clearly an ad for his menthol balm and also refers to his other ad for the inhaler. The PAF article explains that the inhaler could be used either by mouth or in the nostril with different sized openings at either end and was essentially the precursor to Vicks and similar inhalers in use today. Its cure-all claims were likely overblown and it “did little more for its users than provide a cool peppermint taste and impart temporary peace of mind.” I did find a number of respectable medical journals as well as homeopathy publications that recommended the inhaler with statements similar to the one found in the Journal of the American Medical Association in 1896: “Cushman's menthol inhaler is recommended to be carried in the pocket, and used frequently during the day as a hardener of the mucous membrane. Menthol is germicidal, and stimulates the capillaries to contraction.” The British homoeopathic review, Volume 31, Jan 1, 1887, p. 61 explains the benefit of the inhalers design: The use of menthol as a palliative in neuralgia has greatly increased of late. Hitherto it has been so used by applying it directly to the area of pain in the form of a cone; this, however, being always exposed to the air, is liable to lose its medicinal properties, and it is now proposed to apply it by inhalation. The inhaler before us is simply a glass tube, corked at each end, the intervening space being loaded with menthol crystals. For use it is uncorked and one end of it inserted either into the nostril or the mouth according to circumstances. It seems to be a very convenient plan. In an article titled “Menthol in Acute Rhinitis, and Other Affections of the Throat and Nose” in the Medical and surgical reporter, Volume 62, Feb. 15, 1890, p. 210, the writer refers to Dr. Lennox Browne who explained how menthol works on acute colds and influenza in “a manner that is hardly less than marvelous.” He describes five methods for “impregnation of its vapor through a room or house, or locally to the nostrils and air passages” with the Cushman inhaler touted as the most convenient. What about the inventor of this clever product and its tongue-in-cheek ad campaign? Henry DePuy Cushman was born on August 15, 1846 in Spring Arbor, Jackson County, Michigan. He studied at Albion College and later obtained a degree in pharmacy from the University of Michigan, followed by opening a drug store in Albion and later in Three Rivers. There is a biography of his son, Herbert Wright Cushman in Biographical review of Calhoun County, Michigan: containing historical, biographical and genealogical sketches of many of the prominent citizens of to-day and also of the past (Chicago: Hobart & Mather, 1904, p. 412-414), with an extensive genealogy. His father Henry is described, in the typical florid prose of the time, as being upright, honorable and ethical in his business dealings; he was the superintendent of the Sunday School at the Methodist church and a Mason. A brief biography of Henry appears in Portrait and Biographical Album of St. Joseph County, Michigan (Chicago: Chapman brothers, 1889, p. 513), with similar information but adds a relevant precursor to his invention of the inhaler. In 1872 he began dealing in essential oils in association with B. M. Hicks, including peppermint, spearmint, wormwood, tansy and erigeron. In the St. Joseph County Directory for 1880, Cushman was listed at 63 St. Joseph St. as a “dlr in drugs and chemicals,” a description that was far less likely to arouse suspicion than it would today. Another clue is found in a little pamphlet promoting the railroad entitled Headlight Flashes. Along the Michigan Central Line. "The Niagara Falls route." (Three Rivers, Michigan, Volume 2, Issue 8, Chicago Railroad Publishing Co., 1895, P. 1881.) A brief portrait of Cushman says that he recently disposed of his interests in the inhaler business and is “engaged in the growing of peppermint and distilling it.” In that same year, his son Herbert went to Vincennes, Indiana as manager of the Cushman Drug Company for three years after which he took a job at a bank in Tekonsha, Michigan. The company was still in Vincennes in 1901 as evidenced by a sales receipt for inhalers and menthol balm. Thomas Henry Adams was listed as the owner of the company in George E. Greene’s History of Old Vincennes and Knox County, Indiana (S.J. Clarke Pub. Co., 1911, p. 78). Adams has his own interesting story but I could find no obvious relationship to Cushman so perhaps he simply bought the company as a business venture. Henry made quite a success of his peppermint business according to “The Peppermint Industry of St. Joseph County Michigan,” Scientific American Supplement, no. 748, May 3, 1890, p. 11950. Who knew that next to Wayne County, NY, St. Joseph County was the largest peppermint producing region in the U.S.? Although Henry Hall was credited with being the largest grower, Henry Cushman’s claim to fame was being a distiller of the essential oil. According to this article, he began to raise peppermint as early as 1872 but discontinued growing it in favor of perfecting its distillation. It also mentions that he used Japanese menthol in his inhalers because of its higher melting point and larger crystals. Henry Cushman died on February 11, 1900 at the age of 53, and his widow, Thirza, lived until May 30, 1930. On March 31 of that same year, the U. S. Attorney filed a case in the District Court for the Northern District of California. The case held that sixty dozen menthol inhalers shipped from Vincennes, IN to San Francisco, CA violated the food and drug act due to mislabeling. The entry in Notices of judgment under the Food and drugs act, Issues 17001-18000, 1930, p. 235, issued April, 1931 lists the usual claims for the inhaler’s healing powers and says that an analysis showed that the inhalers contained “no ingredient or combination of ingredients capable of producing certain curative and therapeutic effects claimed on the labels.” It goes on to report that “on June 5, 1930, no claimant having appeared for the property, judgment of condemnation and forfeiture was entered, and it was ordered by the court that the property be destroyed. “ I could not determine how long the company existed, but this incident was probably an indicator that its claims and cures from the Victorian era had been superseded by modern regulations and more sophisticated treatments. Finally, the publisher of my bookmark was well known as a lithographer and printer from 1871 to about 1922. Described as the “largest establishment of its kind west of New York City” and representing “the highest class of printing, art and excellence attained at the end of the 19th Century,” it was headquartered in Buffalo, NY. A detailed and informative history was compiled by by Mark Strong of Meibohm Fine Arts, Inc., East Aurora, NY, 14052, 07/2010. If Cushman’s invention did succeed in imparting temporary peace of mind, it’s no wonder he could claim that it “sells all the year”. It’s too bad his experimentation with essential oils and handy devices didn’t produce a longer lasting remedy for combating modern ills. Bookmark specifications: Cushman’s Menthol Inhaler
Laine Farley is a digital librarian who misses being around the look, feel and smell of real books. Her collection of over 3,000 bookmarks began with a serendipitous find while reviewing books donated to the library. Fortunately, her complementary collection of articles and books about bookmarks provides an excuse for her to get back to libraries and try her hand at writing about bookmarks. Contact Laine.
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This bookmark had a lot of surface appeal with its sepia-toned illustration of a Victorian child, the interesting font that is Victorian and yet somehow modern in feel, the useful ruler that meets my collecting goal of dual purpose bookmarks, and the clever acrostic on the reverse. There was also something vaguely unsettling about the cigar-shaped object on the right that clashed with the innocent gaze of the little girl. The name of ”H. D. Cushman, Prop’r” with a location of Three Rivers, Mich. and the publisher name on the front promised good clues for further research into the story behind this piece of ephemera.
The inhaler is also illustrated and described along with its protective metal tube. A diver reported finding one fitting this description in a river in 2006, still intact with its metal case causing him to mistake it for a bullet at first. He was surprised that the menthol smell was still evident while other commenters speculated that it probably contained cocaine and was possibly the first example of “crack.” The photograph clearly illustrated the glass tube and metal case with the patent dates of 1886 visible. According to the patent application, Cushing filed it in 1880 but it was not granted until Nov. 2, 1886. He filed another patent in 1891 that was approved on May 31, 1892 for improvements related to a casing design that could open and close to “prevent volatilization and escape of the menthol.” Another commenter posted an image of the same trade card as on the Inhalatorium site, with the observation that the lady is holding both parts of the inhaler. This card has a feeling similar to my bookmark caused by the odd juxtaposition of a very Victorian lady holding what appears to be a cigar.