Chromolithographed broadside, 'Dr. Kilmer's Swamp-Root', 1889
Chromolithographed advertising broadside for a nineteenth-century patent 'kidney, liver and bladder remedy'.
- SKU
- MS-CU-1007
- Era
- Pre-1900
- Condition
- Good; two horizontal fold lines, minor edge toning, colours strong.
- Dimensions
- 14 in. H × 10 in. W (unframed)
- Weight
- 1.2 oz
- Provenance
- From a run of ephemera pulled from behind the plaster of a pharmacy in Cortland, NY, during a 2019 renovation.
- Category
- Curiosities & Oddities
- Tags
- ephemerabroadsidepatent-medicinechromolithographvictorian
A chromolithographed broadside advertising Dr. Kilmer's Swamp-Root, a patent medicine manufactured in Binghamton, New York and marketed, in the manner of the era, as a cure for essentially everything below the ribs. Printed by the Kilmer works and distributed to pharmacies and dry-goods stores.
The central vignette shows an oversized bottle emerging from a picturesque swamp, flanked by grateful testimonials in six-point type. The colours — a specific mustard yellow and a bruised green — are characteristic of the period and remain unusually strong.
Offered as printed matter, not as medical advice. Please do not take Swamp-Root.
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