Popular Medicine in America, 1800-1900

Popular Medicine in America, 1800-1900 presents materials from the Library Company of Philadelphia’s collection. The resource documents the history of ‘popular’ medicine in America during the nineteenth century, featuring a wide variety of material that was aimed at the general public rather than medical professionals, and which enabled the ordinary person to treat himself and his family at home using an array of inventive methods and fashionable techniques.

The material covers popular trends such as phrenology, herbal medicine and hydrotherapy, and documents the rise of widespread advertising by commercial manufacturers of medical aids. The resource has ephemeral materials such as adverts, almanacs, pamphlets, leaflets and posters – media that were critical in the nineteenth century for informing the general public of potential treatments for every possible medical need.

Expected release date in August 2015.