Friedenwald's Medicinal Liquor Establishment: The Ladies' Wine & Liquor Store

There is just so much to unpack with this advertisement from the Baltimore Sun, circa 1904. 

The Friedenwald family arrived in Baltimore in the 1860's and many of them were physicians. At one point, there were five brothers/cousins who were physicians. They were all very involved with MedChi, including Aaron, Edgar and Harry, whose portraits we own, and again Harry, who was President. 

There were also pharmacists in the family, and they owned a pharmacy on Park Avenue in Bolton Hill. Some members of the family lived on Eutaw Place, just a few blocks away.

Back to the liquor ad! It is interesting that there's a liquor store just for the ladies. In some of their other ads, they mention that they have "lady clerks" at their stores to help their "lady patrons."  And their gin is for all of your female complaints! It is also funny that their out of town packages are packed in plain cases. I guess that is the brown paper paper packages, tied up with string.

I also stumbled across a half-page ad from the Baltimore Sun, just before Christmas of 1909. 

There is a whole lot going on in this ad, which is really about 20+ ads in one! Here are some of the details from this, and another ad:

They used the word "jayaitcheff" in a number of their ads, and if you sound it out, it's J H F for J.H. Friedenwald.

This is quite the contraption, and I wonder if they ever received the patent for it.

Friedenwald's seems to be a full service store, with their own rye whiskey and their own cough drops.

And if you want to have a really fun picnic, then just fill your basket with booze. And these are quart bottles, not miniatures.

It's such fun to look at the old advertisements and see what was on offer, and how little it cost! When I went to check the address, there was still a liquor store in the location,

although it looks quite a bit more down-market than Friedenwald's.

P.S. This isn't an April Fool's joke. The store actually existed.

The Grey Lady, a Doctor's Coupe

As I was sorting through the pictures of Marcia I found at the Maryland Historical Society, one of them caught my eye, mainly because it wasn't a picture of Marcia. 

It was a picture of her car, which she called "The Grey Lady", and along with the photograph, there was a little card, explaining the car and offering people a ride in it. She also mentions that the car has her monogram on the door! 

I was curious about the car, and could get a general date of the time period because the picture was taken in front of 1211 Cathedral Street, which was built in 1909. I estimated the car to be late 1910's or so, but checked with a friend who collects vintage cars. He confirmed the general date, and informed me that this particular car was known as a "doctor's coupe" and that it wasn't a Ford, because at that time, Ford only made black cars. So it was likely a Buick or a Dodge. 

Apparently, small cars like this, with two seats and a large trunk, were preferred by physicians who made house calls, and could carry a nurse and a lot of equipment. The coupe had to be dependable in all sorts of weather, day or night, so it was an enclosed car.

Unfortunately, most of the early 1900's Medical Journals are bound, and have had the advertising pages at the beginning and ends of the volumes removed, so I can't check and see if there are adverts for these Doctor's Coupes. 

What is interesting is that Marcia, probably in her early 40's at that time, had her own car and was driving herself around the city and environs. She was the Executive Secretary of the Faculty at that time, and probably had a lot of meetings with physicians. They couldn't always be expected to come to her. 

Maryland Medical Journal’s Ads, Circa 1899

I love looking at the old advertisements in the early Maryland Medical Journals both for their content and for their design. It’s funny how shocking some of them seem now. Ads for cocaine and heroin as well as numerous alcoholic preparations abound!

Here are some that caught my eye.

Malt Nutrine by Anheuser Busch… Also known as liquid bread, or beer!

Pepto Mangan Gude – helped stimulate the appetite and build red blood cells.

Cocaine. Nice to know it’s pure.

Beer & Rye Whiskey

The design on these is really amazing, especially when you realize they’re engraved at size.

Antiseptics are new to the field in the 1890’s.

It’s fun to imagine the physicians going through the city in their phaetons.

He can’t wait until he can chase her again!

Lots of ads for drunks and inebriates

Chattolanee Water… Greenspring Valley

Most of the bound sets of journals have the advertisements removed, so it was fun to find a full set of unbound Maryland Medical Journals.

Magic Wand: Old Ads

Looking through the old journals, and I am talking 1800’s and early 1900’s, you find a range of amazing advertisements. Some of them seen completely insane in light of what we know now, and others are just peculiar. Here are a few I found recently.

I had to enlarge this image below because it’s completely crazy! There’s a man hovering above everything, someone who looks like they’re fishing, and someone who looks like they’re getting ready to walk on water.

Swimming – the beautiful art!

Beautiful Bills

I found a file filled with bills from the late 1800’s and early 1900’s and they are gorgeous! Many of them have beautiful engravings on them, which either depict the goods they are offering or the building where they’re located. Some of the buildings are still standing, but most were lost in the Baltimore Fire in 1904.

Here are a few of the ones that I like the most.

People with Flags!

Animals & Birds

Buildings

Ships

Household goods

Multi-Colored Inks

Fancy Fonts & Great Typesetting

Don’t you wish the bills you received looked this great?