Cocaine Anyone: Astounding Drugs of the Past

When I researched this I couldn’t quite believe my eyes. Times have certainly changed and it seems for the better. Just makes you wonder how many addicts we had back then. Make no wonder everyone was so mild and mellow!

Cocaine Toothache Drops

There was a time when cocaine, morphine and heroine were the miracle cure for anything and everything when they were first discovered. What is illegal today was legal in the 1800’s. This was even given to children with toothache. It’s hard to believe when you look at it from todays prospective.

Bayer sold it too. This was on the market from 1898 to 1910. It was said to be non-addictive and a substitute cough medicine for children. Kind of unbelievable but it’s true.

Glass of Wine Anyone?

Years ago Metcalf’s Coca Wine was only one of the wines that contained cocaine. It was readily available on the market. All of them claimed there were medicinal effects in their wines and I truly don’t doubt this. I’m sure they were used as a recreational drink to.

The Pope and Wine

Pope Leo XIII always carried a flask of this in his pocket. It was Mariani’s wine and was the most popular wine on the market at the time.  The Vatican even awarded a Vatican Gold Medal to its inventor, Angelo Mariani.

Coca Wine

This wine was made by the Maltine manufacturers and was very popular in New York and why would it not be? It was also spiced up with cocaine.

Cocaine in Lozenges

Even throat lozenges were sold with cocaine. In addition to it being good for sore throats it was also recommended for singers, teachers and orators. I imagine after ingesting some of these there was a problem in getting them to shut up.

Advertising

Cocaine was advertised freely and proudly as you can see this one noted that it produces cocaine as well as Quinine and this was a chemical manufacturer. It was proud to be the leader in the production of this.

Stickney and Poor’s

Here was a company that certainly gave you a bang for your buck. It not only sold Opium in its mixture but also 46% alcohol. As you can see it was even recommended for children. What shocks us today seemed to be the norm in years gone by.

Glyco-Heroin

This was advertised as a remedy for asthma, coughs, and pneumonia. It was often mixed with glycerin and sugar to take the bitter taste of the opium away.

Vapor OL – Opium and Alcohol

This was sold as a vaporizer and in a sense may have been smoked as Opium for asthmatics. It was placed in a pan and was heated by a small kerosene lamp. (Sound familiar).

So there you are this goes to show you how common drugs were back a century ago. It seems a little out of the realm of reality today but it really did happen.