Collecting apothecary began for me as a way to honor and remember my 3rd great-grandfather, Dr. Daniel G. Sterling, surgeon in the US Army during the Civil War, and pharmacist in Richmond, Virginia (his house and office), at the eponymous Sterling Drug Store on Church Street in Norfolk, VA.
See also:
The Booker Laboratory, Norfolk, VA
Williamsburg Drug, another 19th-century pharmacy
Bonus: In 2024, I confirmed that my mom lived in a former hospital in Rodessa, LA when she was a child in the early '50s.
⤴️ This photo includes Sterling's letterhead for the pharmacy.
I've done a bit of research, and pharmacies 100 years ago really ran the gamut. They sold the following:
- Drugs, including things we would now call "quack" pharmaceuticals
- Herbs, for medicinal, body care, and cooking uses
- Candy, like Life ⭕ Savers™️
- Drinks, like ginger ale and Coca Cola™️
- Cleaning products, like Ammonia and Clorox™️
- Tinctures, oils, and colognes
- Surprisingly, naptha and gas ⛽ for vehicles
⤴️ I have a collection of mortars and pestles, for medicinal and cooking uses.
⤴️ Some of these herb boxes are real and some of them have been replicated. But I specifically picked all of these, because I've had all of these in my apothecary garden at certain times. Most contain real herbs I've dried.
I started drying herbs and flowers in the 1980s, largely because of my interest in the Victorian era.
⤴️ I love glass. Seriously. It's the best excuse to be able to buy apothecary jars and bottles. If you take a look at that Myrrha bottle, it genuinely has myrrh in it.
⤴️ Treen is a word that refers to objects made out of wood for practical uses. From a medical standpoint, the first thing would be the large Japanese spa bucket. That came from the Royal Ontario Museum in Toronto, where it had been used in one of their displays. Thread was used in sewing up wounds. A timer and the small spoons with wooden handles can be used for medical purposes.
Other items: Asian tray, butter press, wooden ring, wine corks, utensils, scoops, and crochet hook. The cylindrical box also has a wooden button. The rectangular tongue and groove box is full of Singer Sewing Machine attachments.
See also: Treen in Architectural Digest, National Trust Collections in the UK, The Woodcarver's Guide to Treen, A Guide to Treen for Cooking
What I'd really like to have is a treen apothecary box made specifically to hold a same-sized apothecary jar. And a tea box. And a round wooden box that holds twine. And...
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All in all, this crazy hobby gives me something fun and fairly inexpensive to find at thrift shops at estate sales. And one day, if I end up writing a book about Dr. Daniel Sterling, I have some beautiful things to illustrate the book.