c.1920 USA Pinkham’s pamphlet ‘Food and Health’, recipes & medicine

Interesting pamphlet that is both a recipe book and advertising for a miracle medical cure. At the top of each is a recipe, and  at the bottom testimonials for Lydia E. Pinkham's Vegetable Compound

Some recipes:

• white bread
• tea biscuit
• sweet milk griddle cakes
• filipino roll
• dutch cheese
• war cake
• apple pie...

Some testimonials

• "such a tired feeling..."
• "I was without ambition..."
  
• "caused by heavy lifting..."
• "Changed from a delicate girl..."
• ""they said I needed an operation..."
• "I was weak and nvervous...:

As is common for printing using cheaper paper, yellowing 

32 pages + covers

7 x 4 ½ 

Lydia E. Pinkham's Vegetable Compound was one of the most famous patent medicines of the late 19th and early 20th centuries. It was developed by Lydia Estes Pinkham of Lynn, Massachusetts, and first sold commercially in 1875-1876 as a remedy for "female complaints," including menstrual discomfort, menopause symptoms, and a wide range of other ailments.

• The compound was an herbal preparation containing ingredients such as black cohosh, unicorn root, pleurisy root, fenugreek seed, and life root, together with a significant amount of alcohol used as a preservative and solvent.
• Pinkham's advertising was revolutionary. Her portrait appeared on labels and newspaper advertisements, making her one of the best-known women in America during the period.
• The slogan essentially promoted the idea that "only a woman can understand a woman's ills," appealing to women who were often uncomfortable discussing gynecological issues with male physicians.
• Although hugely popular, there was no scientific proof for many of the medical claims made for the product. It became a well-known example in discussions about patent medicines before modern drug regulation.
• The business was extremely successful. During Lydia Pinkham's lifetime, sales grew to nearly $300,000 annually, an enormous sum for the era.