Almost sixty digitized pamphlets and trade cards advertising patent medicines and food items from the George and Ruth Eisenberg collection of pediatric antiques are now available to view online via New Mexico Digital Collections. Dr. George Eisenberg was a pediatrician who later moved to New Mexico and joined the UNM School of Medicine in 1968. He and his wife Ruth stared collecting artifacts and images related to pediatrics during the 1940s.

The patent medicine and food product trade cards in the Eisenberg collection date from the late nineteenth to the early twentieth centuries. The collection includes advertisements for products such as Burdock Blood Bitters, Dr. Jayne's Tonic, and the notorious Mrs. Winslow's Soothing Syrup, which was marketed for infants and children and sometimes included deadly amounts of morphine and alcohol. 

The term patent medicine described pre-packaged medicines sold without a doctor’s prescription. They became very popular by the mid-nineteenth century. Patent medicines were often heavily marketed, faced little to no regulation, and could be lucrative businesses. Unfortunately, sometimes these “medicines” contained dangerous ingredients. 

Some regulation of patent medicines (now known as over-the counter medications) began in the U.S. in 1906 with the Pure Food and Drugs Act.  Additional laws were passed in 1912 and in 1938 with the Federal Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act to help protect consumers. 

To view pediatric artifacts from the Eisenberg collection, please visit the exhibit on the main floor of the Domenici Center.