| FIGURE 20.—A trade
card advertising Kingsland's Chlorinated Tablets, which closely
resembled a railroad pass. |
Testimonials submitted voluntarily by happy users of the pills were always widely featured in the almanacs, newspaper advertisements, and handbills. Although the easy concoction of the stories about Dr. Morse and Dr. Cunard might suggest that there would have been no hesitation in fabricating these testimonials, it is probable that they were genuine; at least, many have survived in the letters scattered over the floor of the Indian Root Pill factory. In some cases one might feel that the testimonials were lacking in entire good faith, for many of them were submitted by dealers desiring lenient credit or other favors. Witness, for example, the following from B. Mollohan of Mt. Pleasant, Webster County, West Va., on April 16, 1879:
Pleas find here enclosed Two Dollars & 50 cts $2 50 cts for which
pleas place to my credit and return receipt to me for same. I cant
praise your Dr Morse pill two high never before in all my
recolection has there bin a meddison here that has given such
general satisfaction. I hope the pills will always retain their
high standing and never bee counterfeited.... I could sell any amt
Pills allmost if money was not so scarce. I have to let some out on
credit to the Sick and Poor & wait some time though I am
accountable to you for all I recd & will pay you as fast as I sell
& collect ... I have about one Doz Box on hand.
Mollohan's complaint about the shortage of money and the long delay in collecting many accounts reflected a condition that prevailed throughout the nineteenth century. Money was scarce, and the economy of many rural communities was still based largely on the barter system, so that it was very difficult for farmers to generate cash for store goods. Consequently, country storekeepers had to be generous in extending credit, and, in turn, manufacturers and jobbers had to be lenient in enforcing collection.
Not all of the storekeepers could write as neatly and clearly as Mollohan. The following letter, quoted in full, from Thomas Cathey of Enfield, Illinois, on January 23, 1880, not merely presented a problem relating to the company's policy of awarding exclusive territories but offered considerable difficulty in deciphering:
mr CumStock der ser i thaut i Wod rite yo
u a few lineS to inform you that i was the fir
St agent for you pills in thiS Setlement but th
as iS Several agent round her and tha ar interfer
With mee eSpeSly William a StavSon he liveS her
at enfield he Wanted mee to giv him one of you Sur
klerS So he Wod be agent but i Wodent let hi
m hav hit an he rote to you i SupoSe an haS got a
Suplye of pillS an ar aruning a gant mee he iS Sell
ing them at 20 centS a box i Want you to St
op him if you pleeS
mr CumStock i Sent you too dollars the 21 p
leeS Credet my a Count With hit mr. Cumsto
Ck i Want you to Send mee Sum of you pam
pletS i Want you to Send mee right of three tow
nShipS aS i am Working up a good trad her i wan
t indin Cree an enfield an Carnie tonnShipS rite
Son aS poSSible an let me know whether you will let
me have thoSe townShipS or not for my territory
i Sold a box of pillS to melven willSon his gir
l She haS the ChilS for three yer and he tride eve
n thang he cood her wan nothing never dun her
eny good one box of you pills brok them on her
tha ar the beSt pillS i ever Saw in
my life tha ar the beSt medeSon for the ChillS
i ever Saw an rumiteS i am giting
up a good trad i Want you to Send me Sum of
you pampletS i want you to Stop theSe oth
er agentS that iS botheran me an oblige you
rite Son.
enfield
White Co.
illS
thomaS Cathey
| FIGURE 21.—Cover
for booklet used as a circular describing the Indian Root Pills. |
Sadly, we do not know how the company handled Mr. Cathey's request for sole representation in three Illinois townships.
After the pills achieved wide recognition and other methods of publicity, chiefly the almanacs, were well established, newspaper advertising was terminated. An invitation to agents (about 1885) declared that
For some years past they have not been advertised in newspapers, they being filled with sensational advertisements of quack nostrums got up for no other purpose than catch-penny articles ...