Palmetto State Druggist - G. W. Aimar - BONUS Part IV - AMAZING Collection!

 

G. W. Aimar & Co. Bottles - Gregory Brownlee Collection

 One of the great joys of writing this blog is hearing from people who I would never have met before and who share wonderful stories about their ancestors, collections, or other interests.

So it was with my recent 3-part series on G. W. Aimar & Co., the longtime (1852-1978) druggist in Charleston, South Carolina: a day or so after the last of the series was posted, I received an e-mail from a reader who has an absolutely amazing G. W. Aimar & Co. collection and he was kind enough to share images for all of us to enjoy! Many - if not most - of the items are rare or one of-a-kind.  I am so indebted to Greg for sharing all of this!

And so we have this unforeseen BONUS Part IV to the series thanks to Greg Brownlee, a professional pharmacist and avid collector in Charleston, SC, home to Aimar & Co.

Meet Greg:

I began collecting pharmacy antiques while I was in pharmacy school at the Medical University of South Carolina in Charleston. I have always been interested in the Civil War in particular and "antique" type items or sometimes anything that seemed interesting to me. Being in Charleston will feed any history buffs addiction, no matter what the subject matter.

But I took a history of pharmacy class, and had the pleasure of being introduced to pharmacy antiques from several of my professors who have some magnificent collections. But in that class I was also introduced to some old Charleston pharmacies, Aimar's being one of them. And since it was open for so long and he was a soldier himself during the war, I just took it and ran with it.

Once out of school, I began to collect lots of pharmacy antiques, but as I acquired more and more, I have had to become more selective, picky if you will, about the stuff I collected. But while in school I acquired some Charleston area apothecary/druggist bottles in local antique shops or eBay etc. and started with that. So I concentrate my collection on any Charleston area bottles/items, with a preference toward Aimar items.

I probably have bottles representing 20 or more different pharmacies from the Charleston area, including wartime druggists CH Panknin and his son CF Panknin.  Also there may be an AC Phin, who coincidentally GW Aimar apprenticed under before he opened up shop in 1852.  Some others during that time - PM Cohen, Dawson & Blackman, Kenifick & Skrin.

Greg - Thank you so much for sharing your wonderful collection with us!

From Gregory Brownlee Collection: "What is believed to be a ship's chest or a traveling medicine chest.  It contained all Aimar labeled bottles, tins etc, some still with contents, but also contained 3 other bottles from port cities. This is probably one of my best finds about 2 years ago."

From Gregory Brownlee Collection: "GW Aimar's original "recipe" book, which has all the original recipes, including the Sarracenia bitters, Queens Delight and much more"

Aimar Florida Water - Gregory Brownlee Collection

Gregory Brownlee Collection

Gregory Brownlee Collection

Gregory Brownlee Collection

Gregory Brownlee Collection

Gregory Brownlee Collection

Decorative Apothecary Show Globes - Gregory Brownlee Collection

Palmetto State Druggist - G.W. Aimar & Co. - Part III - Bottle Gallery

Aimar's Sarracenia Bitters - Ferdinand Meyer

In this third and final part of my series on G. W. Aimar & Co., Charleston, SC, I share a gallery of photos of Aimar bottles - one from my collection, an absolutely beautiful Aimar's Sarracenia Bitters bottle from premier bitters collector Ferdinand Meyer V at Peachridge Glass, other Aimar proprietary medicines from Matthew Knapp's excellent Antique Medicines website, and a few others gathered from the web.

G. W. Aimar was a full service druggist offering raw medicinals (minerals, herbs, and synthesized medicines), as well as several of its own proprietary medicines carrying the Aimar name.

One example was his "Aimar's Sarracenia Bitters," which he began advertising as early as the Civil War era.  Sarraecenia is one of the North American Pitcher plants, or "trumpet pitcher," a carnivorous "fly trap." It ha slong been thought to have medicinal properties, including as a tonic for digestive problems (indeed, Aimar's bitters were marketed specifically for dyspepsia), kidney problems, and astringent.  There are numerous reports in the medical literature of the mid-1800s of its efficacy in treating smallpox.  Aimar's was by no means the only Sarracenia-based bitters or medicine.  Ferdinand Meyer has a beautiful example of an Alabama Sarracenia bitters here. 

Aimar's Neurotic Oil - Matthew Knapp

Other named medicines include "Aimar's Neurotic Oil," "Aimar's Sarsaparilla & Queen's Delight," "Aimar's Infallible Gonorrhea Injection," "Aimar's Golden Fluid" (for the hair), and others.

As mentioned above, Aimar also sold traditional remedies and chemicals, and examples are shown of these as well.

Aimar's Queen's Delight - Matthew Knapp

College of Charleston Digital Library

Aimar's Sarracenia Bitters - Ferdinand Meyer Collection

Aimar's Sarracenia Bitters - Ferdinand Meyer Collection

 

 

G. W. Aimar Druggist Bottle - James M. Schmidt Collection

Hair Raising Stories Website

Ebay Listing (2012)

Ebay Listing (2013)

Ebay Listing (2013)

LiveAuctioneers.com Listing (2008)

Palmetto State Druggist - G.W. Aimar & Co. - Part II - The Firm

G. W. Aimar & Co. - Red Cross Messenger - 1916

In this second of three parts on the G. W. Aimar & Co. drug firm of Charleston, SC, I provide some additional details on the company.

The company is interesting on several accounts:

Continuity - it was in business, and in the family, from 1852 to 1978!

Building - it remained at the same location in Charleston that entire time!

Documentation - for persons wanting to dig deeper, more than a century's worth of the firm's papers are now at the Smithsonian Institution

Products - the firm offered a wide range of products, including standard apothecary items as well as its own proprietary medicines.

Civil War advertisement for G. W. Aimar

The firm was founded by George Washington Aimar (1827-1877) in 1852; his brother, Charles, operated the store until 1903; Charles' son, Arthur P. Aimar, then took over; it remained in Arthur's son's hands until 1978, when - in their 70s - they finally decided to close the business.

Of the store, a newspaper article in 1983 (Charleston News and Courier) declared:

Theirs was an old-fashioned, yet extraordinary drugstore, where customers came not only for medicines, but for "dragon's blood," brimstone, frankincense, and lodestone. Latin-labeled old apothecary jars and tincture bottles, antique cabinets and display cases filled rooms that also contained mounted birds in cases, framed awards, and bottles of spring water. Their business thrived on supplying holiday spices, aphrodisiacs, spices for cooking, special toothpaste, sewing thread, and their own "Aimar's Premium Cologne Water," with an "oil of neroli" base that was concocted from orange blossom petals and musk.

Not surprisingly, Aimar also had a connection with the Civil War.  The same article declared:

G. W. Aimar served as a lieutenant in the Lafayette Artillery during the Civil War and was wounded, captured, an imprisoned before escaping and returning to Charleston. He could not re-enlist but helped the Confederate effort when his drugstore became the Confederate dispensary.  Three floors of the building served as a hospital.

If the story of his capture and escape seems too good to be true, that's because it probably is.  He did in fact serve with the Lafayette Artillery, but it appears he resigned his commission an received an honorable discharge so he could return to his business as a chemist in Charleston:

G. W. Aimar 1863 Letter of Resignation - Fold3.com

 Aimar certainly supplied the Confederate army and medical department with chemicals and drugs; the receipts below are from 1861 and 1864.  Note that in the early months of 1861 the Confederate medical department didn't even have its own stationery/letterheads/billheads: they were re-using United States government forms!

G. W. Aimar Supplies to Confederate States, 1861 - Fold3.com

G. W. Aimar Supplies to Confederate States, 1864 - Fold3.com

Another remarkable thing about the Aimar drug firm is that the building they did business in for 125 years still survives and has an even longer history!

Photo: Joan Perry - Charleston Daily Photo

From the Charleston County Public Library:

409 King Street

This substantial, four and one-half story building was built c.1808 by Lucretia Radcliffe, widow of Thomas Radcliffe and the developer of Radcliffeborough. Subsequently it was the Rev. Ferdinand Jacobs' Seminary for Girls. G.W. Aimar & Co., druggist, occupied the building from 1852 to 1978. The business was founded by George W. Aimar, who during the Civil War was a lieutenant in the Lafayette Artillery. During the war the building housed a Confederate dispensary and hospital. Later, a hotel known as the Aimar House was located on the upper levels. 

[You have to visit the website of award-winning photographer Joan Perry at Charleston Daily Photo; she bills herself as a "Sidewalk Curator."  Her photographs are astounding!]

For those wanting to learn more about the Aimar drug firm, the Smithsonian Institution holds more than 350 cubic feet (!) of Aimar records donated by the company, covering the years 1864-1972, documenting the day-to-day business: day books, ledger books, cash books, prescription books, invoices, letterpress copybooks, and formula books.

Part III will feature some Aimar bottles from my collection, kindly shared by other collectors, or found via my scavenging of the "interwebs."!
 

Palmetto State Druggist - G.W. Aimar & Co. - Part I - 1880s Letters

"[I have] concluded that I must stop my free use of liquor, somehow...I have reformed for over a month now and I am satisfied I can hold out...send me (1) one bottle of Schiedam Schnapps...want it in the home as medicine." - Letter to G. W. Aimar & Co., August 4, 1880.

This post is the first of three parts on Charleston, South Carolina, druggist Dr. George Washington Aimar (1827-77) and his firm, which was in Charleston - and in the family - from 1852 to 1978.

In this first part, I include a few letters in my collection from customers to Aimar & Co. in the late 1870s and early 1880s; in the second part, I'll include some additional biographical information, including his service (and the firm's) service in the Civil War; the third part will include photographs of some Aimar bottles in my collection, and photos of rare bottles kindly supplied by other collectors.

The letters included in this post are interesting on several accounts: they document Aimar's popularity with more than just his Charleston customer as they are written as mail orders; they document some of the medicines - esp. patent medicine - popular in the state in that period of time; they give some sense of the prices for these drugs and how they were delivered.

I start with perhaps the most interesting one: a letter from a customer who writes he has given up "drinking whisky and all other intoxicating drinks," but asks for bitters and schnapps for "medicine." He asks for several other well known "medicines" (heavy in alcohol) by name, including Hostetter Bitters and California Vinegar Bitters.

Another letter asks for several well-known patent medicines by name:August Flowers, Boschee's German Syrup, Magic Oil, Brandreth's Pills, and Allcock's Plasters.

Another letter I have, that I do not show here, is interesting in that it asks Aimar to send some...errrrrr...sexual aids...for a "young man of bad habits."

I'm in the "Paper of Record"! Notre Dame, The Civil War, and the New York Times!

Just so happy that I made the New York Times today! Well, their website, anyway :-) My article on the University of Notre Dame's student-soldiers in the Civil War was featured on the Times' wonderful "Disunion" blog.  You can read the article here: 

And...if you are not already reading the New York Times' "Disunion" blog  then you need to start!

From the Disunion website:

One-hundred-and-fifty years ago, Americans went to war with themselves. Disunion revisits and reconsiders America's most perilous period -- using contemporary accounts, diaries, images and historical assessments to follow the Civil War as it unfolded.

The blog is just terrific, updated almost daily, and (mostly) chronological, it features great essays on many topics, from armchair historians to esteemed academics.

If you'd like to learn more, watch this short (13-minute) but very interesting interview with Disunion editor Clay Risen from my friends at The Civil War Monitor:



Mr. Risen was such a pleasure to work with...I hope to be making more contributions to Disunion over the next few years!