Follies of the Madmen #542

Apparently doctors used to prescribe whiskey. My father was a pharmacist during Prohibition, and he told me he sold medicinal whiskey.

I have a copy of "The National Formulary, Ninth Edition" (1950). It's a complete list of what every good pharmacy should have. There's a description of the qualities of brandy to be dispensed. (I imagine whiskey is also in there, but I haven't unpacked that box since I moved, so I can't look it up right now.)

My parents also were pharmacists. When they retired, one of the "artifacts" they brought home from the store was a sealed bottle of whiskey from prohibition. The seal on the bottle indicated it was medicinal. They kept it on a shelf for almost twenty years until it was recently sold.

You definitely want your daily aliquot of furfural.

Considering doctors were once used in ads to sell cigarettes, this shouldn’t be surprising.

Brian, this is a little different. Those cigarette ads that claimed doctors recommend a particular brand were in mass market publications. These ads were in a medical journal.

Mine would probably recommend Cognac instead... or possibly whisky rather than whiskey.