Taking Vinol, for strength, in 1918


I enjoy old advertising, and the billboards for a product called "Vinol" on the Duke University site ROAD (Resource of Outdoor Advertising Descriptions) really caught my eye. One of my Facebook friends found a link to an old newspaper and I was able to read up on this product, which was a tonic.

The slogan changes with different billboards, so I clipped them, and I'll show them to you. Of course, my favorite slogan is the top one, "For Feeble Old People", but was it also for Overworked Men.


And apparently it was good for Delicate Children, too.


My first thought was that it might be something alcoholic, as it kinda looked like a bottle of wine to me, and there really weren't any rules back then about what could be put in some kind of "mystery potion" to make you stronger and healthier. The traditional term is "snake oil", and by 1918 the term "tonic" had become very popular. And I know you're wondering what was in it, so here you go:


The Rx indicates that it's a prescription, but back then you could just go to your local drugstore and pick up a bottle. It contained Cod Liver (which was a very popular thing to give to kids, yuck!), and Beef Peptones (I had to go look up that word, it means: a soluble protein formed in the early stage of protein breakdown during digestion), Iron and Magnesium Peptonates (had to look this one up, too, it's: a combination of pepsin with a metallic salt), Iron and Ammonium Citrate, Lime and Soda Glycerophosphates (this is what I found on this, I have no idea what it means: Calcium glycerophosphate is an medication used to treat low levels of phosphate or calcium), Cascarin (apparently this was a type of laxative). I'm glad I'm on the internet right now so I look this stuff up, can't imagine standing in a drugstore in 1918!


I have to admit that I admire their straightforward sales pitch - especially the "feeble old people". I wonder if people in 1918 looked in the mirror and said, "I'm a feeble old person, just like they say in the ad, I'm going to get some Vinol!"?

I'm inclined to think that most of the older and wiser elders just took a shot of whiskey, and left the Vinol for the other folks!

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