Brandreth’s Pill's Ad, Harper's Weekly, 1858

Brandreth’s Pill's Ad, Harper's Weekly, 1858

The item chosen is an advertisement from Harpery’s Weekly that presents a new medication called “Brandreth’s Pill”. The advertisement claims that the pill prevents and protects an individual from getting Yellow Fever. It includes the specific symptoms one should be aware of in order to take Brandreth’s Pill. Examples of symptoms are delirium and dizziness. The audience for the advertisement is anyone who was either demonstrated these symptoms or is living with someone with Yellow Fever. I can ascertain that the creator of the pill, Benjamin Brandrteth, firmly believed that Yellow Fever was caused by “impure blood”. This is clear when he says “the very cause of these difficulties will be speedily expelled from the bowels and circulation”. That is to say that the Brandreth’s Pill was invented in order to cleanse the blood and not let Yellow Fever develop. The advertisement depicts a negative view of New York of the 1850’s, much like Foster did. New York City is described as a place that was suffering from disease and illness. At the time, there was an extreme increase in immigration and therefore the growth of major cities, like New York City. The health system was heavily affected and in particular there were outbreaks of Yellow Fever in New York during 1855 and 1856. One quote that stood out to me was the following, “another and yet another paroxysm may occur”. The author of this advertisement emphasizes that a sudden outburst of emotion may occur not only one time but multiple times. He is underlining the fact that one should not be worried if multiple expressions of emotions occur after taking the pill. This is interesting to me because even though it was over 100 years ago, the advertisement still provides side effects that come along with taking Brandreth’s Pill.

Brandreth Pill Factory

Brandreth’s Pills. Advertisement. Harper’s Weekly. September, 18, 1858: 9. Print

Harper's Weekly

9/17/2015

Antonella Rozas

1858