Dinner Pills were made by many companies in the nineteenth
and early twentieth centuries.
The Upjohn Company sold them from 1886 to 1919. The Upjohn
example below has a lot number on the bottom right of the
label so it was made after 1910. The "Lady Webster"
signified a generic formulation that was used nationally.
Dinner Pills were claimed to cure constipation,
billiousness, dyspepsia, sick headache, loss of appetite,
torpid liver and indigestion. Aloes appears to have anti-inflammatory
and laxative effects.
Mastich is said to delay the absorption of the aloes, which
insures its action on the large bowel. Apparently this
product gave people some relief. Aloes, Mastic and Red Rose
were all extracted from plants, as every pharmaceutical
substance was during that era.
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