Antiques from the Apothocary

Look at the title of that red book -- looks like a first cousin to those questionable health books advertised by email spam nowadays. Yet it was probably a good reference in its time. Scan those brown bottles with their cork stoppers. Or those boxed powders and ointments. Scary, huh?

Yet, guess what -- our grandparents and their parents before them survived. We're here, after all. No need for child-proof lids; the kids back then knew enough not to muck about the medicine cabinet. Not to mention the gawdawful taste of proper medicine; that's a deterrant that's gone by the wayside in our effort to get rid of the yuck factor. Now everything tastes pink. A new sort of yuck, in my opinion.

This wonderful collection from days past catches my attention every time I go into the Goodwin Street Pharmacy. Four cabinets full of yesterdays nostrums -- legit and snake oil alike. It's good to be reminded of how far we've progressed, how protected we are, but most important, we need to be reminded of the shoulders that we stand on.

One thing I really like about independent local businesses: the unexpected, surprising and very individual art work, doodads, antiques selected for display. It might be my doctor with his mother's water colors or the old-fashioned apple-themed collection at the Apple Pan, (where else?) or the celebration of rodeos past at the Waffle Iron. All very ideosyncratic and one-of-a-kind; in the hands of a corporate design consultant, the same material would quickly turn into trashy kitsch.

Business Nostalgia

We weren't in the world of Big Pharma when these nostrums and chemicals were compounded. One look at the bottles, jars, and boxes in the old oak and glass cabinets over at the Goodwin Street Pharmacy is a real trip back memory lane -- if you are old enough. If you aren't, the products will probably just scare you! But then, once upon a time, people knew how to handle chemicals.


Here are a couple of old Maytag washing machines -- makes one appreciate modern conveniences! To get a closer look at this pair, visit the Maytag store on West Gurley Street.


I find it great when individual businessmen are interested enough in the products or services they offer that they become real collectors of the past. The displays certainly give their customers a window, however small, on how people lived in days gone by. A good lesson for any of us, in my books.

Good Old Days Revisited

Wearing my cynic's hat, I'm inclined to call it a hokey promotional gimmick. But wearing my heart on my sleeve, it's an entirely different matter -- I love it!

It being the new old fashioned soda fountain at Goodwin Street Pharm. Perfect for a cool goodie after walking Prescott. Malts. Ice cream sodas. Phosphates. Ice cream cones. And...

...I finally had an egg cream. In Prescott, of all places. Which requires an explanation. I grew up in the Southwest and the South; my career days were spent in Chicago. No such thing as an egg cream in any of these places; I recall Brooklyn types and sophisticated Manhattanites asking for egg creams in Chicago -- I always wondered what the heck they were talking about.

Now I finally know. Basically, an egg cream is a chocolate phosphate with a squirt of cream. Yummy. And please don't ask me about the "egg" part. I still don't know, even though I've asked several Easterners.