Medicine Chest: House of Fahrney, Part 3

from Antique Bottle & Glass Collector

by Ferdinand Meyer V

Fruit Jar Rambles: Collins, Wheaton & Luhrs

By John Panella and Joe Widman

HOUSE of FAHRNEY, PART 3

The business is “a-movin and a-shakin”

The Evolution of his Grand- father’s Traditional Practice

In the year 1864, Peter Fahrney returned to Waynesboro from Blair County. He was twenty-four, equipped with his degree and ready to work with his uncle, John Burkholder. This may be when he began to think about mass producing his grandfather’s recipes.

The Blood Medicine was already being bottled in Lancaster, Pennsylvania, per advertising from 1868. His brother, Jacob Jr., was at least twenty years Peter’s senior and had been practicing in Philadelphia. This product may have been available for sale in Waynesboro. At some point in time prior to 1870 there was a labeled bottle from Waynesboro, “Dr. J. Fahrney’s Panacea,” that was incorporated into Peter and the Brothers company. Another piece of advertising shows a date of 1869, the time that Jacob Jr. decides to come home to Quincy and work in the Fahrney and Brothers company with Peter.

One of the David Burkholders worked out west in some capacity as a co-traveler or a point of contact/companion when Peter in Chicago starts his move west. They tried first working in Ogle County, Ill. There was John’s son, David, and his brother, David, who both practiced in Boonsboro with Daniel Sr. and Old Peter. John Burkholder eventually steps down and sells his interest to Fahrney and the Brothers. He and his brother David were the last of the second generation who practiced with Old Peter, practicing after Daniel senior’s death.

Waynesboro postal advertising envelope for Dr. Fahrney's Celebrated Blood Cleanser.

Waynesboro and Times of Change

The postage stamp used on the envelope above was discontinued in 1868, so it may give a clue as to when Jacob and Peter were in charge in Waynesboro. It was clearly in use during a transitional time as far as the Fahrneys go.

Before this, Waynesboro Peter lived away from that part of his family, away from the Fahrneys, until he was old enough to learn about practicing and came back to an unfamiliar place that was being run by the Burkholders. He never had much contact with his namesakes, meeting his brothers upon return when he was fifteen, and only hearing about the Boonesboro part of the family. Daniel, on the other hand, grew up with his father and mother in charge of the large practice created by his grandfather, at the original Fahrney homestead in Maryland.

Nothing much had changed and they doctored about the same way as Peter Sr. had. Jacob and Peter built a new laboratory in Waynesboro to produce the medicine. After this was completed, Waynesboro Peter moved out west in quick order to peddle medicine. There was the attempt in Ogle County, Ill., before he decided to move on to Chicago, a grand metropolis. Here, Peter would sell to a much larger market for greater sales and profitability.

Moving Around, Competing Interests, and Exploring New Horizons

As far as doctoring, it was probably the same situation in Waynesboro. Jacob Jr. was doctoring with the patent medicine in Philadelphia around the time his father died. He tried selling his son’s bottled product rather than the dry herbal teas. Burkholder was hesitant about selling Jacob’s boozy concoctions and stuck with the teas he had been selling for decades. The addition of alcohol to the mix created a new group of “patients” almost overnight.

There was a considerable age difference between the two groups in Waynesboro and Boonsboro, which is significant and helps to establish a timeline during the embossed bottle era. Fitting them in as to age and ability was a straightforward comparison. Peter D. Fahrney, born in 1843, was twenty-four in 1867. Daniel Jr. born in 1851, was only fifteen.

By John Panella and Joe Widman

Memoirs say that after Daniel’s death, John Burkholder went to assist Daniel’s wife, Amy, restitute herself after her loss. Amy had become part of the practice and had a reputation as a healer. Burkholder was also a brother-in-law, married to her sister. P.D. Fahrney states in his literature that Burkholder was one of the many teachers in Boonesboro, and this would apply to Daniel Jr. as well. Even if he was off in medical school, it is safe to say that most of the students had been influenced by their predecessors.

Waynesboro Peter and Hagerstown Daniel had differing views of the practices created by the famous reputation of their common grandfather. In introducing a bottled product to the market, the Waynesboros were first and beat them to the punch. In 1868, the Boonesboro faction placed advertisements in many local papers stating that the Fahrney medicines being sold are none of their making.

The Dr. Fahrney’s and Brothers Co. in Waynesboro ran many ads stating that they needed to protect themselves and the public from misrepresentations being circulated by the Boonesboro faction. They stated that Old Dr. Fahrney left his practice to two sons and they were not the Fahrney’s practicing in Waynesboro. Internal turmoil ensued, dividing the family.

They printed, “It must be humiliating to those that are mere ‘babes’ in the profession to come out and imitate the same, when they are not able to hold their father’s lucrative practice.” By 1870, Daniel Fahrney has a bottled product and it is advertised in the local newspapers. He’s also accusing someone of counterfeiting their medicine, causing a ruckus after being humiliated by their diligent cousins from Pennsylvania.

PHOTOS:

TOP: Wooden crate for Fahrney's Blood Cleanser or Panacea. John Panella collection. MIDDLE: One of the last of the Fahrney advertisements when they were located in Chicago and Winnepeg. Ernie Dimler collection. BOTTOM: A later ad for Fahrney when Dr. Peter was based in Chicago. There is a lot of back and forth between the two companies. By the end of the decade the dust settles, and the cousins became content because of their individual lots. And then:

• P.D. Fahrney purchases the Victor Remedies Company in Frederick, Maryland.

• Daniel moves the Dr. D. Fahrney & Sons Company to Hagerstown, Maryland.

• The Dr. Fahrney’s Waynesboro, Chicago and Brothers Company sold their Pennsylvania interest to S.E. Dubbel in 1883, who continued to manufacture P. Fahrney’s Panacea in Waynesboro.

These developments all happened at about the same time. Peter of Chicago changed the name of his medicine to Blood Vitalizer, Daniel in Hagerstown changed the name of his medicine to Health Restorer and P.D. Fahrney created a “new product” named Victor’s Liver Syrup, all based on the recipe created by Peter Senior.

The End of the Line, Next Stop Oblivion

Prohibition was now becoming a reality in America. One by one bankruptcy and many other issues seemed to collide with the Fahrney family and other pursuits. The two companies in Maryland were quite successful financially going in, but did not survive Prohibition due to the ban on alcohol in their products.

The Dr. Peter Fahrney & Sons Co. of Chicago did stand the test of time. Skating around legislation, their marketing technique changed almost overnight.

By John Panella and Joe Widman

The Dr. Peter Fahrney & Sons company was founded in 1869, and incorporated on July 19, 1889 by Peter Fahrney in Keedysville, Maryland. The Chicago operation started off as a branch of Dr. D. Fahrney & Son, a firm operated by his uncle, David Fahrney in Hagerstown, Maryland. In late 1870, Dr. Fahrney moved to Chicago and established a laboratory. Its products consisted of “medicines” and “laxatives” with boozy contents, all produced in their large factories in Chicago, Keedysville (1869-70), as well as a Canadian plant in Winnipeg, Manitoba. All these facilities operated under the name of Dr. Peter Fahrney (1869-89), and then Dr. Peter Fahrney & Sons Co. (1889-1977).

Yes, that’s correct, the Fahrney name on patent medicines remained as a viable marketing method until 1977. They were always skipping rope fast with the FDA, as well as with the other regulatory agencies right on their tail.

A series of especially well-advertised and total quack-boozy products emerged during this time frame, as well as other chemicals and medications sold under the Fahrney name. These products contained alcohol as well as dangerous drugs, and were sold with impunity to the public over the counter. The production facilities were in place and the consuming public anxiously consumed many intoxicating and plainly poisonous nostrums.

Extensive advertising media was employed to sell such products as Dr. Fahrney’s Teething Syrup, Dr. Peter’s Blood Vitalizer, Dr. Peter’s Gomozo, Dr. Peter’s Hoboko, Dr. Peter’s Kuniko, Dr. Peter’s Lozogo, Dr. Peter’s Novoro, Dr. Peter’s Zokoro, Forni’s Alpenkrauter, Forni’s Heil-Oel Liniment, Forni’s Magolo, and Senamed. Yet, time was running out on total quackery. All of these patent medicines claimed to provide various cures and really contained no other product except alcohol. The public had a no complaint. Temperance and Prohibition devotees imbibed, clerical and secular also, every age group as well, all basically seeking intoxicating relief of their symptoms. Looking for panaceas, yup, you bet, greed promoted this, hand in hand with addiction.

Like birds of a feather they all worked together and ka-ching, there was profit for all. All these Fahrney “look-alike relatives” had lost sight of the Doctor’s compassion and integrity, his knowledge and abilities. His formula, basically an herbal tea, had evolved into an evil booze for hypocrites and boy-o-boy did it sell. All of them, in one manner or another, were laughing all

TOP: Another example of one of Fahrney's late advertisements. Ernie Dimler collection. RIGHT: "Couldn't Sleep - Couldn't Eat", FORNI'S ALPENKRAUTER testimonial for Dr. Fahrney when they were located in Chicago.

By John Panella and Joe Widman

the way to the bank. Alcohol was cheap. The patent medicines of the era, due to legislation or inefficient/bogus regulation, prospered by pushing alcohol to the innocents, often in combination with dangerous or ineffective drugs. Anything for a temporary cure!

The Savior Arrives

Of all the companies of the era, the surprise ending here is that, in 1966, the Fahrney name was sold to the Perdue Frederick Company. That’s right, the makers of oxycontin, maybe one of the world’s most abused and misused drugs. On October 21, 2020, the United States Department of Justice announced a historic $8.3 billion dollar settlement with Perdue Pharma, capping a long-running federal investigation into the company that, for critics, became the leading symbol of corporations profiting from America’s deadly addiction to plentiful opioid painkillers.

Summary

After the arrival of Jacob Fahrney from Germany in America in the late 1700s, through God knows how many family transactions, Peter Fahrney from Chicago became one of the most successful businessmen of the Toadstool Millionaires. Due to the evolution of the patent medicine trade and good old fashioned greed and lack of regulation, who would have guessed the business would have ended up as it did? Generations of legitimate Fahrney’s were simultaneously rolling over in their graves in disgust.

Now That’s the End of the Story

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Note from John Panella: This has been a collaborative effort utilizing artifacts and materials gathered over forty years by Phil Edmonds. His dedication and handson assistance have made this all possible. Information and advertising of every kind was researched. Online assistance came through various media blogs, such as Patent Medicines of the 19th century, Antique Medicine Trade Cards And Advertising, Medical Quackery, Antique Bottle Collectors, California Antique Bottles (C.A.B), 19th Century Bottles & Go Withs, Long Island Antique Bottle Association, Antique Bottle & Glass Collector Magazine and collectors worldwide too numerous to mention. I thank you all.

TOP: Wooden crate printed with "Prepared by Dr. Peter Fahrney, Chicago, Ill's." ABOVE: Late advertising envelopes for Dr. Peter Fahrney & Sons Co. in Chicago. Ernie Dimler collection.