While researching the life of Augusta Luther (1892-1956) (my first cousin, three times removed), an advertisement in a newspaper from 1922 surfaced featuring a supposed testimonial for the "medicine" Tanlac by her husband, James Kittson.
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| "Gains 25 pounds and says it saved his life." Perth Amboy Evening News. July 7, 1922. |
They resided in Harrison, Hudson County, New Jersey in the 1920s.
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| Family of James Kittson in the 1920 federal census. Harrison, Hudson County, New Jersey. Gussie, wife. James, son. Martha [Luther] (born Klindt), mother [in-law]. Pyron Getz, boarder. |
A search for Tanlac from the 1910s through the 1940s produces many advertisements in the form of these personal testimonials presented as news articles. The ingredients of Tanlac are omitted from these ads. Modern-day regulations would not permit this level of secrecy, nor would Tanlac be described as a "medication." The main ingredient was wine, around 17% or 34 proof. Other ingredients included herbs and glycerin. It was touted as a digestive aid among other uses.
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| Description of the ingredients of Tanlac Journal of The American Medical Association June 5, 1915 |
For all its popularity, I did not find many photographs online of the bottle or packaging for Tanlac.
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| Drawn advertisement for Tanlac- A Splendid Tonic and System Purifier. The world's greatest tonic. 25,000,000 bottles sold. https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Bottle_of_Tanlac_patent_medicine.jpg |
I was curious as to why James many have weighed so little. I checked his death certificate. He died from cancer, specifically laryngeal with metastases. But this was in 1934, twelve years after his testimonial for Tanlac. Perhaps consuming wine daily, in the form of medicinal Tanlac, made him feel better.
