I checked the holdings of major libraries and found that relatively few of Ransom receipt books had ended up in their collections. I proceeded to browse Internet booksellers, but few booklets were listed for sale. In desperation, I turned to E-Bay to see if any booklets were on the auction block. Much to my surprise, several were. In the midst of heavy bidding, I received an e-mail message from Paulette Williams, who asked if I was a Ransom family member. When I told her that I was a writer preparing an article about the Ransom cookbooklets, she recommended that I contact Mike Ransom. I did so, and Mike forwarded information collected by other family members about David Ransom. Simultaneously, I purchased Ransom booklets from Robert Newnham, who gave me the e-mail address of Jan Escamilla, a Ransom family member who collected the receipt books as well as other Ransom ephemera. Jan’s mother Grace DeHaan had used the Ransom patent medicines when she was a child. Jan had conducted research into Dr. Ransom and she kindly passed it along. Just as important, she knew other descendants of David Ransom, and she helped me make contact with them.
Mike Ransom also recommended that I contact Bob Gurn, the Head of the Special Collections Department, Buffalo and Erie County Public Library. Gurn forwarded my request for information about David Ransom to William H. Loos, the curator of the library’s rare book room. Loos came up with a newspaper article written in 1927 by an anonymous "Johnny Old Boy," who had worked for the "House of Ransom" for several years--probably during the 1860s and 1870s. Loos also suggested that I contact a local bookdealer whom he thought might have some Ransom receipt books. Indeed, the Buffalo Bookstore had 45 booklets, which I promptly purchased. Combined with the 31 booklets that I already possessed, I have amassed a large collection of Ransom’s Family Receipt Books.
These Ransom booklets in turn offered additional information and suggested new leads. For instance, one advertisement reported that David Ransom had attended Dartmouth Medical College, so I called Rauner Special Collections Library at Dartmouth College and the archivist forwarded copies of David Ransom’s letters of recommendation, information about his attendance, his thesis, and his graduation. Other Ransom advertisements suggested other avenues to pursue, and so far I’ve contacted over thirty people asking questions and almost everyone has had something to add or correct.
From these pieces, the following story emerges. David Louis Ransom was born to Robert Ransom and Lucy Stacy Ransom on January 29, 1817 in Hamilton, New York. In 1834 David began an medical apprenticeship with his uncle Consider Stacy in Earlville, a small community about ten miles from Hamilton. To prepare for a medical career, David Ransom simultaneously studied Latin with the principal of Cazenovia high school. He also studied under other medical professionals and he attended some medical lectures at Fairfield Medical College. In the summer of 1838, Ransom was admitted to Dartmouth Medical College in Hanover, New Hampshire. Due to the way the course of studies was structured at the time, he completed course of study on October 25, 1838, but did not officially receive his M.D. until the university graduation ceremonies in 1839. One of the requirements for graduation was to write a thesis on a medical subject. His topic was "Acute Rheumatism," which he defended in front of the medical faculty. He then attended lectures at Jefferson Medical College in Philadelphia.
In 1839, he set up a medical practice in Earlville. At the time, the most important family in Earlville was that of Paul Allen Towne, who had six daughters. David Ransom married Harriot N. Towne on May 29, 1840, but she died less than a year later on March 9, 1841. Ransom remained in Earlville, and on January 2, 1845 he married his first wife’s sister, Rosina M. Towne. They had two children: Frank H. Ransom, born May 19, 1846, and David Louis, born July 2, 1853. Rosina Ransom died in March 16, 1855. In December 1855, David Ransom married the third sister Martha A. Towne. They had three children: Harriet Rosina, born 1857 in Hamilton; Paul C., born March 4, 1863 in Earlville; and Charles M., born February 20, 1868 in Buffalo.
In addition to his medical practice, David Ransom also became an agent for several patent medicines and acquired the rights to others. In the early 1840s Ransom had met Homer Anderson, a professor of chemistry and mathematics at Clinton Liberal Institute in Clinton, New York. Anderson’s claim to fame was his patent medicine "Dermador," an external lotion for inflamation, wounds, bruises, sprains, and burns. Anderson reported that he invented this process when he attempted to create Prussic acid when he ran into the formula by accident. When a student’s arm was accidently lacerated "by being accidently caught "in the machinery of the Observatory," Anderson freely applied Dermador. The next morning "the soreness was all gone and the arm had not pained him any through the night." Anderson claimed to have submitted Dernmador to various scientists, Physicians for trial, who all pronounced it the "best external remedy they had ever used." Anderson moved to Buffalo and marketed the proprietary medicine during the 1840s. It is not clear precisely when Ransom acquired the rights to it. Ransom warranted Dermador "to cure Inflamation in all cases of Wounds, Bruises, Sprains, Burns, Inflammatory Rheumatism, Bronchitis, Swelling of the Glands, Inflamation of the eyes, Broken Breasts, Frozen Feet, Chilblains, Piles, Pimples on the Face, Bee Stings, and all the Sores of the human Flesh is heir to." He also reported that "On Horses and Cattle it cannot be excelled for the cure of Galls, Chalks, Sprains, Wounds, and all hurts on animals. It never fails to cure if used as directed." As one advertisement put it, Dermador was good "for man and beast." It is unclear when Ransom gained the right’s to Dermador, but he opened a laboratory in 1846 and Dermador may have been his first manufactured proprietary medicine.
"Universal Magnetic Balm" had been developed by Dr. John R. Miller of Syracuse, who was an agent for patent medicines. His balm consisted of 56% grain alcohol. Miller probably sold the rights to the medicine sometime during the early 1860s. A later publication claimed that Miller’s balm had been used since the early nineteenth century.
Dr. Arthur Trask developed his "Magnetic Ointment" about 1845. It was used for diphtheria, croup, rheumatism, neuralgia, inflamation of bowels and kidneys, spinal affections, sore eyes, burns, piles, wounds, and bruises. It was considered "magnetic" because the components were passed through a magnetic field created by a galvanic battery. Trask began advertising his ointment during the late 1840s. David Ransom acquired the rights to it during the 1850s, and proclaimed it was "the most popular ointment in the United States" and "the GREATEST DISCOVERY OF THE AGE." What the ingredients were of the original Magnetic Ointment are unknown, but the company subsequently reported that its major ingredient was tobacco.
David Ransom added tolu, seneca, lobelia, and skunk cabbage to "Coxe’s Hive Syrup" to create a medicine that was successful in treating croup. Ransom initially "made it up in considerable quantities at a time and refilled the bottles of anxious parents for a small fee, instead of obliging them to incur the heavy expense of a second personal visit from him–and members of the doctor’s family filled them in his absence." Due to high demand, he began manufacturing "Ransom’s Hive Syrup and Tolu" in 1859. His advertising claimed that it had been successfully used by "hundreds of thousands" of satisfied customers. By 1861, David Ransom mainly focused on manufacturing patent medicines. As his business expanded, he needed a better base of operations with easy access to supplies, transportation, and printing facilities. By 1863 Ransom had transferred his operation to Buffalo, where he formed a stock company with Reuben S. Hamlin. Their company was first called Ransom, Handlin, & Company, but within the year, the name was changed to D. Ransom & Company. It manufactured and retailed drugs for distribution in the Buffalo area. After the Civil War, Sullivan A. Meredith joined the company. Meredith had served in the Pennsylvania regiment attaining the rank of brigadier-general, but was severely wounded at the Second Battle of Bull Run. After his recovery he held the position of commissioner of exchanged prisoners in St. Louis. While in St. Louis, he married Julia F. Towne, yet another daughter of Paul Towne of Earlsville. The Meridiths moved to Buffalo in 1866.
The three partners launched the Western Medicine Warehouse, which served as a wholesale operation for druggists in the region. They became agents for many other patent medicines, including B. L. Judson and Company’s "Judson’s Mountain Herb Pills." This medicine was the major focus of D. Ransom and Company’s first known publication: The Magnetic Almanac for 1865 for the Use of Everybody. Ransom’s almanac was based on an earlier work published by B. L. Judson and Company titled the Rescue of Tula Almanac. Tula was a soap-opera character who purportedly discovered the "Great Medicine of the Aztecs" or "The Manochan, or Mighty Healer." According to the story, Tula passes on the secrets of this miracle medicine to Judson, who manufactured it under the title "Judson’s Mountain Herb Pills." "Judson’s Mountain Herb Pills" manufactured by B. L. Judson & Co., New York. These pills were advertised as "safe, convenient and unfailingly Cathartic, anti-Dyspeptic and tonic medicine." In addition to extensive advertising for Judson’s medicines, Ransom’s 1865 almanac published another episode of the "Rescue of Tula" and advertised other patent medicines.
The Tula saga was continued into Ransom’s second almanac published in 1867. Under the title of "Story of Ometa, or Hawk Eye’s Escape," which was billed as "Truth stranger than Fiction." These almanacs also advertised "Dr. Judson’s Dead Shot Worm Candy," which had been invented by an earlier "Dr. Judson," who had lived in Glasgow, Scotland. This Judson, "one of the most celebrated Physicians of the age," on his deathbed asked J. B. Judson to pass on the secret for the benefit of mankind. Ransom also advertised Saratoga Water, "Heimstreet’s Inimitable Hair Coloring," "Prof. H. Anderson’s Dermador," "Trask’s Magnetic Ointment," and "Ransom’s Hive Syrup and Tolu."
The D. Ransom & Company changed advertising directions in 1868. It ceased publishing the almanacs and began issuing Family Receipt Books. The idea of promotional cookbooklets was not a particularly new idea. By 1817 almanacs published cookery recipes as well as unrelated advertisements lavishly promoting patent medicines and unusual medical treatments. Some almanacs eventually featured extensive cookery sections. By the 1850s, medical professionals issued cookery works, which promoted their products and services. For instance, H. Burchstead Skinner, a Boston physician, published several promotional cookbooklets beginning in 1848. His American Book of Cookery, published in 1850, was a paper-wrapped pamphlet loaded with promotional advertising. The intent of medical cookery pamphlets was to promote manufacturers and their medical products as the housewife read the recipes. The recipes were the lure to entice the potential consumer to read their advertisements.
Beginning in 1860, Jeremiah Curtis & Sons and John I. Brown and Son teamed up to publish Mrs. Winslow’s Domestic Receipt Book. The editions of this booklet were published annually and included cookery recipes, advertisements for their patent medicines manufactured by the proprietors, and testimonials of satisfied customers. Although the booklets advertised different products and contained different recipes, Ransom’s Family Receipt Books were a direct knock-off of Mrs. Winslow’s Domestic Receipt Books. The booklets were the same size, format, and length, and the early Ransom booklets were exactly the same yellow color. This likely caused some confusion, for Ransom changed the color of the outside wrap to orange in 1876.
Ransom did introduce innovations into the promotional cookbooklet genre. Previous advertising brochures, such as Mrs. Winslow's, were printed by the manufacturers and then sent to the retail stores for distribution. Readers were encouraged to contact the manufacturers to buy Mrs. Winslow's products. As the manufacturers sold products directly to customers, these promotional booklets pitted the manufacturer against the retailer. Ransom avoided this problem by printing the booklets in Buffalo and shipping them to retailers, who then printed their own names and addresses on the back of the booklets. This directed buyers to the local drugstores rather than to write to Ransom, Son & Company.
The second innovation was to encourage customers to retain the booklets, bind them together, and use them as a cookbook. To assist in this, D. Ransom, Son & Company the company indexed multiple issues, and also supplied back issues free of charge. In 1910 the company was willing to distribute the booklets from the previous twenty years. In all, Ransom's Family Receipt Books published more than two thousand cookery recipes. While some recipes were repeated, full corpus is a remarkable collection. The company urged customers to bind the booklets together and save them for future use.
About 1870, the firm created and promoted "Dr. Ransom's King of the Blood," familiarly known as "K. B." It was widely advertised within a short time of its invention. When a fire destroyed their retail operation, the company concentrated solely on wholesaling their products. Their target was druggists throughout the country. The firm reached the drugstores by direct contact with salesmen. It maintained twelve teams of horses and wagons, which traveled for up to two years throughout the nation. Rarely did the salesmen return with the same team of horses, which needed to be replaced on the journey. Salesmen replenished their supplies by train shipments to particular locations. The business thrived, and Ransom purchased and refurbished "the picturesque and historic stone mansion formerly part of the famous estate of the pioneer post-master-judge-farmer, Erastus Granger."
While exact sales figures are unknown, it is possible to estimate sales. In 1862 Congress passed the Revenue Act permitting proprietary medicines to place stamps on their bottles. D. Ransom and Company applied for the approval of using a Ransom proprietary stamp. Their design was approved by the government in 1865. These stamps came in 1¢ and 2¢ values and were affixed on the top of the bottle so that when opened the stamp was torn. This stamp guaranteed to customers that the article was genuine and that no one had tampered with its contents. These stamps were later altered when the name of the firm changed to D. Ransom, Son & Co. From 1865 to 1883, ten million stamps were printed. According to Henry W. Holcombe, this represented "a gross volume of a little less than three and a quarter million dollars, or an average in excess of $178,500 annually."
David Ransom died in Buffalo on December 12, 1872, and the company’s name was changed to D. Ransom, Son & Company. The son was Frank Ransom, who had been trained as a lawyer. In 1874 the partnership with Hamlin had dissolved and late in the year Meredith died. By that time, D. Ransom & Company was the largest drug manufacturer in Buffalo and was quickly expanding its sales to the region. It manufactured drugs in two laboratories managed by "two practical chemists." Frank Ransom managed it for many years. Charles Willis Ransom, David’s and Frank’s brother, moved to Albert Lea, Minnesota, where he established the Ransom Brothers Wholesale Company, which became one of the largest wholesale drugstores in that state.
In addition to the receipt books, the company issued a series of other works, including booklets on its specific medicines, a booklet on horses, and Ransom’s Illustrated Encyclopedia Facts for All Ages and Ransom’s Horse Book.
The company thrived well into the twentieth century. After Frank Ransom’s death, the firm was managed by Arthur Milinowski, the husband of Frank’s sister, Harriet Rosina. D. Ransom, Son & Company survived through 1942, still producing Trask's Magnetic Ointment, Dermador Eye Lotion and Cooper's Balm and Ransom’s Hive Syrup. It did little advertising and it just seems to have petered out. It is unclear when it ended, but a stock certificate was issued in 1948 for a Ransom Building, Inc., which suggests that a new corporation was launched at this date concerned with construction.
Sources:
Anon. "Obituary, Death of Gen. Sullivan A. Meredith," Buffalo Morning Express, December 28, 1874, 1.
Anon. "Ransom’s Hive Syrup Originated in Earlville," The Earlville Standard, September 24, 1942.
Baldwin, Joseph K. A Collector’s Guide to Patent and Proprietary Medicine Bottles of the Nineteenth Century. Nashville/New York: Thomas Nelson, Inc., 1973.
Buffalo Illustrated. Commerce, Trade and Industries of Buffalo. Buffalo: Courier Printing Co., 1890.
Catalogue of the Officers and Students of Dartmouth College, September 1838. Windsor, Vermont: Tracy and Severance, 1838.
Democratic Reflector, 1845 and 1855, from archives of Madison (New York) County Historical Society.
Holcombe, Henry W., "Private Die Proprietary Stamp Notes," D. Ransom & Co.," Collector’s Club Philatelist 3 (July 1941): 212-215.
The Magnetic Almanac for the Use of Everybody. Buffalo, N.Y.: D. Ransom & Co., 1866-1868.
Old Boy, Johnny, pseud., The Times, est 1927, in the "Local Biographies," clipping file of Buffalo and Erie County Public Library in SPC Office, B8T369265 vol. 28, p. 177
Ransom, Wyllys C. Historical Outline of the Ransom Family in America. Ann Arbor, Michigan: Press of Ann Arbor Plant, The Richmond & Backus Company, 1903.
Ransom’s Family Receipt Books, 1868-1925.
Ransom’s Illustrated Encyclopedia Facts for All Ages. Buffalo: Gies & Co, nd [circa 1885].
Rescue of Tula Almanac. 1862. [New York?: B.L. Judson & Co.?1861]
Schenectady Reflector, January 11, 1850, as cited in Joseph K. Baldwin, A Collector’s Guide to Patent and Proprietary Medicine Bottles of the Nineteenth Century (Nashville/New York: Thomas Nelson, Inc., 1973), 38.
Rauner Special Collections Library, Archives, Manuscripts, Rare Books, Dartmouth College Library, New Hampshire.
smithaf's article feed
Add comment