Good morning, and again, thank you for the fabulous comments on this series. Many good suggestions have been made and I'll try to see what I can find! Sandi TIP# 166 - GRANDPA WAS A DRUGGIST AT AN APOTHECARY - GRANDPA MADE EYEGLASSES. An apothecary of the older years bore little resemblance to our modern day pharmacy full of greeting cards, household supplies, and cosmetics. Druggists at that time we so close to being physicians that it was sometimes difficult to tell them apart. The druggist prescribed medicines, but also made house calls and tended the sick. Using blisters and poultices, he did all within his power to ease the suffering of his customers. Sometimes he brought with him his supply of medicines and mixed them at the pioneer's home. And the medicines - well, they were not exactly what is stocked in the pharmacy today. It seemed to be the rule of thumb that the worse the medicine tasted, the better it worked. When a customer came to the apothecary, they did not bring a prescription from their doctor. They simply told the druggist what they thought was wrong or what hurt, and he would prepare a medication to hopefully help them. It must also be remembered that in this early time frame, anyone who wanted to set up an apothecary or be called a physician could. There was no such thing as licensing until many years later. Most physicians and druggists had apprenticed to another physician or druggist much like the early lawyers "read law" under another practicing lawyer and then put out his shingle. Most of the early medicines were simply blends of herbs and medicines that had found their way over from the old country. This was a time of rampant advertising by the druggist of many different "home-brew" combinations promising to cure everything from baldness to hot flashes! Most druggists found their own ingredients in the pioneer days of Kentucky and other states. He would go into the woods looking for specific herbs and plants with which to mix together. The apothecary got its liquid goods also from the druggist or a wholesaler. They were sent in large pots wrapped in burlap. These were stored on his shelves until called for. When a certain medication was needed, he pulled down all the various jars or boxes from the shelf and mixed them on the spot. The bottles used for many liquid medicines had a wooden cork and were sealed with regular sealing wax to keep them hopefully fresh. In the larger communities, a wider variety of drugs were available consisting of lineaments, purgatives, emetics and the ever-popular blood thinners. Later on in the tips, I will publish some of the most popular home remedies used not only by the druggists but by the pioneers themselves. Later on, druggists were required to register annually with the County Clerk and pay a fee for their license. These lists can still be found in some of the counties. The apothecary, like the general store, was a favorite gathering place for the locals. A special tribute should be paid to the old-time druggist; he didn't always get it right, but his valuable contributions to the health of the community made him near the top of the list as one of the most valuable occupations. The EYEGLASS MAKER AND SELLER also contributed to our Kentucky past. I often wonder, when attempting to read some of the old records if the writer knew a good eyeglass maker! How many pictures have you seen of our city father in lenses? Eye glasses were known and used as far back at 1294. They soon became very popular, but the settlers didn't often have the advantage of a neighbor in town who made eyeglasses. The city folk were more fortunate as each town normally had someone able to make glasses. But when one thinks of the new frontier lands of Kentucky, this was a luxury not often enjoyed! Early in the use of glasses, only the far-sighted were really helped. These early glasses were most often a guessed at prescription because very few knew anything about the working of the eyes. They were simply concave glass which may or may not help the wearer. A lot of country folk heard tales that glasses would allow the wearer to see into the future or make the blind to see! A little later, Venitian glasses came into vogue; the precursor of our sunglasses. Good old Benjamin Franklin made the most discoveries about eyeglasses and as most of us remember, he invented the bifocal. His glasses, as many in the olden times, were made from ordinary window glass; many coming with the bubbles and flaws of that glass. It wasn't really until the early days of the 20th century where glasses were more efficiently ground. A gent, called a grinder, using the best glass he could find, chipped away at it with a hammer or pliers until he got it into the approximate shape he needed. Using special tools, he waxed one side of the lens with hot pitch. If he used a dish shaped form, he would get a convex lens; if he used a mushroom shaped on, he had a concave lens. He polished the lens with wet sand or other abrasive. Then he turned the lens over and repeated the process on the other side. Another change over the years was the fact that the old glasses didn't have any means of support. No one had thought of the modern style. It wasn't until the 18th century that progress was made in this area and the hinged ear pieces were added. © Copyright 23 July 1998, Sandra K. Gorin, All rights reserved, sgorin@glasgow-ky.com Sandi Gorin - A Proud Kentucky Colonel PUBLISHING: http://members.tripod.com/~GorinS/index.html BARREN CO WEBSITE: http://ww4.choice.net/~jimphp/barrenco/ ARCHIVES for ROOTSWEB: http://searches.rootsweb.com/cgi-bin/listsearch.pl PRAYER&PRAISE: http://www.listbot.com/subscribe/prayerandpraise