As I wandered through my apartment just a few moments ago (Thursday afternoon) looking for a subject for my column this week, I discovered this cute little medicine tin in my collection of small ...

Advertisements from quack medicine companies were the live-blood of early 20th century newspapers. A random page would often have as many as five ads about a drug that could cure a variety of ills.

If a love potion did exist—the kind imbibed by Tristan and Isolde, peddled by Donizetti's Dr. Dulcamara, sung about and numbered nine by the Clovers—where would one store it? The medicine cabinet, ...