History of the Comstock Patent Medicine Business and Dr. Morse's Indian Root PillsShaw, Robert B.
History
History of the Comstock Patent Medicine Business and Dr. Morse's Indian Root Pills
Shaw, Robert B.
Patent medicines -- United States; W.H. Comstock Co.
[Illustration: FIGURE 27.--The pill-mixing building, about 1928
(building torn down in 1971).]
Although the records disclose nothing to this effect, it is a fair
premise that the Comstock family often must have considered closing the
Morristown plant after World War II and, more particularly, in the
decade of the 1950s. Such inclinations may, however, have been countered
by a willingness to let the plant run as long as a trickle of business
continued and it did not fall too far short of covering expenses. The
last few surviving employees were very elderly, and their jobs may have
been regarded as a partial substitute for pensions. This view is
evidenced by an injury report for George Clute, who suffered a fit of
coughing while mixing pills in January 1941; he was then 77 years old
and had been working in the factory for 34 years. The final paybooks
show deductions for Social Security and unemployment
insurance--specimens of vexatious red tape that the factory had avoided
for most of its existence.
The decision to close the Morristown factory was finally forced upon the
family, on May 15, 1959, by the death of William Henry Comstock
II--"Young Bill"--who had been president of the company since 1921.
Like his father, "Young Bill" Comstock had been a prominent citizen of
Brockville for many years, served a term as mayor--although he was
defeated in a contest for a parliamentary seat--was also active in civic
and social organizations, and achieved recognition as a sportsman and
speedboat operator.
[Illustration: FIGURE 28.--The packaging and office building at left,
depot in center, and Comstock Hotel at right. Canadian shore and city of
Brockville (location of another Comstock factory) in background.]
The actual end of the business came in the spring of 1960. The frequency
and size of orders had dropped sharply, although the names of many of
the old customers still appeared, as well as individuals who would send
one dollar for three boxes of the pills. These small shipments were
usually mailed, rather than going by express or freight, as formerly.
The very last two shipments, appropriately, were to old customers: One
package of one-dozen boxes of pills on March 31, 1960, to Gilman
Brothers of Boston, and two-dozen boxes to McKesson & Robbins at Mobile,
Alabama, on April 11. And with this final consignment the factory closed
its doors, concluding ninety-three years of continuous operation in the
riverside village of Morristown.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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