RS66a Jeremiah Curtis & Son, Mrs. Winslow’s Soothing Syrup Revenue Stamp

Mrs. Winslow’s Soothing Syrup was originated in 1835, and it was trademarked in 1852 by Curtis and Perkins of New York City. In the 1860’s Jeremiah Curtis and Son (Perkins having dropped out of the firm about 1856 and Curtis’ son having joined the organization in 1860) asked the question “Who is Mrs. Winslow?” The answer they gave is that “she is a lady who, for upwards of thirty years has inspiringly devoted her time and talents as a Female Physician and Nurse, principally among children … we think that Mrs. Winslow has immortalized her name by this invaluable article (Soothing Syrup) which has saved thousands of children from an early grave.” In 1865 Curtis formed a limited part­nership with John I. Brown of Boston under the name of Curtis and Brown to market Mrs. Winslow’s Soothing Syrup as well as Brown’s Bronchial Troches. In 1880, Jeremiah Curtis and Son were dis­solved and a new firm known as the Anglo-American Drug Company was form­ed expressly to market Mrs. Winslow’s Soothing Syrup. After Samuel Hopkins Adam’s attacks and the 1906 Food and Drug Act, morphine was eliminated as the main constituent of the syrup, but Mrs. Winslow’s Sooth­ing Syrup is still on the market today consisting largely of rhubarb
and senna.

(Holcombe, Henry W. weekly Philatelic Gossip, 33: 608-609, February 14, 1942; 33: 680-681, March 7, 1942; Stamps and Cover Collectors Re­view, 1: 91-93, April, 1937