RS281p Emerson Drug Company

Edward Emerson, born in Chapel Hill, North Carolina in 1859 opened a pharmacy in Annapolis, Maryland in 1879 after graduating from the Uni­versity of North Carolina. He moved to Baltimore in 1881 where he open­ ed three pharmacies. On January 15, 1889, he compounded a granular effervescent salt which he called Bro o-Seltzer, and trademarked it May 2, 1889. The formula for Brome-Seltzer in 1898 consisted of acetanilid, tartaric acid, sodium bicarbonate, potassium bromide and sugar. In 1891 Emerson withdrew from retail pharmacy and devoted full-time to manufact­uring his proprietary, organizing the Emerson Drug Company. Attacked by Wiley's crusade, Emerson revised the formula to eliminate the objectio­nable acetanilid and Brome-Seltzer still remains a major seller in the market place today.

(Holcombe, Henry W., Weekly Philatelic Gossip, 24: 271-272, May 8, 1937)