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VCP at LCP Celebrates the Collections of William H. Helfand       

The Life & Age of Woman (New York: Currier & Ives, 1850).

Circa 1895 board game advertising the laxative Pluto Water.

Library Company members recently enjoyed a memorable afternoon with Trustee William H. Helfand at the Philadelphia Museum of Art. The gathering on June 23, 2011, sponsored by the Library Company’s Visual Culture Program, showcased the extraordinary patent medicine collections that Mr. Helfand has given to the Museum and the Library Company. The Museum’s well-received exhibition Health for Sale served as the impetus and venue for entertaining and informative presentations by Mr. Helfand and VCP co-director Erika Piola.

Mr. Helfand began with a personal tour of the gallery, adorned with over fifty stunning turn-of-the-century, color-printed lithographs. He instantly engaged the attendees with his knowledge of the whimsical, menacing, and comical imagery. He discussed the allure and effectiveness of the graphics used, including a pretty, buxom maid to advertise French mineral water, and he provided asides about the products promoted. He noted that a print for Vin Mariani, a French tonic wine represented by a female dancer  pouring herself a glass mid-stride, does not mention that the beverage that “fortified and refreshed” contained cocaine.

The Life & Age of Woman (New York: Currier & Ives, 1850).

William H. Helfand (far left) during his gallery tour at the Philadelphia Museum of Art.

Following the gallery tour, Ms. Piola gave an illustrated presentation of highlights from the Library Company’s Popular Medicine Ephemera Collections. Over the past decade, Mr. Helfand has generously given the Library Company numerous popular medicine materials important for the study of visual culture. Ms. Piola made remarks about the significance of the graphics depicted on a wide range of ephemera, including trade cards, letterheads, pamphlets, and circulars. She discussed the bygone promotional tactic of using a board game to advertise a laxative, and the innovative use by Minnie Mueller Tolke’s pharmaceutical business of allegorical, feminine imagery on letterhead rather than the traditional factory exterior used by male proprietors like Francis Stearn.

A veritable feast for the eyes and ears, the afternoon gave us an opportunity to acknowledge the generosity of a very serious and knowledgeable collector. Without William Helfand, neither the Museum nor the Library Company would be home to significant popular medicine collections that so clearly display the visual culture of a bygone era that continues to fascinate, amuse, and educate. 

 

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