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Two advertisments from the New York sun newspaper. Mrs. Bird offers pills for treatment of menstrual irregularity and Madame Costello offers help to women who want to be treated for "obstruction of their monthly periods."

Advertisment by Dr. L. Monroe in the Boston daily times newspaper for "French periodical pills" for regulation of "the monthly turns of females." Advertisement advises that "ladies married should not take them if they have reason to believe they are…

[No indications or uses for this product are provided on its packaging.]

aloes (drug active ingredients)
ginger (drug active ingredients)
capsicum (drug active ingredients)
oil of rosemary (drug active ingredients)
oil of aniseed (drug active ingredients)
oil of juniper berries (drug active ingredients)

The…

Anna Lohman (1812-1877) and her husband, Charles, ran a flourishing mail-order business from the 1840s to the 1870s. Under the names Madame Restell and Dr. Mauriceau, they sold contraceptives and operated an abortion clinic in New York City.


Her…

A handy little booklet for users inside of Chichester's English Pennyroyal Pills, Philadelphia, PA. Contains etiquette for the young lady, and calendar for the years 1902 to 1905. Practically have been pinned pages of wax paper on which to keep his…

[Cartoon showing Puck pointing at New York Herald and Staatszeitung newspaper buildings and saying to large female figure "Nemesis": "These proud edifices have helped to rear that one! (Madame Restell's medical office building). Your task is not yet…

With soap an illegal abortion was triggered earlier frequently. For this, a bar of soap was either introduced via a metal catheter directly into the uterus, or first dissolved in water and introduced via a balloon catheter or an enema container. This…

Illustration shows Anthony Comstock as a monk thwarting shameless displays of excessive flesh, whether that of women, horses, or dogs, with a "Jane Doe Warrant".

Magazine illustration depicting Ann Lohman guilty of breaking the Comstock Law.