From: rarity@dontemailme.com   
      
   In article ,   
   rgraham18@sbcglobal.net says...   
   >   
   >No my bad. The article I read said they used laudanum for pain. Then it   
   >explained laudanum for the time was used like Valium is used today. So I had   
   >valium on my mind.   
      
   No problem. It's a fairly well-known fact that   
   many of the elixirs and so-called pain killers   
   available were addictive, for one reason or   
   another. Not the least of the reasons was the   
   high alcohol content in many of the elixirs.   
   Easy availability or over-the-counter cocain was another.   
      
   When I was a kid, mid 20th century, there was   
   a product that was sold under the HADACOL(sp?)   
   label that was a holdover from the healing   
   elixir days. The old bottles that these "remedies"   
   were sold in were often embossed - the glass was   
   embossed with the lettering - and those old bottles   
   are collector's items today. I had two bottles at   
   one time that bore the lettering "Doctor Hotstettler's   
   Stomach Bitters." If I ever knew what "stomach   
   bitters" were good for, I've since forgotten. Cheers.   
      
   --- SoupGate-Win32 v1.05   
    * Origin: you cannot sedate... all the things you hate (1:229/2)