Rough On Rats
Date:
|
Identifier: 12.1.28.2
Advertisement for Rough On Rats depicting a black silhouette type picture. From right to left is a woman, man, child, dog, and cat all chasing a mouse. A table is toppling over and a baby in a highchair is on the floor. In a caption box are the words: "All this trouble might have been avoided by the use of one fifteen cent box of "Rough On Rats." Clears out rats, mice, flies, bed-bugs, ants, roaches, mosquitoes, &c." In very tiny print at the bottom is: Evening Journal, Jersey City. The reverse of the card also states that "Rough On Rats" clears out skunk and weasel. Other products include Wells' May Apple Pills (for liver), Wells' Health Renewer (for impotence, leanness, nervous weakness, dyspepsia, kidney or liver trouble, consumption) and Chapin's Buchu-Paiba (for catarrh of the bladder). E.S. Wells, Manufacturer and Proprietor, Jersey City, N.J.more...
Download Image: Small | Medium | Large
     
About Image Ratings
0 rating from 0 votes
Details
Description
Advertisement for Rough On Rats depicting a black silhouette type picture. From right to left is a woman, man, child, dog, and cat all chasing a mouse. A table is toppling over and a baby in a highchair is on the floor. In a caption box are the words: "All this trouble might have been avoided by the use of one fifteen cent box of "Rough On Rats." Clears out rats, mice, flies, bed-bugs, ants, roaches, mosquitoes, &c." In very tiny print at the bottom is: Evening Journal, Jersey City. The reverse of the card also states that "Rough On Rats" clears out skunk and weasel. Other products include Wells' May Apple Pills (for liver), Wells' Health Renewer (for impotence, leanness, nervous weakness, dyspepsia, kidney or liver trouble, consumption) and Chapin's Buchu-Paiba (for catarrh of the bladder). E.S. Wells, Manufacturer and Proprietor, Jersey City, N.J.
Contributor(s)
E.S. Wells, Manufacturer and Proprietor (Jersey City, N.J.)
Evening Journal (Jersey City, N.J.)
Date
1870 - 1890
Call Number
12.1.28.2
Additional Resources
Collection(s)
Laupus Health Sciences History Collections
- Patent Medicine Trade Cards
Health and Medicine
Manufacturing and Business
Special Collections Staff Pick Collection

Subject(s)
Rodenticides
Insecticides
Nonprescription Drugs--History
Erectile Dysfunction--drug therapy
Dyspepsia--drug therapy
Anxiety--drug therapy
Liver Diseases--drug therapy
Kidney Diseases--drug therapy
Urinary Bladder Diseases--drug therapy
Advertising as Topic
Patent medicines
Advertising
Other Version
Staff Pick Page
Location (spatial)
United States--New Jersey--Jersey City, N.J.
Location (physical)
Laupus History - Manuscripts
Type
still image
Medium
trade cards (advertising)
Physical Description
11.4cm x 6.8cm
Persistent URL
http://digital.lib.ecu.edu/20792

view METS record

Comments
1
 Fri Apr 19 03:04 PM  by Matt Reynolds

This late 19th Century advertising card for E.S. Wells Rough on Rats vermin extermination powder depicts a peeved family chasing a variety of pests from their home. The powder, which contained a mixture of arsenic and ground coal was said to “clear out rats, mice, flies, bed-bugs, ants, roaches, mosquitoes, etc.”. The Wells Company, based in Jersey City New Jersey, offered a wide range of products including Rough on Corns, Rough on Itch, Rough on Toothache, and Wells’ Health Renewer. Wells promoted all of the company products far and wide in both newspapers and via advertising cards. He even produced a Rough on Rats song touting the effectiveness of the poison, which included the chorus: “R-r-rats! Rats! Rats! Rough on Rats, Hang your dogs and drown your cats: We give a plan for every man to clear his house with Rough on Rats” Sadly, some purchasers of the product chose to misuse it both to take their own lives and to take the lives of others. The most notorious case of the latter was the poisoning of Ada Appelgate by her husband Everett Appelgate and his mistress Frances Creighton. Both were convicted of murder in 1936 and were sent to the electric chair at New York’s Sing-Sing prison shortly after.
Tags advertising, patent medicine
Add your Comment

Do you know something about this item? Please add a comment or some tags below. For general questions or comments please use our contact page.


name:
 
comment:

  
add a tag:
 
separate multiple with a comma
 
Enter the above code here:
Click here to refresh code.