C. C. Bristol collection, 1865-1870
6 items
This collection documents the business ventures of Cyrenius C. Bristol, inventor of the patent medicine Bristol's Sugar Coated Pills.
C. C. Bristol wrote 5 of the letters in this small collection to Lanman and Kemp. His correspondence touches on his Pit Hole City venture, his job selling land in New Jersey, and the manufacture of Bristol's Pills by Lanman and Kemp. Bristol's daughter wrote one letter to Lanman and Kemp in 1867, asking if they could help her father by manufacturing his medicines. Between January and July of 1870, Lanman and Kemp paid Bristol $1152 in royalties, indicating that they were turning quite a profit on his sugar-coated pills. These are not substantive letters, but they do provide some insight into the experience of a patent medicine inventor.