Medicine advertising poster stamps

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   Richard Brandt started producing his Schweizer Pillen in Zurich in 1877. They are variously described as a pleasant, mild or effective laxative. It was a so-called arcanum; a product that the produced kept the recipe secret. As such when control on these medicines was dropped in the 1890s they became a social problem. 
Perhaps the most famous user of Schweizer Pills was Henrik Ibsen, the Norwegian playwright. He actually trained early in life as an apothecary and frequently self prescribed. Ibsen's doctors tried to warn him off the pills. Both Ibsen and Brandt were born in 1828, but Ibsen did outlive Brandt by three years, so perhaps the pills did no harm

Nice to see one of the stamps features gnomes

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Steve Members Profile Send Private Message Find Members Posts Add to Buddy List Unhinged Joined: 26 March 2010 Location: Wrexham Status: Offline Points: 3917	Post Options Post Reply Quote Steve Report Post Thanks(0) Quote Reply Topic: Medicine advertising poster stamps Posted: 04 September 2025 at 00:07
	Richard Brandt started producing his Schweizer Pillen in Zurich in 1877. They are variously described as a pleasant, mild or effective laxative. It was a so-called arcanum; a product that the produced kept the recipe secret. As such when control on these medicines was dropped in the 1890s they became a social problem. Perhaps the most famous user of Schweizer Pills was Henrik Ibsen, the Norwegian playwright. He actually trained early in life as an apothecary and frequently self prescribed. Ibsen's doctors tried to warn him off the pills. Both Ibsen and Brandt were born in 1828, but Ibsen did outlive Brandt by three years, so perhaps the pills did no harm Nice to see one of the stamps features gnomes
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Steve Members Profile Send Private Message Find Members Posts Add to Buddy List Unhinged Joined: 26 March 2010 Location: Wrexham Status: Offline Points: 3917	Post Options Post Reply Quote Steve Report Post Thanks(0) Quote Reply Posted: 04 September 2025 at 00:12
	Stamps advertising another laxative, Laxin. Unfortunately I have only 4 of the 20 in the set. Which other countries were chosen I wonder. If I was designing these I would have had the question 'Are you constipated?' in the language of the country represented. I could then imagine children memorising and using the Phrases.
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Steve Members Profile Send Private Message Find Members Posts Add to Buddy List Unhinged Joined: 26 March 2010 Location: Wrexham Status: Offline Points: 3917	Post Options Post Reply Quote Steve Report Post Thanks(0) Quote Reply Posted: 21 October 2025 at 02:34

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