# McLeans volcanic oil limiment



## Whisperingwinds (Jan 17, 2008)

_Hi Everyone,_
_I just got this cool little bottle....does anyone know anything about it?_
_Thanks everyone for looking,_
_ww_


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## appliedlips (Jan 17, 2008)

Nice bottle.I don't know a whole lot about them but it is a St.Louis Mo. bottle and they come pontilled and I have seen them as new as the 1880's or so.Yours looks to be a later 1870-80 example.They are not a rare bottle but are a great looking med with a cool name.


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## tigue710 (Jan 17, 2008)

they are one of my favorite bottles, like Doug said they go back to the pontil era but you can still buy the stuff!

 I havnt tried it... but someday...

 it was and is for joint pain

 here is a excerpt I stole online some where...


   This is one of the most old-fashioned over-the-counter remedies that   is still available in the USA, a real 19th century  turpentine-based liniment, good for man and beast.    

    Far from being obsoleted by newer medical discoveries,  McLean's Volcanic Oil Liniment is still going strong, and is prominently on sale in all groceries and pharmacies that serve agricultural workers, who have given it their seal of approval for 150 years.   In case you are wondering why it is called "Volcanic,"  here is a short anecdote about the origin of McLean's Liniment  that explains the name -- at least according to one source,  an autobiographical memoir titled "A Long Life in Review"  by Leonard Matthews, a prominent American  wholesale merchant of the 19th century  Matthews had been born in Baltimore, Maryland, in 1828.  "A Long Life in Review" was  written in 1927, when the author was 87 years old.  Early chapters describe his journey to California  for the Gold Rush, and his relocation to  Saint Louis, Missouri. He was living in St. Louis and was about 25 years  old at the time of this tale. The Texas War for Independence,  followed shortly by Texas joining the United States, was big  news at the time, and everyone remembered the Battle of the  Alamo, when the Mexican General Santa Anna had massacred the  brave Texans, as well as the Battle of San Jacinto in 1836 -- with  its stirring cry, "Remember the Alamo!" -- at which Santa Anna,  President and Dictator of Mexico, was routed in defeat and captured. According to Leonard Matthews:  [blockquote]  About 1852 or 1853, Dr. A. G. Bragg of "Mexican Mustang Liniment" fame, made a stir in town by his sensational publicity. His remedy was simply crude petroleum bottled up and described as "oil from the burning mountains of Mexico." He advertised his nostrum in many ways. The most interesting was by a painting on the west side of his store, northeast corner of Market and Third streets, opposite my drug store. There was a volcano in eruption and a lot of Mexican troops with Santa Anna heading them, his wooden leg lying on the ground where it had fallen. These pictures were life size and served as an excellent advertisement.   At this time, Dr. James H. McLean was working for Bragg, putting up the liniment; but shortly after, McLean opened up for himself by putting up "McLean's Volcanic Oil Liniment" and "McLean's pills," [the latter] a copy of the McLane's pills of Pittsburgh. So much for primitive business ethics.  [/blockquote]  Matthews's description of A. G. Bragg's "Mexican Mustang Liniment" is not   quite accurate: old-time recipe books list its base ingredient as mineral oil,  that is to say, refined, not "crude" petroleum -- and it also contained some  herbal essential oils as well. Still, the idea is plainly expressed here, that  James H. McLean derived his liniment formula from Bragg's and went on to make  a fortune by cashing in on the "Volcanic Oil" image that Bragg had pioneered  with a dramatic advertising mural in Saint Louis.


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## tigue710 (Jan 17, 2008)

here is one of mine...1860's... I especially like the paneled versions, but haven't been able to find a pontiled one although there out there...


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## rlo (Jan 17, 2008)

I love the history that goes w/ a bottle/jar  thanx for sharing it. any more?


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## tigue710 (Jan 17, 2008)

a little more!     If you type Mcleans volcanic oil into google A LOT of stuff comes up, there is a lot of information available out there for them...  it always makes it fun when so much is available about a bottle!

 [font="arial rounded mt bold,arial,helvetica "]James Henry McLean[/font]  [font="arial rounded mt bold,arial,helvetica "]
	

	
	
		
		

		
		
	


	




[/font]  [font="arial rounded mt bold,arial,helvetica "]James Henry McLean had been interested in medicine as a boy in Nova Scotia, and gained most of his medical knowledge working for a pharmacist in Philadelphia as a teenager. Although he claimed to be a doctor, his formal training was likely to have been one medical course at the University of Philadelphia. He arrived in Saint Louis in 1849. He first appeared in the proprietary medicine field there in 1854-55, when he was connected with Mexican Mustang Liniment, later the property of Demas Barnes.  [/font][font="arial rounded mt bold,arial,helvetica "]By the mid-1860's McLean was beginning to offer his own medicines - Dr. J.H. McLean's Celebrated Strengthening Cordial and Blood Purifier, Dr. J.H. McLean's Liver and Kidney Balm, Dr. J.H. McLean's Celebrated Catarrh Snuff and Dr. J.H. McLean's Volcanic Oil Liniment, among others. The Strengthening Cordial was reputedly 85 to 100 proof alcohol, and the Volcanic Oil Liniment was crude petroleum, if modeled after Mexican Mustang Liniment as the latter's owner claimed, in court. [/font][font="arial rounded mt bold,arial,helvetica "]McLean was a member of Congress for three months, filing an unexpired term, but was defeated for election to a full term after that. Around 1879 he decided that, as he had conquered illness, he would next conquer war. Here is a look at his activities in that sphere.    [/font][font="arial rounded mt bold,arial,helvetica "]The McLean stamp, showing his office building as it was at the time, was first issued April 12, 1867, and last issued on February 20, 1873. 6,045,270 of his stamps were printed on old paper, 10,780,160 on silk paper and 10,367,893 on pink and watermarked papers. The one shown is on silk paper.[/font][font="arial rounded mt bold,arial,helvetica "]
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[/font]  [font="arial rounded mt bold,arial,helvetica "]Holcombe states that only one pair of the McLean stamps was known at the time. That is strange, as the stamps are not scarce in pairs, and probably were used that way for the higher-priced preparations. This pair is on watermarked paper. [/font][font="arial rounded mt bold,arial,helvetica "]The stamps show an entry dot just above the "c" in "cent" at the right, so were printed from a new plate probably prepared by the Bureau of Engraving and Printing. Earlier copies show the dot at upper right, above the design.[/font][font="arial rounded mt bold,arial,helvetica "]
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[/font]  [font="arial rounded mt bold,arial,helvetica "]Copies that are imperforate vertically are known. Scott lists them as being on old paper, but Holcombe and Riley mention them as being on silk paper. This copy appears to have enough margin at top and bottom to be imperforate there, but it is impossible to be certain. It is on silk paper. [/font][font="arial rounded mt bold,arial,helvetica "]Note the entry dot in the upper right corner of the stamp.  The information on these entry dot varieties comes from the article _"Nostrum Wizard Cured"_ by Richard F. Riley in The American Philatelist, November, 1985.[/font][font="arial rounded mt bold,arial,helvetica "]
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[/font]  [font="arial rounded mt bold,arial,helvetica "]A small die proof of the McLean stamp.[/font][font="arial rounded mt bold,arial,helvetica "]
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[/font]  [font="arial rounded mt bold,arial,helvetica "]A trial color proof.[/font][font="arial rounded mt bold,arial,helvetica "]
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[/font]  [font="arial rounded mt bold,arial,helvetica "]An exploded box from Celebrated Catarrh Snuff.  Note that the reverse of the box is written in German.[/font][font="arial rounded mt bold,arial,helvetica "]
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[/font]  [font="arial rounded mt bold,arial,helvetica "]The instructions from the box also are written in English on one side, German on the other.[/font][font="arial rounded mt bold,arial,helvetica "]
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[/font]  [font="arial rounded mt bold,arial,helvetica "]A list of medicines from the other side of the page shown above.[/font][font="arial rounded mt bold,arial,helvetica "]
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[/font]  [font="arial rounded mt bold,arial,helvetica "]A bill from 1871.[/font][font="arial rounded mt bold,arial,helvetica "]
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[/font]  [font="arial rounded mt bold,arial,helvetica "]McLean himself, looking from the front of a brochure promoting his Liver and Kidney Balm.[/font][font="arial rounded mt bold,arial,helvetica "]
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[/font]  [font="arial rounded mt bold,arial,helvetica "]McLean's first laboratory, pictured on a cover. Other covers show the Tower Block and the rebuilt complex after the fire of 1883. They also show McLean's use of before and after graphics. Here is a small gallery of McLean covers.[/font][font="arial rounded mt bold,arial,helvetica "]
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[/font]  [font="arial rounded mt bold,arial,helvetica "]Liquid Vermifuge was introduced in late 1875, according to this card which must have been used as a stuffer in a bill to a retailer. [/font][font="arial rounded mt bold,arial,helvetica "]
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[/font]  [font="arial rounded mt bold,arial,helvetica "]A letter from McLean wanting a draft to pay for his insurance premium in 1875. He alludes to "financial trouble," but his operations were very successful at the time. [/font][font="arial rounded mt bold,arial,helvetica "]
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[/font]  [font="arial rounded mt bold,arial,helvetica "]McLean issued "notes" which appear to have no monetary value in that they read, "The STATE OF MISSOURI _will not pay_ ONE DOLLAR _to bearer.._  The backs of the notes contain advertising.  There are at least three versions known.[/font][font="arial rounded mt bold,arial,helvetica "]
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[/font]  [font="arial rounded mt bold,arial,helvetica "]Stereopticon card showing the McLean Tower Block, a landmark of downtown Saint Louis.[/font][font="arial rounded mt bold,arial,helvetica "]
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[/font]  [font="arial rounded mt bold,arial,helvetica "]An 1890 almanac showing the new laboratory complex built after the 1883 fire.  McLean died in 1886.[/font][font="arial rounded mt bold,arial,helvetica "]
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[/font]  [font="arial rounded mt bold,arial,helvetica "]McLean's son married a Brandreth and moved to England, but the proprietary medicine operations were continued well into the Twentieth Century. Most sales were abroad, and almanacs were published in many languages. This one is in Bohemian.[/font][font="arial rounded mt bold,arial,helvetica "]
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[/font]  [font="arial rounded mt bold,arial,helvetica "]The front of a box containing a full bottle of McLean's Volcanic Oil Liniment.  Note that there is a zip code for the company![/font]


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## rlo (Jan 17, 2008)

wow! thank you!


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## bearswede (Jan 18, 2008)

Here's the O.P. version...





 Ron


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## idigjars (Jan 18, 2008)

WoW, everything you ever wanted to know about McCleans.  Very cool info Matt.   Nice bottles pics too.  Thanks for taking the time to share all that info and pics everybody.                  Paul


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## Whisperingwinds (Jan 18, 2008)

Wow! Thank you appliedlips, tigue, rio, bearswede,
 Those pics and informarion, were all so helpful! You guys are awesome!
 Hi Paul!

 ww


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## tigue710 (Jan 18, 2008)

your welcome!  I love these mcleans bottles so I was happy to share what I knew and find some more info I didnt know myself!

 Hey Bear, keep me in mind if you ever sell that little guy, I would me more then generous...


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## bearswede (Jan 19, 2008)

*RE: ATTN: TIGUE710/Photos of McLeans volcanic oil limiment*

Here are some pics, Matt...


 Ron


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## bearswede (Jan 19, 2008)

*RE: ATTN: TIGUE710/Photos of McLeans volcanic oil limiment*

Lip...


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## bearswede (Jan 19, 2008)

*RE: ATTN: TIGUE710/Photos of McLeans volcanic oil limiment*

Base...


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