The mid-19th century saw an increase of public interest
in pain relief, with a burgeoning of industries devoted
to this goal. The pharmaceutical industry in particular
surged, and both the sale and manufacture of patent
medicines rose sharply. These patent medicines were
not required to list their ingredients on their labels,
and the majority of them were traditional herbal pain
remedies repackaged as cures for pain caused by
“the stress of modern civilization,” for men, and
“sick headaches,” “female complaint,” and
“the weakness,” for women. Alcohol was a
common, and often major, ingredient in these
medicines, even those for infants. Opium and
its derivatives, including morphine and codeine,
also appeared frequently in patent medicines,
and opium dissolved in sherry—called laudanum
(“praiseworthy”)—was particularly popular.