Radio Script #1206

Little Talks on Common Things
June 3, 1979

I know that, a hundred years ago, a number of patent medicines were manufactured in Waterville, and widely distributed from here. But not until recently did I learn that one of those medicines was popular as late as the turn of the century in the early 1900’s.

The medicine was known as Toniko Tea and a brochure advertising and describing it is now preserved at the Redington Museum of the Waterville Historical Society. The brochure is a pamphlet of 16 pages, about half of which are covered with testimonials from people who claim to have been helped and even cured by this remedy.

The ad didn’t contend that Toniko Tea would cure every disease known to man, but it did cover a lot of territory. This is what the ad said: “Toniko Tea, Toniko Tea Co., Waterville, Maine – Nature’s great remedy of roots, barks and blossoms for the blood, heart, liver, kidneys and stomach. Cures constipation, indigestion. neuralgia, heartburn, dyspepsia, and rheumatism. Good for children’s complaints. One full month’s treatment for 50 cents.”

On another page is this statement: “Toniko Tea contains no dangerous drugs, neither is its formula any great secret. It is simply the right sort of combination of the necessary roots, barks and blossoms gathered at the right season when their medicinal properties are at the best. Toniko Tea is not a patent medicine, but nature’s own remedy. The Indians from time immemorial drove away diseases by the use of potent herbs. Nature has provided for all her children. The wild, half civilized people of today in some parts of the world are healthier than the civilized nations because they use only nature’s remedies. Toniko Tea was made by the Indians before Columbus landed in America; it was made, too, by your grandmother years before you were born. There is no body so racked by disease, no system so weak and rundown that cannot be benefited by Toniko Tea. Price 50 cents per package. Small packages. 25 cents. Write today for a free sample. See our special terms to agents.”

Here’s more of the maker’s claims.

“We make a specialty of diseases of the stomach, liver, kidneys and heart. Every individual’s order we prepare separately and all correspondence is strictly private. State your case to us fully, give your age and how long you have had your present trouble, and what treatment you have taken, if any, and we will send you a full month’s treatment especially prepared for you on receipt of 50 cents. If at the end of thirty days you are not satisfied, we will refund your money.”

Two pages of the brochure are taken up by telling us what various organs of the body ought to do:

“Stomach. This is the most abused organ of the body. So long as it makes no complaint, we give it no thought. When it kicks up, we want help. Toniko Tea will correct the irregularities when trouble comes. Kidneys. As the blood circulates through these organs, much waste material is handled. If it is allowed to remain, it acts as a slow but deadly poison. Tonika Tea will cleanse the kidneys and restore them to health. Liver. This is the largest of the body’s organs. It aids digestion and influences the quality of the blood. At anyone time, a a quarter of all a person’s blood is in the liver. Toniko Tea will correct the liver’s irregularities and make you well. Heart. The great American affliction is heart disease, brought on by the anxiety, hurry and pressure of our strenuous life. The heart is the body’s greatest machine, upon which all the other organs depend. It is the only organ that never rests. We will send to every person who has heart disease a full month’s treatment of our Toniko Tea on condition that they will follow our directions. If you are not benefited, we will refund your money. We will let you judge for yourself. We could not make this offer unless we knew that Tonika Tea would help you.”

This widely heralded tea was not the only remedy produced by the Waterville company. They had Tonika Headache tablets, of which they said: “If you are troubled with sick headaches or neuralgia, there is nothing more effective than Toniko Headache Tablets. Especially good for after effects of alcohol or other excesses.” Yes, even in Prohibition Days, there were claimed remedies for hang-over.

There was also ointment, of which the company said, as did no other manufacturer of medicine, “Good for man or beast.” They told you that Tonika Ointment was good for piles, burns, scalds, cuts, bruises, chilhlains, back ache, ringworm, insect bites and itch. “Fo~ g all and mange in cattle, it has no equal. Full directions on each box. 50 cents.”

At the museum, along with the brochure, is a sample package of Toniko Tea. On the package is printed this statement: “This envelop contains enough Tonika Tea in loose form for a dose for two persons. ‘Put the quantity in a dish of three cupfuls of boiling water and let it steep on the back of the stove for half an hour. Then strain it and let each person drink a small quantity before going to bed. Good effects will be felt within 24 hours.”

At one time the Tonika Tea Co. offered bait to get names of people who might buy their remedies. It said: “We will give you free one of these rings. They are all gold-plated and are set with imitation diamonds, sapphires, emeralds, pearls and amethysts. We want the names and addresses of men and women in your town who are sick, and tell us what their illness is. If you will send such a list of ten names with six cents to cover postage, we will send you your choice of one of these rings.”

Reference to editions of the Maine Register tells us that in 1900 the Tonika Tea Company was located on Waterville’s Chaplin Street. In 1910 it had moved to 95 Pleasant Street. Perhaps some of our older citizens remember who was in charge of that company. We would appreciate that information.

It has been several months since I have mentioned on this program one of my favorite subjects, the origin of English words. Let us today look at a few that have to do with soldiers. The word ballot in its origin is allied to the word bullet – a little ball. In the ancient Greek cities, citizens voted by dropping white or black balls into a box, voting for or against each candidate one at a time. That, of course, is the origin of the later American practice of blackballing for membership in lodges. The word candidate derives from a Latin word meaning “dressed in white.” A person presenting himself for election to the Roman Senate was required to dress in a clean, white toga. The word governor originally meant helmsman, or steering of a ship.

The word lobby was first applied to an anteroom of the House of Commons in London in the time of King Charles I. It became a place where the Cromwellites, the King’s enemies, gathered to make their plans for the King’s overthrow and setting up the Commonwealth. To take a poll or vote meant simply to count heads, for the old meaning of poll was head.

I have just mentioned the Roman senate. The word senate itself had an interesting beginning. It is allied to senile, referring to decrepit old age. Because the Roman senate was made up mostly of elderly citizens, it was called senatus, the assembly of the aged. The word vote at first had nothing to do with casting a ballot. It meant vow or oath, and in the first election use had a more profound and more spiritual meaning than accompanies most voting today.

Campaign was a military word before it was ever used in elections. It meant fighting on a field, from the Latin word campus. So a college campus really means a college field. Today in the military, a corporal is the lowest non-commissioned officer. He was once more highly regarded, for the word comes from the Latin word caput, or head. The corporal was the head man. To subjugate a conquered people was to put them sub jugo, under the yoke. In fact in Roman triumphant processions it was often the custom to have pairs of captives walk along with a yoke over their shoulders.

Did you ever wonder why the word pupil means a student and also means a part of one’s eye? The words pupil and puppet come from the same root. The Italian pupillo means a little puppet, a little doll. The pupil of the eye reflects in miniature the one who looks into it, a little doll image of the looker. Believe it or not, the word scholar, in its origin, implies doing nothing. It comes from the Greek schole, meaning leisure. A scholar is one who had the time, the leisure to study. For centuries astrologers have made much of the signs of the Zodiac, the starry constellations that have the names of animals – the bear, the lion, the crab, the scorpion, the bull. The word Zodiac has the same root as the word zoo. It meant a belt of animals. A college is a collection. In fact both words have the same deriviation. The Latin origin of the word college meant literally chosen together.

If I keep on with these remarks, I fear I will make you sick enough to go into quarantine. And by the way quarantine originally meant simply forty days.

Year: 1979