Lynne:
This sounds like something for the History Detectives. See below for a call for proposals sent today by their production company on the historic homes list serve.
Regards,
--
John W. Kelton
Exhibits | Graphics | Planning
256.883.6067 direct
To Whom It May Concern:
I am writing from Lion Television, an independent production company in New
York. We are currently researching stories for the Fifth Season of PBS's
History Detectives.
History Detectives is a prime-time series about the discovery,
documentation and preservation of historic American buildings and
artifacts. Our program revolves around the investigation of questions
posed by individuals interested in learning the history behind artifacts or
locations and their possible historical implications.
We are currently seeking story submissions from all over the country
regarding historically or culturally significant American buildings or
relics. If you, or someone you know, have an object or building that may
have played a key part in American history, tell us about your mystery.
The most promising ideas are historically significant, and are still
unsolved. If you have an ongoing investigation at this time, we would love
to be a part of it.
Please submit questions or story ideas to [log in to unmask]. I have also
attached a flyer to pass on or use in your facility, if you feel this is
appropriate.
Thank you for your time. I look forward to hearing from you!
Best Regards,
Kyle Silveri
Kyle Silveri
History Detectives
Lion Television
304 Hudson St., Suite 505
New York, NY 10013
212.206.8633 x 3878
http://www.pbs.org/opb/historydetectives/
Karla Nicholson, Director of Programs, AASLH
1717 Church St., Nashville, TN 37203
Phone: 615-320-3203; email: [log in to unmask]
Upcoming at AASLH-Your Home for History!
Hello,
I staff our small local history museum and am enrolled in a museum professions graduate program. I am in the middle of the internship that is required for the graduate program and I am in need of help with a small research project, please.
One of the objects in the collection of the museum where I am doing the internship is a small, ca. 1870, handwritten book of formulas for colognes and pharmaceuticals. One of the recipes is titled "Rail Road Pills" and while I don't have the ingredients in front of me, I seem to recall that it wouldn't help much even if I did, as they were not ingredients I recognized or could even read. The text below the ingredients mentions that one should take 2-3 pills per day for 'operation on the bowels' and if one has liver problems one should take only one pill 'until the bowels become troublesome.'
We Googled "Railroad Pills" in an effort to find out exactly what that means and we found a genealogical inquiry by someone who said her great-great-great grandfather was a doctor who "fell out of the medical profession for manufacturing 'railroad pills' and that he apparently 'made something and had girls selling them up and down the railroad system.' "
A second hit was a strange story that seems to be from an 1847 issue of Scientific American. It mentions a man going into a drug store in Batavia NY and asking for 'percussion pills.' He is told that the store sells 'Lee's pills, Smith's pills, Maffat's pills, Railroad pills, High pressure pills, Headache pills ..." etc.
Those were the only two apparently-relevant hits on the item and we are still not sure what they are. Can anyone help us determine what exactly railroad pills were?
Thank you.
Lynne
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