Drug stores have long been a vital community service. These businesses address the health needs of people while also offering household items that make them convenient onestop shops.
Although the terms“ drug store” and“ pharmacy” are often used interchangeably, the latter refers specifically to the sale of prescription medicines by a licensed professional.
Drug stores appeared in Mountain View sometime between 1880 and the early 1900s. These independent businesses— typically owned by a doctor or licensed pharmacist— specialized in filling individual prescriptions. They also sold“ patent medicines,” the forerunners of overthe-counter remedies. The Johnson Pharmacy, for example, sold Dr. Fenner’ s“ Kidney and Backache Cure” and a treatment for St. Vitus Dance( Sydenham’ s chorea), an autoimmune disease associated with rheumatic fever that manifests itself in uncontrolled facial and limb movements in children.
Until Congress passed a 1906 law regulating healthcare products, patent medicines often contained dubious and even harmful ingredients such as opium, liquor, or cocaine.
Mountain View’ s
Drug Stores: From Prescriptions to Ice Cream Sodas
— M. Elena Lopez
Advertisements in The California Druggist, a journal for independent drug stores, offer insights into the staples of the trade. Wholesale distributors sold acids, chemicals, medicine bottles, fruit syrups, and sundries. California sourced substances included grape juice for“ consumption, gastric fever, nervous debility … and wasting diseases;” fig syrup,“ the best family laxative;” lemon creams,“ a natural skin food;” poison oak remedies; and eucalyptus lozenges for cough, colds, and asthma. In 1911 Mountain View pharmacist E. T. Johnson operated a thriving business that manufactured an antiseptic gauze that was sold nationally.
Alcohol was another staple product. Whiskey was marketed as a cure-all that could treat anemia, high blood pressure, heart disease, pneumonia, typhoid, snakebites, and even broken legs. As a relaxant it was used to relieve depression and reduce tension. Whiskey also served as an excellent diluent and solvent for herbal preparations. By 1902 – 1903 Mountain View pharmacists D. D. Johnson and P. J. Schwab had acquired wholesale liquor licenses.
Throughout their early history, drug stores emphasized availability, quality, and affordability. Becker’ s Pharmacy offered to order items that were not in stock. Pharmacist W. F. Taylor advertised“ pure, fresh drugs at lowest cash prices, all kinds of patent medicines,” and“ carefully prepared prescriptions.”
In a competitive environment, quality service also meant selling name brands such as Colgate, Rexall Remedies, and Red Feather toiletries. More than Drugs
By the early 1900s, drug stores had become profitable centers of middleclass consumer life. Between 1900 – 1915 most of them operated along Castro Street. Their early advertising focused on prescriptions and medicines but gradually shifted to lifestyle goods. Johnson Drug Company, Becker Pharmacy, and Robert’ s Drug Store sold“ various sundries,” including toiletries and perfumes. They offered sheet music, paints, oils, wallpaper, and art goods. B. J. Miller’ s Drug Store and Winnegar’ s Pharmacy and others met the demand for Kodak supplies and film processing, while Wessenberg’ s Pharmacy sold optical goods.
The 1920s brought the era of the soda fountain. When Prohibition shuttered bars, people turned to drug stores as social gathering places. Soda fountains had first appeared in the 1850s, when customers sought drinks made from flavored effervescent drugs to cure ailments. Innovative pharmacists— like Dr. John Stith Pemberton of Atlanta, who invented Coca-Cola in 1886— used their chemistry knowledge to concoct flavored carbonated drinks. They made root beer, milkshakes, and a variety of ice cream sodas.
Mountain View drug stores kept pace with these innovations. The Kennedy Drug Store opened in 1920 with table service. Knight’ s Pharmacy remodeled its space in 1927 to showcase a soda fountain. The front areas of drug stores no longer featured the pharmacist’ s lab— it was now relegated to the back.
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