Collection Guide
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Cann's Kidney Cure Company records
Biomed.0488
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Contributing Institution:
UCLA Library Special Collections
Title: Cann's Kidney Cure Company records
Source:
aGatherin'
Source:
Cann, Mary L.
Identifier/Call Number: Biomed.0488
Physical Description:
0.25 Linear Feet
(1 box)
Date (inclusive): 1873-1928
Date (bulk): 1873-1908
Physical Location: Stored off-site. All requests to access
special collections material must be made in advance using the request button located on
this page.
Language of Material: Materials are in
English.
Open for research. All requests to access special collections materials must be made in
advance using the request button located on this page.
Conditions Governing Reproduction and Use
Property rights to the physical objects belong to the UCLA Library Special Collections. All
other rights, including copyright, are retained by the creators and their heirs. It is the
responsibility of the researcher to determine who holds the copyright and pursue the
copyright owner or his or her heir for permission to publish where The UC Regents do not
hold the copyright.
[Identification of item], Cann's Kidney Cure Company Records (Collection 488). Louise M.
Darling Biomedical Library History and Special Collections for the Sciences, University of
California, Los Angeles.
Immediate Source of Acquisition
Purchased from aGatherin' from the Franklin E. Murphy, M.D. Fund, 2013.
Collections are processed to a variety of levels depending on the work necessary to make
them usable, their perceived user interest and research value, availability of staff and
resources, and competing priorities. Library Special Collections provides a standard level
of preservation and access for all collections and, when time and resources permit, conducts
more intensive processing. These materials have been arranged and described according to
national and local standards and best practices.
UCLA Catalog Record ID:
7160094
This collection contains patent medicine recipes or formulas beginning in 1873, affidavits,
testimonials, advertisements, and other materials about the kidney cure and sciatic liniment
made and sold by Cann's Kidney Cure Company in Philadelphia. According to the ephemera
dealer aGatherin' (2013), the materials were "kept by the widow [Mrs. Mary L. Cann] to
Doctor John W. Cann, to establish her right to the formulae and interest in the business of
selling these two patent medicines. The first dated document to specify Mrs. Cann rather
than her husband is 1901. Both the kidney cure and the liniment are well-known to bottle
collectors--the glass being embossed with the date of origination of the business, 1876. The
record here covers the period to 1908, although the business was active until World War I,
and Mrs. Cann was alive to sign a note here in 1928." The collection contains formulas and
ingredient prices for Cann's Kidney Cure from 1873 through 1906 and for Cann's Sciatic
Liniment from 1880 to 1908. Letters received in 1906 vouching for the formula and that the
product is not adulterated support the company's compliance with the Pure Food and Drugs
Act. Testimonials include 29 letters from 1880 through 1897; most are from 1880-1883. Some,
along with others, generated printed testimonials used in editorials, advertisements, and
business cards. Notes, with customer addresses, kept by Dr. Cann suggest there was a
campaign to connect with customers directly.
This collection has been arranged in the following series:
- Series 1: Formulas for Cann's Kidney Cure (1873-1906)
- Series 2: Formulas for Cann's Sciatic Liniment (1880-1928)
- Series 3: Manuscript testimonials (1880-1897)
- Series 4: Addresses of testimonials and customers (circa 1880-1895)
- Series 5: Printed testimonials and advertisements (1881-1899)
- Series 6: Customer accounts (1880-1892)
Subjects and Indexing Terms
aGatherin'
Cann, Mary L.