22. Pill Box

One of the great strengths of Montgomery History is the Stonestreet Medical Museum and the collection of 19^th and early 20^th-century medical artifacts. This round cardboard pillbox was issued by “D.F. OWENS, DRUGGIST ROCKVILLE, MD.” Its original contents, as handwritten on the box lid, was “Blue Mass & opium.” Only 1¼ inches in diameter, this nicely turned box, made before 1895, has a handsomely printed lid. Owens, elected a member of the American Pharmaceutical Association in 1873, operated in an 1880s building on Montgomery Avenue diagonally across from the Red Brick Courthouse until his death in 1895. From 1900-1958, that same drugstore would be operated by Robert “Doc” Vinson, who is represented elsewhere in this exhibit.

“Blue mass,” a medication made of mercury chloride, was a common 19^th-century laxative, also used to treat headaches and mood swings. It was taken by Abraham Lincoln for unspecified ailments. It still appeared on an 1890 list of “Standard Medicinal Products,” in pills of various strengths and as “Blue Mass Compound” (with ipecac and opium), but fell out of use due to its toxicity.

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