Few names in the history of American patent medicine carry as much weight as Mrs. Winslow's. For the better part of a century, her soothing syrup sat on pharmacy shelves and nursery dressers across the country, trusted by parents who had no idea what they were giving their children.
A family recipe goes to market
The story begins in Maine. In 1845, druggists Jeremiah Curtis and Benjamin A. Perkins, of Bangor, Maine, partnered to manufacture the remedy, and by tradition the formula was created by Mrs. Charlotte N. Winslow, Curtis' mother-in-law, while she was a nurse caring for infants.1 The family tie came through Winslow's daughter Lucy, who married Curtis.2 Sources differ slightly on the start date; the Museum of Health Care places the first commercial production in 1849.3
The business grew quickly. Curtis and Perkins moved to New York City in 1854, Curtis bought Perkins out in 1860, and by 1868 he was selling 1.5 million bottles a year.2 That figure comes from an 1868 court summary in which Curtis reported his annual sales.4 Charlotte Winslow saw little of the fame; she rests under a simple stone in Albion, Maine.2
What was in the bottle
The syrup was sold for teething pain, fussiness and stomach complaints, and it worked in the most literal sense. Its main ingredients were morphine and alcohol, at roughly 65 mg of morphine per fluid ounce.3 With that combination, it relieved pain and diarrhea, since constipation is a common side effect of opioids.1
Embossed Mrs. Winslow's Soothing Syrup bottle. From our collection.
Labels of the period did not have to disclose contents. Sold as a cure-all at a time when the public generally did not understand morphine's dangers, the syrup held obvious appeal for weary caregivers.3 The consequences were tragic. Some infants given the syrup went to sleep and never woke, which gave it the nickname “the baby killer.”3
Advertising the dream
Marketing was central to the brand's success. The company advertised through books, calendars and trade cards, often featuring idyllic domestic scenes of mother and child.1 Household almanacs and receipt (recipe) books were especially effective, offering useful content while keeping the name in the kitchen year round. The syrup even entered the concert hall: in 1879 English composer Edward Elgar titled an early wind quintet piece after it.7
Victorian trade card for Mrs. Winslow's Soothing Syrup, circa 1880s. From our collection.
Mrs. Winslow's Domestic Receipt Book for 1878. From our collection.
Regulation and decline
Criticism built over decades before reaching a turning point. In 1911 the American Medical Association published Nostrums and Quackery, whose section on “Baby Killers” named Mrs. Winslow's Soothing Syrup among other medicines.6 Morphine was not fully removed from the formula until 1909 in the UK and 1915 in the US.5 The company was also made to drop “soothing” from the brand name.3 Even so, the product stayed on the market until 1930.7
Reading the bottles
For collectors, the base and the embossing do most of the dating work. A pontil mark, the rough scar left where an iron rod held the bottle while its lip was finished, appears on most everyday bottles made before the late 1860s, when newer tools replaced the rod.8 Early Curtis & Perkins vials have an open pontil and a rolled lip, while later ones have a smooth base and a tooled lip.6,9 The embossing narrows it further, since later bottles read “Jeremiah Curtis & Son” or credit The Anglo American Drug Co. as successor to Curtis & Perkins.1,6
From our collection
We currently have several pieces of Mrs. Winslow's history available:
- Embossed aqua bottles, the classic cylindrical form once found in households across the country. Additional examples are available in our Apothecary collection.
- Victorian trade card, circa 1880s, showing a mother and her children in bed, a textbook example of the comforting imagery the company relied on.
- Mrs. Winslow's Domestic Receipt Book for 1878, a household recipe and advertising booklet that shows how deeply the brand worked its way into daily life.
All apothecary items are offered for historical and display purposes only.
Notes
- Wood Library-Museum of Anesthesiology, “Mrs. Winslow's Soothing Syrup,” catalog record WLMD ID akhe, woodlibrarymuseum.org.
- “This ‘Baby Killer’ Drug Was Invented in Maine and Made a Bangor Pharmacist a Millionaire,” Bangor Daily News, November 10, 2019, bangordailynews.com.
- Alysha Strongman, “Mrs. Winslow's Soothing Syrup: The Baby Killer,” Museum of Health Care at Kingston (blog), July 28, 2017, museumofhealthcare.ca.
- Karen Berger, “Pharmacy's Past: The Soothing Syrup Known for Causing Death in Thousands of Babies,” Pharmacy Times, March 2019, pharmacytimes.com.
- “Mrs Winslow's Soothing Syrup Bottle,” Victorian Collections, victoriancollections.net.au.
- “Bottle Articles,” Bottle Pickers, bottlepickers.com.
- “Mrs. Winslow's Soothing Syrup,” Wikipedia, accessed November 5, 2026, en.wikipedia.org.
- Bill Lindsey, “Pontil Marks or Scars,” Historic Glass Bottle Identification & Information Website, Society for Historical Archaeology and Bureau of Land Management, sha.org.
- “Mrs. Winslow's Soothing Syrup,” Antique Bottles & Glass Collector, antiquebottles-glass.com.