TERRE HAUTE —
The Historical Treasure for today is a bottle of Clove Oil. It is unknown whether the oil was distilled in Terre Haute but it was distributed by E. H. Bindley and Company, a Wholesale Druggist with the slogan “Quality, Service, The Original Package House, Terre Haute.”
The earliest known record of cloves, the dried flower bud and stem of the evergreen clove tree, is in 207 B.C. in the Han dynasty when the emperor required his subjects with whom he came in contact to hold cloves in their mouth to hide bad breath. Later, Chinese physicians used the herb to treat ailments such as ringworm, fungal infections, diarrhea, athlete’s foot, and as a stimulant for nerves. Healers in India used cloves for respiratory and digestive afflictions and in Asia, it was used for infections found in their tropical climate such as malaria, tuberculosis, cholera, and scabies.
Cloves found its way to Europe in the 4th century A.D. and was considered a valuable luxury medicine. Once it became easier to obtain, medieval German herbalists and European hospitals used cloves to treat indigestion, flatulence, nausea, vomiting, diarrhea, cough, infertility, warts, worms, wounds, toothache, viral hepatitis, bacterial colitis, hypertension, thyroid dysfunction, and even fatigue.
Many oils have been used down through the ages. The Egyptians are credited with the first oils to be distilled. Early American eclectic physicians were the first to extract clove oil from the clove buds by steam distillation of the fresh bud and stem, thus giving more uses for this versatile herb. To add to the growing list of uses, clove oil has been used for toothaches, bad breath, dizziness, cough, earache, colitis, epilepsy, palsy, and digestive upsets, as a sleep-inducer, anti-inflammatory, blood-thinner, mental stimulant, and more. Properties attributed to clove oil are said to be: analgesic, antibacterial, antifungal, anti-infectious, anti-inflammatory, antiparasitic, strong antiseptic, antitumor, antiviral, disinfectant, antioxidant, and immune stimulant.
This bottle of clove oil in the Bindley Pharmacy is more than 100 years old. I couldn’t open it so I wasn’t able to see if it still had the original clove smell. You can find this bottle of clove oil at the pharmacist’s work station in the Bindley Pharmacy display on the first floor of the museum.
History
HISTORICAL TREASURE: A bottle of clove oil at the pharmacy
- History
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BRUCE’S HISTORY LESSON: Emperor Constantine changes the world
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LOOKING BACK: 2002 — Valley drenched in wettest spring in 107 years
Dorothy Jerse looks back at local history from 10, 25 and 50 years ago as reported in the Tribune and Tribune-Star. -
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LOOKING BACK: 1987: League of Women Voters reorganizes
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LOOKING BACK: 1962: Stands packed as Wiley takes county track title
Dorothy Jerse looks back at local history from 10, 25 and 50 years ago as reported in the Tribune and the Tribune-Star.
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GENEALOGY: Cemetery Committee to conduct restoration workshop
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HISTORICAL TREASURE: Harmonious history
In 1923, a group of singers calling themselves the Harmony Four entertained regularly over the radio and at civic and various club events.
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BRUCE’S HISTORY LESSONS: Cleveland observes Lincoln’s funeral
The death of America’s greatest president, Abraham Lincoln, resulted in an outpouring of national mourning, the apex of which came in late April of 1865 when a specially outfitted train carried his body on a thirteen-day, 1,700-mile, eleven-city funeral procession from Washington, D.C., to his home and final resting place in Springfield, Ill.
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GENEALOGY: Many people can trace ancestry to Titanic
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LOOKING BACK: 1987: ISU bowling team at nationals again
Dorothy Jerse looks back at local history from 10, 25 and 50 years ago as reported in the Tribune and Tribune-Star.
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HISTORICAL PERSPECTIVE: Sullivan County mine explosion kills 8 in 1878
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HISTORICAL TREASURE: A common feature, but memorable
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BRUCE'S HISTORY LESSONS: MLK’s letter written from a jail cell in Birmingham
This week (April 16) in 1963 Martin Luther King Jr. sat in a jail cell in Birmingham, Ala., having been arrested for violating a trumped-up court order that prohibited him and his followers from conducting various protest activities, most of which you can read about in the First Amendment.
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LOOKING BACK: 1962: Swope celebrates 20th anniversary
Dorothy Jerse looks back at local history from 10, 25 and 50 years ago as reported in the Tribune and Tribune-Star.
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HISTORICAL PERSPECTIVE: 1955 Babe Ruth League championship team to be feted
Currently in his 25th year as a college baseball coach, Rick Heller is in the midst of his third winning season at Indiana State and has embraced the university and the community.
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GENEALOGY: Long-awaited 1940 census is now available for the public
The long-awaited release of the 1940 census took place on April 2.
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HISTORICAL TREASURE: Memories baked from scratch
On my Historical Treasure hunt, I was drawn to a pasteboard barrel 28 inches high and 18.5 inches across with the words “Calumet Baking Powder Bakes Best, Received Highest Award” on one side and “Calumet Baking Powder Always Pleases, Try It” on the other.
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BRUCE'S HISTORY LESSON: Thomas Jefferson's flights of fancy
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HISTORICAL PERSPECTIVE: J.K. Emmet’s first appearance at the Terre Haute Opera House
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GENEALOGY: Black Death had a monumental effect on world
One event in the past had a monumental effect on our ancestors, indeed determining who they would be. This was the advent and spread of bubonic plague, the Black Death. The plague originated in China in 1333. It was caused by a bacterium in fleas, which were carried by rats. The plague spread out of China via trading routes with the West (the Silk Road) and especially on ships, which carried flea-infested rats and provided a closed environment for people to infect each other.
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LOOKING BACK: 1987: 'Banana king' opens Farmer's Market
Dorothy Jerse looks back at local history from 10, 25 and 50 years ago as reported in the Tribune and Tribune-Star.
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HISTORICAL TREASURE: Hunting for sugary Easter treats
Among the many varieties of the Easter egg, none is more charming than the panoramic Sugar Egg. Three were recently given to the Vigo County Historical Museum by Judy Lowe and are shown in an Easter-themed display case in the entry hall.
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