Cocaine Toothache Drops — Smith & Co Chemists, High Holborn c.1885

Step into the gaslit world of Victorian London, where the shelves of Smith & Co Chemists on High Holborn gleamed with amber bottles and hand-lettered labels promising swift relief. Among the most popular remedies of the age: cocaine toothache drops — dispensed without a second thought, purchased by ladies and gentlemen alike, and considered entirely respectable medicine.

It was an era of extraordinary contradictions — empire and poverty, innovation and superstition, laudanum in the nursery and cocaine at the chemist's counter. The Victorians did not lack for confidence in their remedies.

The History Behind this Advertisement

• Cocaine was widely used in Victorian medicine as a topical anaesthetic and pain reliever
• Toothache drops were among the most common over-the-counter preparations of the 1880s and 1890s
• High Holborn was one of London's great commercial thoroughfares — home to chemists, stationers, and merchants of every kind
• The sweet drops sold at establishments like Smith & Co were considered entirely ordinary — a fact that never fails to astonish the modern eye

Perfect For

Collectors drawn to the social history of Victorian Britain, lovers of apothecary ephemera, and anyone who delights in the stranger corners of everyday life in the 19th century. A conversation piece as much as a print.