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Hold this bottle to the light and the glass comes alive: a wash of bright aqua, countless tiny seed bubbles, and several wonderfully large bubbles suspended within it. At approximately 9 inches tall, it has the size and presence to make its bold, arched embossing the centerpiece of a shelf.
The front reads M’LEAN’S / STRENGTHENING / CORDIAL. That unusual rendering of McLean’s name is the desirable M’LEAN’S collector variant. Add the crude applied top, visible hand finishing, and hinge mold base, and this is a bottle with plenty to study from lip to heel.
The man and the medicine
Dr. James H. McLean sold his Strengthening Cordial and Blood Purifier from St. Louis, Missouri. His advertisements promised renewed vigor and marketed the cordial to men, women, and children for an astonishing range of complaints. An 1861 advertisement offered the large bottles for $1 each or six for $5, warned buyers about competing products, and directed them to his establishment at Third and Pine Streets. Those were McLean’s advertising claims, a vivid part of patent medicine history, rather than evidence that the treatment worked. Period advertising described a preparation made from roots, herbs, and bark; the surviving empty bottle cannot establish its exact recipe.
St. Louis in its day
Imagine this cordial displayed in a druggist’s window while St. Louis wrestled with the Civil War. In May 1861, Union forces seized secessionist militia at Camp Jackson, and violence and rioting followed in the city. In January 1865, a convention meeting in St. Louis abolished slavery in Missouri. These were immediate events for the city whose name traveled with McLean’s medicines—not distant stories in a history book.
Bottle details
- Approximately 9 inches tall
- Bright aqua glass with abundant seed bubbles and several large bubbles
- Embossed M’LEAN’S / STRENGTHENING / CORDIAL
- Crude applied top with visible hand finishing
- Hinge mold base
- Mouth-blown, with a working date of circa 1863–1870
- Product associated with Dr. James H. McLean, St. Louis, Missouri
Condition
Mint, bright, clean, and shiny. The glass radiates in the light. No scuffs, chips, or cracks. Beside the “L” in “CORDIAL” is one teeny-tiny white pot stone enclosed in the glass, with small radiating lines around it. It is an in the making feature and is shown in the close-up photograph.
A large, beautifully preserved piece of Civil War era patent medicine history—and an especially appealing example for someone who collects unusual embossing and lively early glass.
