Antique International Medicinal Poultry Food Tonic Box 1906 Minneapolis MN Farm For Sale

This is a turn-of-the-century “International Medicinal Poultry Food Tonic” box, prepared by the International Stock Food Co. of Minneapolis, Minnesota, under the ownership of M. W. Savage, who also founded the famous International Stock Food Farm, home of the world-champion racehorse Dan Patch 1:55.

Around the early 1900s, American agriculture was rapidly modernizing. Family farms were shifting from subsistence to semi-commercial production, aided by new railroad distribution and a booming mail-order trade. Minneapolis was a powerhouse for feed, milling, and animal-care products—home to companies like International Stock Food Co., Purina Mills, and Cargill’s early predecessors.

Farmers relied on patent medicines for both themselves and their animals. “Stock tonics” promised to improve health, prevent disease, and increase production—often blending herbal extracts, minerals, and sometimes dubious additives. Advertising of the era combined scientific language with bold marketing claims, and packaging like yours—with full-color chromolithograph roosters, hens, and elaborate typography—was designed to command attention on a rural store shelf.

M. W. Savage became one of the Midwest’s most colorful agricultural entrepreneurs. Besides his feed empire, he bred and raced Dan Patch, the legendary pacing horse whose 1:55 world record stood for decades. His products were sold worldwide under slogans like “55 % More Strength, Speed and Endurance” and guaranteed under the new Pure Food and Drugs Act of 1906, which your box proudly cites.

• Name: International Medicinal Poultry Food Tonic

• Price: 25 ¢

• Weight: 1½ lb package

• Manufacturer: International Stock Food Co., Minneapolis, Minnesota, U.S.A.

• Proprietor: M. W. Savage (also owner of International Stock Food Farm)

• Purpose: To prevent poultry disease, stimulate appetite, increase egg production, and promote growth in young chicks.

• Ingredients (as listed): powdered sassafras, gentian, copperas, calcium carbonate, red ginger, red capsicum, powdered charcoal, magnesium carbonate, plus blood meal, brewers’ grains, malt sprouts, pea meal, cotton-seed meal, flaxseed, and distillers’ grains.

The box’s dense text and bright lithography exemplify the golden age of American agricultural packaging, when tonics straddled the line between medicine and superstition.

(All punctuation, capitalization, and line breaks preserved as printed.)

INTERNATIONAL MEDICINAL POULTRY FOOD TONIC
Price 25 CTS.
Prepared only by INTERNATIONAL STOCK FOOD CO.
Minneapolis, Minn., U.S.A.

NO MORE SICK POULTRY BUT PLENTY OF EGGS, EGGS, EGGS.
THE GREAT EGG PRODUCER

Guaranteed by International Stock Food Co. under the Food and Drugs Act, June 30, 1906. Serial No. 1570.
International Medicinal Poultry Food Tonic is prepared from Medicinal Roots, Herbs, Seeds, etc. Your money refunded if it fails to Cure or to Prevent Chicken Cholera and other Poultry Diseases when our directions are faithfully followed.

To Prevent Disease in Poultry. Thoroughly mix one large tablespoonful with mash feed for 12 fowls two or three times per day. This will regulate the blood, liver and digestive organs, and also has a special beneficial action on the egg-producing organs of the hen.

To Make Hens Lay and to Increase the Production of Eggs. Thoroughly mix two large tablespoonfuls with mash feed for 12 hens once per day. … 3,000 eggs have been obtained from 25 hens in 120 days by the use of this food.

For Chicken Cholera. Thoroughly mix six large tablespoonfuls … in severe cases increase to eight. Disinfect by putting one tablespoonful of “International Pheno-Chloro” in a bucket of water … This is perfectly harmless.

To Promote Growth for Young Chicks. Mix one or two large tablespoonfuls for 30 or 40 chicks with mash feed once or twice per day. … If diseased, increase the dose.

For Turkeys, Ducks, Geese, Etc. Thoroughly mix two large tablespoonfuls with mash feed for 12 fowls once per day.

30 Days’ Use for One-Half Cent.

The special purpose of “International Medicinal Poultry Food Tonic” is to produce good health. It purifies the blood, stimulates the appetite and insures a strong active body … One extra egg in two months will pay the cost of using our food.

It cures and prevents disease and will often double the production of eggs.

This 1½-lb Package of INTERNATIONAL MEDICINAL POULTRY FOOD TONIC
is made with the following named ingredients and none other:
Powdered Sassafras Pow’d Red Ginger
Powdered Gentian Pow’d Red Capsicum
Powdered Copperas Pow’d Charcoal
Calcium Carbonate Magnesium Carbonate

As “diluents” … we use a mixture of Blood Meal, finely ground and sterilized Brewers’ Grains, Gluten Meal, Malt Sprouts, Pea Meal, Cotton Seed Meal, Flax Seed and Distillers’ Grains.

Percent of Protein—None claimed. Percent of Fat—None claimed. Percent of Crude Fibre—None claimed.

Sold strictly and only as Medicinal.

Beware of Imitators. Beware of Substitution.
… Our “Trade Secret” is not the names of our ingredients but the exact proportion … The formula has been perfected by years of testing and breeding results.

Cash Guarantee. Use this package as directed; if it fails to give claimed results mail this notice to us with your statement; we will refund your twenty-five cents.

Your Family Physician prescribes certain proportions of syrup waters mixed with drugs … So do we.

Manufactured only by INTERNATIONAL STOCK FOOD CO.
M. W. Savage, Proprietor
Also sole owner of International Stock Food Farm

• Top: “INTERNATIONAL STOCK FOOD — FEEDS FOR ONE CENT.”

• Bottom: Illustrated bird’s-eye map of the International Stock Food Farm, showing labeled stables: Dan Patch 1:55, Cresceus 2:02¼, M. W. Savage Residence, etc., with text describing the 700-acre farm and its famous horses.

This package embodies early 20th-century American agricultural branding, a time when companies blended scientific aspiration with showmanship. The rich color lithography, patriotic motifs, and farm imagery made it a trust symbol in rural general stores.

Collectors prize these International Stock Food pieces for:

• Their link to Dan Patch racing memorabilia

• Their vivid preservation of early agricultural advertising

• Their connection to the 1906 Food & Drugs Act labeling transition

• Empty box.

• Bottom was once opened and re-glued.

• Small tear to the paper at one bottom corner.

• A few soil spots on the back panel, visible in photos.

• Displays beautifully with rich color and strong typography.

Please review all photos carefully for best condition details.