RS193e Radway & Co. Medicine Stamp, Experimental Silk paper

Richard C. Radway founded Radway & Co. about 1847 and copyrighted “R. R.R.” for Radway’s Ready Relief. Thenostrum was applied as a liniment for external pain and taken half a teaspoonful at a time for internal pain. The second proprietary marketed by Radway & Co. was Radway’s Reg­ulators (pills containing aloe, jalap, ginger and myrrh). Radway’s Ready Relief was compounded from capsicum, ammonia water, soap liniment and alcohol. It was not until 1886 that the firm was incorporated, and by 1890, the firm was removed to a three story brick building in New York City. When other nostrums came under attack at the turn of the century, Radway advertised “no narcotics enters into the composition of Radway’s Medical Preparations” and the firm continued to prosper well into the 20th century.

(Holcombe, Henry W., Weekly Philatelic Gossip, 64: 238-239, April 20, 1957)