RT5TC3a Fetridge & Co. Perfume Stamp Trial Color Proof

Fetridge & Company was a prominent 19th-century manufacturer and distributor of proprietary medicines and cosmetics, most famously known for its flagship product, the “Balm of a Thousand Flowers.” Founded by William Pembroke Fetridge, the company initially operated in Boston from approximately 1850 to 1855, where it also ran a “Periodical Arcade” selling international news and journals. By the mid-1850s, the business established a major presence in New York, aggressively marketing the “Balm” as a versatile “cure-all” for skin imperfections, dental hygiene, and hair restoration. For a short time during the Civil War era, the company produced a private die proprietary revenue stamp to comply with federal tax laws on luxury goods and medicines. While the brand was a massive commercial success through the 1870s, it eventually changed hands, with later bottles bearing the names of successors like R.H. Rice as the company’s original identity faded toward the end of the century.