Tarrant’s Seltzer Aperient Folding Trade Card

James Tarrant, druggist, established in New York City in 1834, and ten years later he first advertised Tarrant’ s Effervescent Seltzer Aperient – “first prepared for New York physicians in 1844”. After the decease of James, the firm was taken over by his son, John A. Tarrant in 1853, and the firm name was changed in 1862 to Tarrant & Company. In 1867 the firm acquired the rights to Hoff’s Malt Extract which they advertised as “a sovereign remedy for disorders of the throat, chest, lungs and stomach.
A strengthener for the debilitated, especially nursing mothers. A sub­stitute for Ale, Beer, Porter and all other Alcoholic Drinks”. Tarrant became the most consistent magazine advertiser of all patent medicine firms – scarcely an issue of Harpers Weekly was missed from 1863 to 1883. They trademarked their symbol of a mortar and pestle on top of a pile of three books labeled Chemistry, Pharmacy and Materia Medica.
Other products included Tarrant’s Hair Dye, Tarrant’s Cordial Elixir of Turkey Rhubarb, Tarrant’s Compound Extract of Cubebs and Copaiba and Tarrant’s Compound Fluid Extract of Sarsaparilla. However, it was Tarrant’s Effer­vescent Seltzer Aperient which was the main stay, the manufacture of which was continued until 1941.
(Holcombe, Henry W., Weekly Philatelic Gossip, 32: 304-305, May 17, 1941; see also The Pharmaceutical Era, 10th anniv. issue, Dec. 31 , 1896.)