By Jamie Bradburn

Source: The Toronto World, February 19, 1900.

A flip through the pages of any Toronto newspaper published around 1900 reveals numerous pitches for castor oils, kidney pills, liver pills, trusses, nerve tonics, Asian catarrh treatments, and assorted cures for ailments that might not be believed when taking a sick day at the office (“I can’t come to work today due to tired blood!”). The advertising for Hutch, a remedy for indigestion, was among the most graphic of the time, as today’s samples testify. This poor fellow’s hallucinatory images while in the depths of his agony are the stuff of literary masters of horror.

Source: The Mail and Empire, November 4, 1899.

Hutch’s ad writers were less reserved about describing the reasons one might need to use their product than their modern counterparts, though the man on the left may illustrate their true feelings. Colourful language and archaic terms provide much of the entertainment value of discovering these old ads—try dropping “eructated” into a conversation on your next walk past the site of Hutch’s manufacturer on Colborne Street.