Miscellaneous newspaper articles about
Humboldt County California
September 1 & 4, 1914
Ferndale Enterprises, Ferndale California
Lem Steeves has been engaged the last few days in laying a new cement walk in front of Hans Abrahamsen's property on lower Main Street. [Submitted by Mary Wilson]
Native Plants Built Business For Early Eureka Druggist
EUREKA, Humboldt Co.—In the current scramble of antique hunters for early-day patent-medicine bottles created by unscrupulous peddlers out for a fast dollar, collectors are becoming more and more interested in bottle relics of the “good guys” of 19th century medicine – the legitimate druggists. One such druggist whose bottles are highly prized among hobbyists is Frank A. Weck, early Eureka druggist whose store was once the only source of remedies for ailing settlers of Humboldt County. Weck, an Italian-born immigrant, came to Humboldt County in 1859 while in his teens to work as an apprentice in a Union (Arcata) drug store. Although he had little formal schooling, by the time he was 20 he had passed state requirements to become a certified pharmacist and had purchased his own drug store in Eureka. Weck was a man who took an interest in his community. He purchased a tract of land outside the city limits and helped promote the settling of more families to build up the town. When the city was chartered, he became a member of the first town council and for years continued to play a leading role in Eureka’s development. He also was interested in developing his profession. Before he had practiced long, he became concerned about the drugs going into his prescriptions – by the time they were brought by boat from the east, they were stale and outdated. From his pharmaceutical training, he recognized that certain plants around Humboldt Bay could be used for drugs. He began harvesting and curing the plants, making his own medicines so his patrons would have fresh remedies. In time, Weck became so proficient with native plants that he was supplying other druggists on the West Coast and even shipping to European buyers. Around 1890 he turned his Eureka drug store over to his son-in-law, Charles Fitzell, and moved to San Francisco where he organized a drug supply company. By this time he was one of the leading authorities on medicinal plants of California, and for several years he lectured regularly to the University of California’s College of Pharmacy on the subject. The poor young immigrant, who came to America penniless, became relatively rich and famous. Then tragedy struck. The San Francisco fire and earthquake of 1906 destroyed his business, valued at more than $100,000, along with all of the company records including a lifetime accumulation of formulas. He used his personal assets to repay company losses and died not long afterward in virtual obscurity.
Weck’s granddaughter, Bertha Fitzell, now nearing 80 and living in retirement near Blockburg, Humboldt County, has a letter written by Weck in the 1900s in which he reminisces about his days in Humboldt County: “In 1861 I was offered a position as manager of the only drug store in Eureka and I accepted. A year later I arranged to buy the store. At the same time, the owner of the Uniontown store closed for a period so that he could go to San Francisco to complete his medical course. This left our store in Eureka the only drug store in Humboldt County. Our trade extended all over the county including the trading posts and mining camps in Klamath and Trinity counties. The drug business in the early days was quite different from that of the present time. The pharmacist manufactured all his tinctures, syrups, pills, and mixtures from crude drugs. Prescriptions were filled from shelf bottles, plasters were spread on sheep skin, and fluid extracts, elixirs, tablets, capsules and sugar- and gelatin-coated pills were unknown. Gold dust and silver coin were the currency. Merchants would accept gold dust in exchange for merchandise or debt payments. Every store was provided with gold scales and a set of blowers. Uniontown had three large stores carrying supplies, doing a large business with the mining camps. Goods were transferred to the camps on mule back over mountain trails just wide enough for the mules to go in single file.”
Although Weck’s personal records were destroyed, a comparison of pharmaceutical books used in that period with plants native to Humboldt County gives an insight into the contents of the Weck Drug Store bottles that are so sought after by collectors. The old books mention skunk cabbage – a plant that produces a medicine that is a stimulant, even slightly narcotic, and was used to quiet spasms of asthma, whooping cough, nasal catarrh, and bronchial irritation. It was also pounded to a pulp and used as a soothing ointment. The prevalent theory of medical books of the 19th century was that a “standby medicine” should contain enough generalized ingredients so that no matter what the ailment, there would be something within the mixture that probably would be beneficial. The books also state that while there are some kinds of herbs that release their “power” in boiling water, others become efficacious only in alcohol. One formula reads, “to cure spasms of asthma, take a handful of dry root of jack-in-the-pulpit, put it in a quart of good whiskey, let stand three days. A dose is one tablespoonful twice a day.” Another is offered as an aid to sleep and reads, “take four tablespoons each of pale skullcap, lady slipper and mint blossoms, add one quart of water and boil down to a pint. Strain and add one pint of the best gin. Take a teaspoonful on retiring.” Such alcohol-based drinks proved very popular with the miners in the hills. [Sacramento Bee, Sunday, 10-15-1967. Submitted by Kathie Marynik]