Back in August, 1979, I wrote and article on a bottle that was being sold as a poison when it was nothing of the sort.  now once again I find I must repeat that warning.  In the latest poison book to come out, "Kuhns's Poison Workbook" it identifies a Sharp & Dohme bottle (KH-26 & KH-27), as a poison.

It would seem that poisons were not the only substance which required an odd shaped bottle to warn people.  This particular bottle contained LAPACTIC PILLS, which were first introduced by Sharp & Dohme in 1882 as a tonic laxative.  Whether or not the bottle was first made in 1882, I can't answer.  It was being produced in 1929 which is the year of the catalog from which this page was taken.  (I put our images at the bottle of this instead of scanning the page)  The unusual shape and color (Amber), warned men, women and children with regular bowel movements of the deadly dehydrating effects of its contents.

No doubt, there will be some unhappy poison collectors out there when they read this article.  But look at the bright side of it, how many people in your club have a full set of tonic laxatives by Sharp & Dohme?

I have become aware in the last few years as poisons have gained in popularity, that many novice collectors are picking up many bottles which are not poisons.  Most poisons have unusual shape, color and texture but because a bottle has these qualities does not make it a poison.  If you are not sure of an item, get advice from someone more experienced.

KH-26



KH-27



I have seen the KH-26 in amber, cornflower and clear.  The clear one was of a pharmacy and not Sharp & Dohme. It sold for more that what you would normally find an S&D of this type for and I didn't have the funds to get it.  Wish I at least kept the image of it for our records.


Another bottle shares this story to a point.  The KV-6.  It too is not a poison.  I posted it in another thread but I will repeat it here to keep this info all together.  Here is the image of an Off-The-Shelf mint example.