Extract of Jamaica Ginger

[Wilkie]

Got a new one in the mail today. It is embossed on one side: ESTABLISHED 1849/NATHAN WOOD & SON/PORTLAND ME
The other side has a very nice label that photographed pretty well.

Can anyone answer this for me? Are the extracts of Jamaica Ginger in the same category as the "Jakes" that are typically embossed "Essence of Jamaica Ginger". The Jakes had a medicinal use as well as recreational, the extracts I don't know about but I am "guessing" that they were just an extract, ie. flavoring.

 

[GuntherHess]

just an extract, ie. flavoring.

I think you are correct, its just a flavoring extract. Not a patent medicine.
You can see on the label it was sold with other food extracts.

Wood was a prolific manufacturer, you could probably build a whole collection of just thier products.

 

[Wilkie]

Thanks for your comment Matt. I never thought about it much until I saw this labeled one with the other flavorings listed on the bottom. I still like it even though it doesn't go in my "jake" category.

 

[GuntherHess]

I have a labeled Sanfords Ginger you can have if you want it. Its early ABM but has good labels on it. Its a patent medicine , not a food bottle.

 

[Wilkie]

ORIGINAL: GuntherHess

I have a labeled Sanfords Ginger you can have if you want it. Its early ABM but has good labels on it. Its a patent medicine , not a food bottle.

Thank you Matt, yes I am interested in that. I have a Sanfords without the label but would love to upgrade it to a labeled one. By the shape, I would have guessed that it was a flavoring extract too. Does the label show alcohol content or ingredients?

 

[GuntherHess]

Its 90% alcohol. The back says for relief of cholera morbus, diarhoea, dysentary ...
so this one is a medicine. Its got an owl stamped on label in read, not sure if its assoc with owl drug.
Send your address to my verizon account below and I'll send it to you.

 

[Wilkie]

There are sure some good people on this forum! Matt, you are too kind. I sent you an email.

Wilkie

 

[Lordbud]

ORIGINAL: GuntherHess

just an extract, ie. flavoring.

I think you are correct, its just a flavoring extract. Not a patent medicine.
You can see on the label it was sold with other food extracts.

Wood was a prolific manufacturer, you could probably build a whole collection of just thier products.

So did this end up in your extract collection or your jake collection...?

 

[Oldtimer]

I have one, not embossed, but fully labeled. It's from the 1880-1890 era, from Limerick Maine...says:

Pure concentrated extract JAMAICA GINGER, excellent in cases of sudden colds, chills, cholera morbus, diarrhea, Etc.
Dose, from one half to one teaspoonful, according to age and necessity. Dilute freely and sweeten to taste.
Prepaired expressly for FAMILY USE.
Prepaired by W.W. MASON Limerick Me.

 

[glass man]

ORIGINAL: lobeycat

From Wikipedia,
Jamaican Ginger Extract (known in the United States by the slang name Jake) was an early 20th century patent medicine that provided a convenient way to bypass Prohibition laws, since it contained between 70-80% ethanol by weight.
Jake was not itself dangerous, but the U.S. Treasury Department, which administered the Prohibition laws, recognized its potential as an illicit alcohol source and required changes in the solids content of jake to discourage drinking. The minimum requirement of ginger solids per cubic centimeter of alcohol resulted in a fluid that was extremely bitter and difficult to drink. Occasionally, Department of Agriculture inspectors would test shipments of Jake by boiling the solution and weighing the remaining solid residue. In an effort to trick regulators, bootleggers replaced the ginger solids with a small amount of ginger and either castor oil or molasses.
A pair of amateur chemists and bootleggers, Harry Gross and Max Reisman, worked to develop an alternative adulterant that would pass the tests, but still be somewhat palatable. They settled on a plasticizer, tri-o-tolyl phosphate (also known as tri-ortho cresyl phosphate or TOCP), that was able to pass the Treasury Department's tests but preserved jake's drinkability. TOCP was originally thought to be non-toxic; however, it was later determined to be a neurotoxin that causes axonal damage to the nerve cells in the nervous system of human beings, especially those located in the spinal cord. The resulting type of paralysis is now referred to as organophosphate-induced delayed neuropathy (OPIDN).
In 1930, large numbers of jake users began to lose the use of their hands and feet. Some victims could walk, but they had no control over the muscles which would normally have enabled them to point their toes upward. Therefore, they would raise their feet high with the toes flopping downward, which would touch the pavement first followed by their heels. The toe first, heel second pattern made a distinctive “tap-click, tap-click" sound as they walked. This very peculiar gait became known as the jake walk and those afflicted were said to have jake leg, jake foot, or jake paralysis. Additionally, the calves of the legs would soften and hang down and the muscles between the thumbs and fingers would atrophy.
Within a few months, the TOCP adulterated jake was identified as the cause of the paralysis and the contaminated jake was recovered, but it was too late for many victims. Some users recovered full or partial use of their limbs, but for most, the loss was permanent. The total number of victims was never accurately determined, but is frequently quoted as between 30,000 to 50,000. Many victims were migrants to the United States and most were poor with little political or social influence. The victims received very little assistance, and aside from being the subject of a few blues songs in the early 1930s, they were almost completely forgotten.

VERY INTERESTING INFO AND VERY SAD! I AM AWARE THAT THIS WAS BROUGHT ABOUT BY TWO INDIVIDUALS,BUT IT WAS BROUGHT ABOUT BECAUSE OF THE GOV.KINDA LIKE WHEN THE REAGAN ADMINISTRATION WAS GONNA WIPE OUT POT BY PUTTING THE POISON ,PARAQUAT, ON POT PLANTS IN GEORGIA [TENN AND KENTUCKY}AND HURT ALOT OF PEOPLE. CAUSED SOME SORT OF LUNG DAMAGE! WOW ! GONNA KEEP PEOPLE FROM BEING HURT BY POT AND CAUSING FAR MORE HORRIBLE DAMAGE! GEORGIA PEOPLE FOUGHT BACK AND PUT A STOP TO THIS PRACTICE.