The story of patent medicine manufacturing in Black River Falls Wisconsin is probably synonymous with the story of J.W. Cole. But there is a frustrating lack of detailed information within easy reach, and as such I'm left with loose ends.
Bottles like the one below are fairly common. 1900 give or take a bit, and with side panels embossed J.W.Cole and Co on the top and Black River Falls, Wis on the bottom.
The company seems to have really taken off in the late 1870's, with their flagship product being a concoction for external use. Carbolisalve...
I think Cole may be an anglicized version of a German name. Kohl perhaps. The company did go in for medicines with a German theme. Here's a rare one, Blud Bilder, or Blood Builder. It's really a horrid translation as Bilder in German actually means "picture", and blood should be Blut.
After starting in a smaller space J.W. Cole moved into a substantial building in the 1870's. A close up view shows he was not averse to selling other people's medicines, as the Kick-a-Poo line that was manufactured by an outfit called Healy and Bigelow out of Boston.
The names on the drug store are interesting. It looks as if Cole was out of the retail business by the time this picture was taken, probably in the 1890's. Mr. Chickering was a druggist who had previously worked in Eau Claire. Farnham Chickering Jr. died in Minnesota in 1902 while on the road traveling for J.W. Cole and Co.
This last bottle lists the town of origin but not the company that made it. Was this another German themed J.W. Cole product? Or was there another small time medicine manufacturer in the little town of Black River Falls?
Addendum. Olie seems to actually be either Dutch or Danish for OIL. In German Oil would be OL with umlauts over the O. Maybe you can't get umlauts in bottle molds. Or maybe just another dodgy translation.
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