Book of $2,000.00 Prize Enigmas, 1883
Rochester, NY: H. H. Warner & Co., 1883. Softcover. Pinkish paper wraps, 32 pp., BW illus. G- (Substantial edge wear and soiling to covers; page edges are beginning to flake off; pages are aged but not foxed; text is clear.). Item #149639
A pamphlet that touts the virtues of H. H. Warner's Safe Kidney & Liver Cure, which treated Bright's disease; stones found in kidney and bladder; inflammation of the kidneys, liver and urinary organs; and much, much more. So safe a product was this medicine that its bottles carried a picture of a safe on them. This 32-page advertisement for the liquid is caged in the guise of a customer contest, in which a total of $2,000 would be doled out to various levels of winners. (Top prize, $1000; second prize, $300; third prize, $250, etc.) All you had to do was figure out the 10 "enigmas" that ran along the bottom edges of these pages. Detailed directions for submissions were included. Since this is the "fourth annual pamphlet," this marketing approach must have worked for the Warners. But really, most of the pages are testimonials from folks all over the country who used the medicine and were cured of their maladies and calamities. Each one carries a facsimile of the person's signature. The front and back covers show engraved portraits of a total of 18 gentlemen, who are presumably either satisfied customers or people mentioned in the enigmas. Central on the front cover is Chester A. Arthur, with his signature. It sure would be fun to track down all of the people named in this lengthy promotional piece. Ah, well. Maybe you have the time. The seven-story Gothic style H. H. Warner Building still stands in Rochester and is on the National Register of Historic Places.
Price: $60.00