1890 CHILD LOST 100 DOLLAR REWARD SHIPMAN OINTMENT BROADSIDE PROVIDENCE RI RARE For Sale

ITEM DESCRIPTION

Original late nineteenth-century advertising broadside for Shipman\'s Ointment, issued by Geo. L. Claflin & Co. of Providence, Rhode Island, featuring the dramatic headline “A CHILD LOST!” and a large “$100.00 REWARD” set in bold black display type. Printed on very thin, inexpensive tan stock, it tells the story of a child in Providence who burned its hand on a red-hot stove but was “entirely cured” in a short time through the use of Shipman\'s Ointment, followed by sweeping claims that the preparation cures burns, chilblains, flesh wounds, lingering sores, external piles, bunions, ingrowing toe nails, and corns.

In classic Victorian patent-medicine style, the text boasts “hundreds of certificates” from grateful patients across the country, offers a standing $100 reward to anyone who can produce an equal healing remedy, and insists that the true reward lies in the merits of the ointment rather than in reading tiresome testimonials. The lower portion notes that Shipman\'s Ointment was sold in 25-cent and $1.00 sizes “for sale everywhere,” and the broadside finishes with a striking line for a related product, “USE MAGIC CORN REMOVER. — CURE GUARANTEED,” offering a vivid glimpse into the energetic and sometimes extravagant marketing of small-town druggists in the 1880s–1890s.

The broadside is printed on one side only (verso blank) in a mix of heavy wood-type capitals and smaller serif text, likely intended for display in a pharmacy window, general store, or other public space. As a surviving example of Rhode Island medical ephemera tied to Geo. L. Claflin & Co. in Providence, it captures the language, typography, and sales techniques of the late nineteenth-century patent-medicine trade, from the sensational child-in-peril story to the money-back-style reward challenge and long catalog of ailments supposedly alleviated by a single proprietary ointment.

Physical condition is good overall for a fragile, roughly 130-year-old advertising broadside, but the paper is very fragile and shows significant age and handling wear. Most notably, the sheet is now completely split horizontally across the center along an old fold line, so the broadside exists in two separate but alignable halves as pictured. The edges are irregular and tattered with numerous small chips, nicks, and short edge tears, including a few slightly larger losses at the upper and lower margins and corners, and there are multiple old creases and soft folds running through the sheet.

Across the surface, the thin wood-pulp paper shows overall browning and toning, scattered handling wrinkles, and a few tiny holes or paper flaws within the text area, including minor losses that nibble at some letters but leave the bold “A CHILD LOST,” “$100.00,” and “REWARD” lines strongly legible. The verso is blank aside from show-through of the printing and light age mottling, with no modern writing, backing, or repairs visible. The piece remains an honest, unrestored survivor that should be handled very carefully but still displays well, especially when the two halves are aligned together for viewing or matting.

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KEYWORDS

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