The Quintessence Of Petroleum

Here is Petrolina, an 1880s rival of Vaseline, a petroleum jelly invented by Robert Chesebrough in the 1870s. It is still widely used for everything from lip balm to eye makeup removal. What is amusing about Petrolina is the name - the oil-refinery tang of the word 'petroleum' coupled with the Victorian way of naming medicines as if they were the heroines of third-rate yellowback novels. Petrolina sounds pretty close to being something that Mrs. E.D.E.N. Southworth or Augusta Evans Wilson might have written (I've read novels by both ladies, and would not have been surprised to find a Petrolina therein).

Petrolina was made by the Binghamton Oil Refining Company of Binghamton, New York. Acccording to the ads, you could use it:

-externally, much as we use Vaseline today: to soothe burns, or as a cleanser

-internally to soothe coughs and colds (take by the teaspoon!)
- as a hair pomade

- and it works on horses too, soothing scratches, "contraction of the hooves" and sprains

The picture of the Petrolina container is from NMAH. The advertisements are from the Southern Medical Record (Vol. 10, 1880, pp 17-18). A bigger version of the ad at right is here, in case you'd like to read more about the wonders of Petrolina.

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Thanks so much to Dr. Lauren at The Ancient Digger (one of my favorite reads!) for the Best Blog award!