single largely intact (missing paper labels) late nineteenth century square-shaped richly colored golden amber 'electric bitters' bottle manufactured for h.e. bucklen & co., chicago, il. the body has sloping shoulders and recessed panels on each side, and is finished with an applied tapered collar. deeply embossed vertically on one side is the name "electric bitters," indicating that it was made before 1906 when the pure food and drug act mandated the regulation of tonics and remedies containing alcohol and/or opiates, and compelled the company to change its name to "electric brand bitters". this bottle has a smooth base. it is in good condition with little wear except a chip in the uppermost edge of one side. crudities typical of its age and date of manufacture include bubbles and asymmetry. bitters reached their height of popularity in the united states between 1860-1906, around the time the civil war was starting and the temperance movement was gaining steam. bitters also helped drinkers dodge the “sin taxes” and other restrictions placed on alcohol first in england and then in the united states. h.e. bucklen & company of chicago were highly successful sellers of a number of well-known brands. herbert e. bucklen had purchased the rights to his medicines from one dr. z.l. king of elkhart, indiana, about 1878 and moved the business from elkhart to chicago about 1878-1879. bucklen spent lavish sums on advertising in all types of media, and created the brand name of “new discovery”, which had national recognition by 1885. he also had several other top selling medicines, including the electric bitters, and the new life pills, introduced in 1880 as a cure for stomach ailments. bucklen’s “new discovery” was a medicine for consumption (tuberculosis) a disease which at the time was killing millions of people. many companies offered cures and remedies for consumption — all were frauds, including the “new discovery.” bucklen’s was targeted by samuel hopkins adams in his attack on the patent medicine industry in a series of articles in colliers magazine in 1905. of the ‘new discovery,” adams said: “it is proclaimed to be the ‘only sure cure for consumption.’ further announcement is made that ‘it strikes terror to the doctors.’ as it is a morphine and chloroform mixture, ‘dr. king’s new discovery for consumption’ is well calculated to strike terror to the doctors or to any other class or profession, except, perhaps, the undertakers. it is a pretty diabolical concoction to give to anyone, and particularly to a consumptive. the chloroform temporarily allays the cough, thereby checking nature’s effort to throw off the dead matter from the lungs. the opium drugs the patient into a deceived cheerfulness. the combination is admirably designed to shorten the life of any consumptive who takes it steadily.” by 1893, the business was well enough established be a major retailer through sites at the world’s fair in chicago. this retailing accomplishment was achieved in part by offering for 50 cents a 31 page book, half filled with color lithographs of the world fair buildings, and the other half descriptive text. the advertising contained therein, of the “new discovery,” made sure that most people who went to the world’s fair to see the marvels available to them at the end of the 19th century thought of the “new discovery” as one of those marvels.