Beginning in the early 1890’s Albert G. Groblewski was a retail druggist and patent medicine manufacturer headquartered in Plymouth, Pennsylvania. Initially a one man operation, by 1930 his company, Albert G. Groblewski & Co., Inc., had grown to the point where it was manufacturing in excess of 60 different patent medicines under the Groblewski name. The company, always headquartered in Plymouth remained operational until the early 1970’s.
Their marquee product, Rattlesnake Liniment (later called simply Groblewski’s Liniment) was on the market for much, if not all of the company’s lifetime. This advertisement for his “Rattlesnake Brand Liniment” along with two others, “Linden Cough Balsam and “Bear Brand Salve,” appeared in the 1930 “North American Almanac.”
A Polish immigrant, Groblewski was born in April, 1862 (1900 census records) and arrived in the United Sates sometime in the 1870’s (1872 in 1900 census records and 1876 in 1910 census records). This photograph of Groblewski along with his wife Helena, circa 1915, was found in the June 6, 2004 edition of the Wilkes-Barre “Times Leader.”
Groblewski’s early history as a Pennsylvania druggist was summarized in his April 18, 1925 obituary, published in the Wilkes-Barre “Times Herald.”
…At the age of 16, he came to this country with his parents to Nanticoke, where the family resided for 10 years. His early education was received in Poland. After arriving in Nanticoke, Mr. Groblewski secured a position as a clerk in a drug store, conducted by the late Dr. Sutliff…
After serving ten years as a clerk in a drug store at Nanticoke and with his rapid advancement and knowledge he was made manager of a drug store at Glen Lyon, which position he held for three years. Gaining an increasing knowledge in the druggist-business, he sought to own a business of his own, and in 1890 he moved to Plymouth, where he purchased the drug business of Jonathan R. Davis, at 111 East Main Street. Two years later he started the manufacturing of drugs which proved a tremendous success.
Those early years in business were described like this in a feature on Groblewski published years later in the May 12, 1930 edition of the “Times Leader.”
At 111 East Main Street, Plymouth, in a small one room drug store and with an investment of but $500 Groblewski started this business… A yearly sale of products turned out for the most by his own hands was $150 in that early day when the now famous rattlesnake liniment was first presented to the business world.
It wasn’t until later in the decade that advertisements for Rattlesnake Liniment along with another patent medicine called Egiuterro began appearing in the local Pennsylvania newspapers. This early advertisement featuring both appeared in several August, 1898 editions of Wilkes-Barre’s “Sunday News Dealer.”
Also marketed under the Polish name “Zmijecznik ,” this advertisement for Groblewski’s liniment appeared in the June 7, 1900 edition of a Polish language newspaper in Chicago, Illinois called “Zgoda.
Courtesy of “Google Translate” the ad read:
The most effective and best remedy against Rheumatism, Backache, Neuralgia, Catarrh, Headache, Cold, Sore Throat & Cramps
So it’s safe to say around the turn of the century Groblewski was both operating a local retail drug store and manufacturing a line of patent medicines under his name. The drug store was apparently doing quite well as evidenced by this announcement published in the July 18, 1900 edition of the “Times Leader.”
Albert Groblewski has placed a handsome new soda fountain in his drug store.
That being said, it was as a patent medicine manufacturer that Groblewski would ultimately earn both his reputation and fortune and by 1903 that piece of the business had him expanding his 111 Main Street facilities. The announcement appeared in the March 12, 1903 edition of the “Times Leader.”
WILL ENLARGE HIS PLANT
Albert G. Groblewski the manufacturer of Egiuterro and Rattlesnake Liniment, owing to the increased demand for his goods, will shortly build an addition to his present place. Mr. Groblewski now ships 12,000 bottles every month to all parts of the United States, and is so rushed with orders that he cannot supply the demand.
Two years later, according to a December 9, 1905 “Times Leader” story, Groblewski’s manufacturing business continued to grow, both in size and geographical reach.
He manufactures 40 different articles guaranteed to reach the ailing spot and aid in a complete restoration to health and vigor. His offices and laboratories are extensive and well equipped with all the appliances that go to make chemistry a serviceable science… He has about twenty skilled persons employed in laboratory and manufactory and his shipments from Plymouth weekly are very large.
Mr. Groblewski has about 200 agents all over the United States and Canada selling his goods…
Of the 40 articles referenced in the above story, 19 were listed in this advertisement that appeared in the July 8, 1905 edition of the “Wilkes-Barre Times.”
The “Times Leader” story went on to say that by then Groblewski was making shipments overseas as well.
…his fame extends all over the United States and Canada, the British Isles, Germany, France and even to Brazil… He found some difficulty this week in making a large shipment to Brazil. None of the express companies would ship direct owing to lack of facilities in the American merchant marine. He was obliged to ship the goods to Germany and from there have the packages reshipped to Brazil.
All things considered, it comes as no surprise that later in the decade with 111 Main Street apparently maxed out, a March 22, 1907 “Times Leader” story announced that Groblewski was planning the construction of larger quarters.
MANUFACTURING DRUG PLANT
Albert G. Groblewski, the well known manufacturing druggist, will shortly begin the erection of a building wherein will be manufactured the half hundred different remedies which he has on the market. The building will be at the corner of Main and Elm Streets, the site now occupied by the Well Building, which he purchased some time ago for that purpose. The present building will be moved to the rear and the new one to take its place will be sufficiently large for the employment of a hundred or more hands. It will have all the conveniences known the trade, will be provided with all sanitary improvements, and when completed will be one of the most complete factory buildings in the country. Mr. Groblewski is one of the largest advertisers in the State and notices of his goods are displayed in newspapers published in the various languages.
A year later the company moved into their new facility at 241 East Main Street with the announcement appearing in the March 28, 1908 edition of the “Times Leader.”
This undated photo of their 241 East Main Street facilities appeared in the May 6, 1940 edition of the “Times Leader.”
The photograph certainly suggests that the store front accommodated his drug store while the manufacturing facilities and a printing operation occupied the remainder of the building. The recently added printing operation was described in a March 5, 1908 “Times Leader” story.
New Printing Establishment
Albert G. Groblewski the well known druggist and medicine manufacturer, will establish a printing office in his new building recently erected at the corner of Main and Elm Streets…
Mr, Groblewski has purchased the printing establishment of Alexandre Rynsza, of West Hazleton, and will have the type, presses, etc., removed there and placed in his new building. Some of the presses arrived here today. He intends to establish a general printing office and when all his machinery is placed in position for operation he will then be in a position to do all kinds of printing, both in the English and Polish languages.
He spends several thousand of dollars each year for the printing of advertising matters for the many remedies that he has on the market and which are shipped to all parts of the globe and he contends that it will mean a great saving to him by being able to do his own printing.
Mr. Rynsza, from whom he purchased the printing plant, will have charge of Mr. Groblewski’s printing establishment here and they expect to have it in operation in a few weeks.
Groblewski remained sole owner of the business until July 12, 1921 when according to a story in the May 13, 1930 edition of the “Times Leader:”
…the corporation of Albert G. Groblewski was formed with a fully paid in capital stock of $150,ooo to take over the entire operations of Albert G Groblewski, Sr., Albert G. Groblewski, Sr. becoming president of the new company and holding office until January 1, 1925, on which date he resigned due to ill health, being succeeded by his son, Bernard Groblewski…
Less than five months after his resignation Albert Groblewski, Sr. passed away on April 21, 1925
Shortly after taking over the business Bernard gave up the retail drug business completely. An item announcing the sale of their drug store fixtures found in the October 8, 1925 edition of the “N.A.R.D Journal” suggested the decision was driven by the need for more manufacturing space.
THIS IS A REAL BARGAIN – WE NEED THE ROOM NOT YOUR MONEY
This itemized list of annual sales found in a May 12, 1930 “Times Leader” story justified their need for additional manufacturing space.
The “Times Leader” story went on to say:
Adding to the above were 500,000 packages of 4 powders each and 60 other articles of importance all of which brought up the total sales during 1929 of Groblewski products to the amount of 854,658 separate ready-for-sale pieces…
…The retail value of the plant’s product today is conservatively placed at $200,000…. Of our annual business 7 percent or about $14,000 worth is done in the Wyoming Valley and 93 percent of our products are sold throughout the rest of the United States and other countries.
The May 12th “Times Leader” story went on to describe the distribution network that was needed to service Groblewski’s over 18,000 retailers, most of whom by 1930, as a result of tariffs, were located in the United States.
At present there are distributing depots for Groblewski & Co. products located at Philadelphia, Pa., Seattle, Wash., Baltimore, Md., New York City, Jersey City, N.J., Brooklyn, N.Y., Chester Pa., Newark, N.J., Passaic, N.J., Buffalo, N.Y., Camden N.J., Cleveland, Ohio, Utica, N.Y., Toledo, Ohio, Detroit Mich., Chicago, Ills., Toronto, Canada and Canton City, China. Besides being sold in these cities products are sold in practically every city and town in the industrial part of the United States. The firm has had inquiries, and receive inquiries very often, from many parts of the world, but due to existing high tariffs and also unfavorable trade regulations it is impossible to sell products in most Foreign countries.
Like many patent medicine manufacturers of the day Groblewski attributed much of his success to advertising, a subject he addressed as early as 1905 in the February 17th edition of the “Times Leader.”
Albert G. Groblewski the well known druggist and patent medicine manufacturer of Plymouth, whose advertisement will be found elsewhere in this paper and whose remedies are well known and highly esteemed all over the country, tells a LEADER representative that he pays between $5,000 and $6,000 for advertising and he expects to keep on increasing the amount year by year because he has learned from experience that advertising is the keystone of success and you cannot do business with profit today without advertising.
By 1930, according to the May 12th “Times Leader” story:
The products of Albert G. Groblewski & Co. Inc. are now advertised in street cars, buses, newspapers, magazines, by novelties, booklets, telephone directories, window displays, show cards, billboards, wall paintings, radio, etc. Albert Groblewski & Co., also advertised by an attractive float, in the Sesqui Centennial parade held July 4th, 1928.
This depiction of their float appeared in the “The Book of the Sesquicentennial Celebration of the Battle of Wyoming, July 1st-4th 1928.”
It’s hard to argue against the success of Groblewski’s advertising but you can certainly take issue with its content. As early as February 20, 1902, this advertisement in the “Times Leader” claimed:
… any person who uses my Egiuterro No. 1 WILL NOT and CANNOT be afflicted with SMALLPOX.
So, as time went on it’s no surprise that claims like this led to charges of misbranding by the U. S. Department of Agriculture. In one instance this led to the seizure of a June 3, 1916 shipment that contained ten different Groblewski preparations. Specific to Egiuterro, the January 29, 1918 government report stated:
Analyses of samples of the articles by the Bureau of Chemistry of this Department showed the following results:
Egiuterro: The product consists essentially of aloes, magnesium sulfate, jalap, strychnine, alcohol, and water, flavored with methyl salicylate…
… It was alleged in substance in the laboratory that Egiuterro was misbranded for the reason that certain statements appearing on the label falsely and fraudulently represented it as a preventative for smallpox, and as a remedy for rheumatism, dyspepsia, all kinds of fevers, all stomach disorders, all sores, inflammations, swellings, coughs, headaches, for pimples, blotches, boils, and all kinds of skin eruptions which are due to the impure blood or disarranged condition of the liver and kidneys, when in truth and in fact, it was not. Misbranding of the article was alleged for the further reason that it contained alcohol, and the label on the bottle failed to bear a statement of the quantity or proportion of alcohol contained therein.
Other mis-branded preparations included in the siezure were: “Uicure” touted as a cure for rheumatism, pyemia, sciatica, gout, etc.; “Sweet Rest for Children” as a remedy for three-months colic, fretful, cross and nervous babies; “Beaver Drops Comp.” as a remedy for irregular menses, etc.; “Blood Kleen” as a treatment for syphilis, eczema, anemia, cancer and lockjaw; “Heart and Nerve Regulator” as a heart and nerve regulator, a perfect sedative for delirium tremens, St Vitus dance, sleeplessness and nervous headache; “Kidneyleine” as a remedy for Bright’s disease and dropsy; “Eye Powder” as a remedy for cataract and sore eyes; “Tanrue Herbs and Pills” as a remedy for suppressed, painful and irregular menses and “5 Herbs” as a remedy for epilepsy and “fits.”
Twenty-five years later the government was still taking issue with the advertisements for many of their preparations, including Egiuterro, as evidenced by this July 28, 1943 news item found in Hazlton, Pennsylvania’s “Standard-Speaker.”
The Federal Trade Commission has announced that Albert G. Groblewski & Company of Plymouth, has agreed to cease advertising a number of medical preparations unless revealing the possible ill effects which the commission claims would follow their unrestricted use.
The commission said the preparations are Groblewski’s Headache Powders, Groblewski’s Naval Jelly, Groblewski’s Jadol, Nervoteine, Groblewski’s Preparation C, Groblewski’s Powders for Round Worms, Oohotin, Groblewski’s Revila Powders and Egiuterro.
According to this March 21, 1967 item found in “The Scranton Tribune, the company was still addressing misbranding issues in the mid-1960’s.
Headache Powder Seizure Sought
The federal government took steps in Federal Court here Monday for seizure and condemnation of 571 cartons of “Groblewski’s Headache Powders” in possession of Albert G. Groblewski & Co., 241 E. Main St., Plymouth.
Asst. U.S. Attorney Thomas J. Hanlon, in a petition seeking seizure and condemnation of the drugs, stated the shipment was “adulterated and misbranded…”
In spite of their running issues with the government, Albert G. Groblewski & Co. remained in business until 1974 at which time a notice announcing the dissolution of the company appeared in the April 6th edition of the “Times Leader.”
A “Q & A” newspaper column entitled “The Hot Line” found in the “Greensboro (N.C.) Record” suggests that the company was manufacturing their Rattlesnake Brand Liniment up until the very end, or at least until the early 1970’s. On April 18, 1970 the following question appeared in the column.
Q. I need some snake oil, an old time remedy. Where can I get some? D.K.
The answer came six days later.
Tell D.K. he can still purchase the snake oil from manufacturers: Albert G. Groblewski Co., Plymouth, Pa. It comes by one-half box or six bottles. We bought some last time we were in Pennsylvania and its lasted a long time. And D.K. is right – it does the job.
The subject bottle was blown in a mold, contains two ounces and includes the name of “A. Groblewski & Co.” embossed on the face. An unscientific review of the Groblewski directory listings and advertisements suggests that they didn’t begin to use that name until after the business incorporated in 1921. If that’s the case then the bottle was almost certainly blown at around that time. Anything later and I’d expect a machine made bottle. In fact, by 1921 machine made bottles were quickly becoming the norm.
On a final note: As far as I can tell, the building constructed by Groblewski at 241 East Main Street in 1907/1908 remains to this day. Sadly, now housing several apartments it barely resembles the original version.
