"Practical Cooking Recipes Together with Health Suggestions Concerning the Use of Lydia E. Pinkham's Vegetable Compound & other Pinkham Medicines" published by Lydia E. Pinkham Medicine Company, Lynn, MA, undated (1930). 32-page brochure containing various food recipes from soups to deserts, short advertising texts and testimonials for Lydia E. Pinkham's Vegetable Compound follow each recipe.

Lydia Estes Pinkham (1819-1883) was an American inventor and marketer of an herbal-alcoholic "women's tonic" for menstrual and menopausal problems, which medical experts dismissed as a quack remedy, but which is still on sale today in a modified form.

The popularity of Mrs. Pinkham's compound long after her death is testament to its acceptance by women who sought relief from menstrual and menopausal symptoms. The company continued under family control until the 1930s. Medical experts dismissed Pinkham's claims as quackery. In 1922, it was described as a "valueless preparation kept on the market for about fifty years by means of lying advertisements and worthless testimonials." Despite such medical claims, the sales of the Pinkham tonic increased. One of the reasons of why Pinkham's tonic was so widely popular in the twenties and early thirties was its availability as a 40 proof drink during the Prohibition era.

Pinkham and her "medicinal compound" for feminine disorders are memorialized in the folk song "The Ballad of Lydia Pinkham", also known as "Lily the Pink" There is no definitive version, but one variant is known to have been in existence by the time of World War I. Drinking songs describing the humorous invigorating effects of some food or medicine are widespread, and the fact that Pinkham's medicine was marketed for "female complaints" made it especially vulnerable to ribald fantasies about what it might cure.

US: Priority (c.2-4 days) -------------- $9.50
Canada: 1st Class (c.2-6 weeks) ------ $14.50
World: 1st Class (c.2-8 weeks) ------- $19.50

Soft cover [c. 2” repaired crease of the front cover: see photo]; 4.1/2” x 7”; 31 pages, crayon soiling [child’s art] on the front flap and first 4 pages [see photos]; some page corner folds, pages #20 and 21 are stains, page #21 has a few small damages [see photo]; overall very good condition.