Pills and potions: chemist shops between 1880 and 1940

chemist

 

exhibition panorama
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This exhibition closed on Sunday 17 November 2002.

Pills and potions was all about the changing role of chemists, their shops and their wares. Visitors were able to see a chemist at work in an 1880s dispensary and look at the range of ads that chemists used in the 1930s to sell their products.

You could also find out about old-fashioned remedies on a computer interactive and hear about the evils of constipation!

The 1880s dispensary
Chemists worked in the dispensary, making pills, powders and mixtures from pharmaceutical manuals as well as their own remedies. Customers could not see inside this area. But the visitor to this exhibition was able to see the tools that would have been used.

exhibition interior

exhibition objects

Educational resources
Teachers notes (pdf document)