1885 Johnston, Holloway & Co., Dr. Evory’s Diamond Catarrh Remedy Reply Card

This is a 1885 United States postal card utilized as a direct-mail marketing advertisement for a Victorian-era patent medicine. The front of the card features a one-cent Jefferson imprint UX8 cancelled with a New York postmark dated November 5, 1885. It is handwritten to recipient M. H. Bickley of Chester, Pennsylvania. The reverse side contains a text-based advertisement targeted “To the Trade” for “Dr. Evory’s Diamond Catarrh Remedy.” The text claims the formula can cure catarrh, colds, deafness, headaches, and foul breath. It lists wholesale prices at 50 cents per bottle, $3.50 per dozen, and $39.00 per gross. The card was distributed by Johnston, Holloway & Co., a prominent firm of wholesale dealers in proprietary medicines located at 602 Arch Street, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.