Warner’s Safe Kidney and Liver Cure (embossed safe) Rochester. N.Y.

Warner’s Safe

Kidney & Liver Cure

(embossed safe)

Rochester, N.Y.

H. H. Warner, Rochester, New York

A. & D. H. Chambers, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania

Labeled Oval Slugplate Medicine

Provenance: Michael & Kathie Craig Collection

By 1879, H. H. Warner & Co. produced several Warner’s Safe Remedies with their new trademark pictorial safe. Warner had initially used bottles embossed “The Original Dr. Craig Kidney Cure” from March to June 1879.

Warner, at this time, had settled on an oval amber bottle with the name of the product and an embossed safe. He also used “Safe” before the product name, with the city printed or embossed below. This configuration became his trademark and was used on almost all Warner products after this time.

Our 16-ounce labeled and embossed bottle reads “Warner’s Safe Kidney & Liver Cure Rochester, N.Y.,” with a large embossed safe image on both the bottle and label. Warner changed to the embossed safe bottle in June 1879, which used a slug plate front. He used this bottle until late 1880 when he produced enough of the product to have a dedicated mold made that no longer used the slug plate.

The label states that the H. H. Warner & Co. product is a “Kidney & Liver Cure for Bright’s Disease, Stone in Kidney & Bladder, Inflammation of Kidneys, Bladder & Liver, Catarrh of Bladder, Jaundice, Dropsy, Malaria, Female Weakness, Pain in Back, Convulsions, Rheumatism, Impotency, Heart Disease, Melancholia & Other Disorders caused by Derangement of the Kidneys & Liver.”

A slug plate on the bottom is embossed ‘A&DHC,’ indicating that the Alexander and David H. Chambers glass factory in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania produced the bottles. Although many slug plate Warner Safe bottles exist, none bear this label with the “$2.00 a Bottle” price and list the maladies and afflictions on the applied label “safe” image. There are later slug plate Kidney & Liver Cures that have labels with a $1.25 price. Also, labels appear on non-slug plate bottles. Because of this, our labeled bottle is considered extremely rare and may be unique. It was produced for a very short period of time, from June to December 1879. Also, in 1882, Warner changed his product name to “Warner’s Safe Cure for Kidney and Liver Disease.”

From the label, this early Warner’s Safe Remedies trademark lists Warner products, maladies, and afflictions.

The label contains several interesting items. First, the price is $2.00 a bottle. This price is one of the most expensive patent medicines on the market at that time. Warner later changed the price to $1.25 in January 1880. Also, the label printed safe advertises Warner’s other products like Safe Bitters, Safe Nervine, Safe Pills, and Safe Tonic. These were the only products he produced during the first months, along with his Kidney & Liver Cure. This label also indicates that the medicine should also be used for Rheumatism. Warner removed Rheumatism after he began production of his Rheumatic Cure in 1882. The label also promotes using this medicine for a Diabetes Cure. Warner would produce his Diabetes Cure bottle in September 1879 and sell it for $2.00 a bottle.

Museum example of a labeled and embossed Warner’s Safe Kidney & Liver Cure bottle.

The oval bottle has the typical Warner rounded shoulders, a tapered neck, and a double-collar mouth. The slug plate embossed copy and pictorial trademark safe is solid and bold and reads ‘WARNER’S (curved) SAFE KIDNEY & LIVER CURE’ (horizontal) with ‘ROCHESTER N.Y.’ along the base. Each initial capital letter is larger than the following letters making up each word. As noted previously, A&DHC is faintly embossed on the base. All of Warner’s early bottles were made with the slug plate embossed panel marked by Alexander and David H. Chambers. Whether it was A&DHC who produced later bottles is unknown, as Warner bought his bottles from many glasshouses.

1891 Warner’s Safe Cure Almanac cover. “Belts the Globe.” Notice the simplified safe image.

Primary Image: Labeled and embossed Warner’s Safe Kidney & Liver Cure bottle imaged by Alan DeMaison at the FOHBC Reno 2022 National Antique Bottle Convention mobile imaging station.

Support: Reference to H. H. Warner His Company & His Bottles 2.0, Michael Seeliger, 2016. Research support by Michael Seeliger.

Join the FOHBC: The Virtual Museum is a project of the Federation of Historical Bottle Collectors (FOHBC). To become a member.