Cannon’s Indian Vegetable and Blood Purifying Bitters

22 January 2015 (R•012315) (R•052917)

I found this advertisement below for Cannon’s Indian Vegetable and Blood Purifying Bitters from an 1878 Fort Wayne, Indiana newspaper. Avery & Tyler in Lafayette, Indiana were the wholesale agents. The map above is from Lafayette in 1868. Lafayette is a city in Tippecanoe County, Indiana, and is located 63 miles northwest of Indianapolis and 105 miles southeast of Chicago. West Lafayette, on the other side of the Wabash River, is home to Purdue University.

The product was being sold at Dreier & Brother, druggists in Fort Wayne in 1879, along with other outlets. It seems to be unlisted. This is not related to the rather well-known and spectacular, Cannon’s Dyspeptic Bitters from Washington, D.C.

C 33 CANNON’S DYSPEPTIC BITTERS, Circa 1853 – 1880,
Cannon’s Non-Alcoholic Bitters, The Great Dyspepsia Remedy, W. M. Cannon & Co., 925 LA. Ave. N.W. Washington D.C.
Prepared only by the W. M. Cannon, Proprietary Medicine Company, No. 925 Louisiana Avenue, N.W. Washington, D.C.,
10 x 2 7/8 (6 1/4) 1/2,
Square with embossed cannons, Amber, LTC, Applied mouth, Extremely rare,

The Charleston Mercury: The best bitters for Southern climates. The ad mentions Cannon’s Compound Vegetable or Blood Purifying Bitters. Newspaper advertisement 1853: Purifies the blood and nearly resembles saliva in decomposing food. Identity questionable. It may well be the cannon bottle, label example of which remains undiscovered.

The above red copy in Bitters Bottles is probable NOT associated with Cannon’s Dyspeptic Bitters but this new bitters in this post. Notice it is missing the word, ‘Indian’ and uses “Compound’.

CannonsIndianBitters_Fort_Wayne_Daily_Gazette_Mon__Nov_17__1879_

Cannon’s Indian Vegetable and Blood Purifying Bitters advertisement – Fort Wayne Daily Gazette, Monday, November 17, 1879

Charles Eldridge Avery

Charles Eldridge Avery was born in Columbus, New York on January 20, 1823. His father was a minister in the Presbyterian church and led the choir in the old church. In 1846 he moved to Lafayette, Indiana, and for many years was one of the leading druggists and a successful business man and member of the school board. Eldridge also attended Purdue University, College of General Science. In 1855, Avery bought the northeast corner at College and Seventh Streets, and made the property his drug store and home for forty years. I believe his druggist partner was C.V. Tyler in Avery & Tyler. He next brought his bride, Miss Levantia Cook, from Marshall, Michigan, who he married in January 1856. In this home he raised his five children. His wife died July 26, 1871, and his only son Charles E., died on May 14, 1884. Dreier and Brother were druggists in Fort Wayne, Indiana who sold the product.

Charles Eldridge Avery, Freshman at Purdue University in College of General Science – The Annual Register of Purdue University, Lafayette, Indiana (1874/75-1877/78)

Charles Avery (far left) and his associates standing in front of the Avery & Tyler pharmacy. – photo Kurt Stradtman

Select Listings

1860: Charles Avery, druggist, age 30, born in New York in 1830, home in 1860, Lafayette, Tippecanoe, Indiana, wife Levantia – United States Federal Census

1860: Avery & Tyler, burning fluid reference – On the relative cost of illumination in Lafayette, Indiana, 1860

1880: Charles Avery, druggist, age 57, born in New York in 1830, home in 1860, Lafayette, Tippecanoe, Indiana, son Charles, student – United States Federal Census

1888: Try a Bottle of Dreier & Brothers Pure Cider Preservative advertisement (see below) – Fort Wayne Daily News, Monday, November 12, 1888