A colorized portrait of French physician, surgeon and anatomist Alfred-Armond-Louis-Marie Velpeau (1795-1867). Abortion pills that were advertised in America in the period from 1864-1868 were said to be his invention or discovery. Velpeau was widely known in France for his 1829 publication on obstetrics, later translated into English as An Elementary Treatise on Midwifery: or Principles of Tocology and Embryology.
Between 1864 and 1868, there appeared in the Harrisburg Patriot, frequent advertisements for a medication known as “Velpau Female Pills.” The ads suggested that the pills, which were known to be used in the “criminal… practice of abortion” were very effective in correcting “female obstructions.” The reason given for them not being widely available was that the doctor who first used them didn’t want them used for “unlawful purposes.” No explanation was given in the ads as to why they were now offered for sale through the mail or how the “agents” would determine that the sender of one dollar and six postage stamps planned to use the pills only for lawful purposes.
Ladies, Take Particular Notice!
THE REAL VELPAU FEMALE PILLS
(WARRANTED FRENCH)
These Pills, so celebrated many years ago in Paris, for the relief of female irregularities, and afterwards so notorious for their criminal employment in the practice of abortion, are now offered for sale for the first time in America. They have been kept in comparative obscurity from the fact that the originator, Dr. Velpau, is a physician in Paris of great wealth and strict conscientious principles, and has withheld them from general use, lest they should be employed for unlawful purposes. In overcoming female obstructions they seem to be truly omnipotent, bursting open the flood gates from whatever cause may have stopped them; but they are offered to the public only for legitimate uses, and all agents are forbidden to sell them when it is understood that the object is unlawful.
Ladies can procure a box, sealed from the eyes of the curious, by enclosing one dollar and six postage stamps, to O. G. STAPLES, General Agent for us, Watertown, New York, or to the above agents.
Kunkel & Brothers, General Agents. For sale by D. W. Gross, C. K. Koller, J. M. Bomgardner, C. A. Banvart, Harrisburg and Druggists generally.
Similar ads appeared in newspapers in Reading, York, Lewistown, Lancaster, Carbondale, and Altoona.
Pennsylvania was not the only state in which these pills were advertised. However, the ads took a slightly different form in other places. The example below is from the Owasso American (Oklahoma), May 13, 1868:
The first difference is that the name of the doctor is spelled “Velpeau,” The second difference is that the ad bears the Coat of Arms of the City of Paris. The third difference is that ad is about double the size of the one that appeared in the Harrisburg newspaper.
The additional text:
In overcoming Female Obstructions, Falling of the Womb, Whites, Green Sickness, Suppression, Retention, or Immoderate Flow of the Monthly Discharges, Nervous and Spinal Affections, Pains in the Back and Limbs, Fatigue on Slight Exertion, Palpitation of the Heart, Hysteries, &c. and will effect a cure when all other means have failed; and although a powerful remedy, do not contain calomel, antimony, or anything hurtful to the constitution.
To married ladies and young girls who have never been regulated, there are peculiarly suited. They will, in a short time, bring on the monthly period with regularity.
CAUTION — Married ladies should never take them when there is any reason to believe themselves pregnant, for they will sure to produce a miscarriage.
These pills are entirely safe, under all circumstances, being composed entirely of substances from the vegetable kingdom.
Each box has the coat of arms for the city of Paris stamped on the box, with the words “Trade Mark,” in French, to counterfeit which is misdemeanor, and all persons will be dealt with according to law.
Full directions accompany each box.
A minor difference was that the postage to remit was seven stamps instead of six.
At the time of this writing it is not known why the ads stopped in 1868. Perhaps this had something to do with Velpeau’s death on August 24, 1867.
The issue of how widely these pills were used and their actual effectiveness in producing a miscarriage are subjects for additional research.
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Portrait of Velpeau is from Wikipedia and is in the public domain. News article from the Harrisburg Patriot is from the on-line resources of the Free Library of Philadelphia. News article from the Owasso American is from Google News.
Corrections and additional information should be added as comments to this post.