Celebrity Cars Blog
On eBay Now...

Antique EX-MINT Stomach Tablets Tube Bottle Vial Hampton New Hampshire NH Sealed For Sale

Antique EX-MINT Stomach Tablets Tube Bottle Vial Hampton New Hampshire NH Sealed
When you click on links to various merchants on this site and make a purchase, this can result in this site earning a commission. Affiliate programs and affiliations include, but are not limited to, the eBay Partner Network.

Buy Now

Antique EX-MINT Stomach Tablets Tube Bottle Vial Hampton New Hampshire NH Sealed:
$259.00

Antique EX-MINT Stomach Tablets Bottle – Hampton, N.H. – Full Contents – Sealed – c.1930sIntro

This little survivor looks less like an antique and more like something a traveling salesman accidentally left behind in a 1937 drugstore and nobody touched for ninety years.

The condition is honestly absurd.

Original glass vial.
Original cork top.
Original full wrap label.
Original tablets still sealed inside.
Even the paper graphics remain crisp and bright with that wonderfully clean Depression-era pharmacy aesthetic.

And after the old deteriorating celluloid overwrap was removed, the thing practically woke back up. It now displays exactly the way collectors want to see these — sharp, clean, readable, and authentic, without the crumbling amber cocoon most examples hide beneath.

This is the kind of small countertop medicine that vanished by the millions. Tiny, disposable, inexpensive, meant to be used and tossed. Almost none survived complete like this.

Precise DateBest estimate: circa 1933–1942

Why:

  • The typography and minimalist label design are strongly late Depression / early WWII era.
  • The clean pharmaceutical styling reflects the transition away from ornate Victorian medicine graphics.
  • The cylindrical clear vial with metal cap is typical of 1930s–40s pocket remedy packaging.
  • The “25¢” price point fits common American over-the-counter tablet remedies of the mid-1930s.
  • The wording “Trade Mark” and “Sure and Safe Relief” are classic interwar patent medicine phrasing.

This feels extremely pre-war America.

Maker / City / StateTobey Drug Co., Inc.Hampton, New Hampshire

A fantastic little New England regional drug company piece.

Small-town pharmacy and remedy makers like Tobey Drug Co. were once everywhere across America. Most disappeared after:

  • FDA tightening
  • pharmaceutical consolidation
  • chain drugstores
  • mass national branding

Which makes surviving regional medicine packaging increasingly collectible today.

What Was “EX-MINT”?

EX-MINT was marketed as:

  • an antacid
  • indigestion remedy
  • gas relief tablet
  • heartburn medicine

The label promises relief from:

  • acid stomach
  • gas
  • indigestion
  • heartburn

Classic medicine-cabinet misery.

And the dosing instructions are wonderfully period:

“One or two tablets dissolved in mouth or in severe cases six tablets in 1/3 glass of hot water.”

Nothing says “1930s gastrointestinal science” quite like:

“Things getting serious? Deploy six.”

Contents

The tablets appear intact and complete inside the vial — an enormous plus.

These were likely composed of common antacid compounds of the era such as:

  • sodium bicarbonate
  • calcium carbonate
  • magnesium compounds
  • peppermint or mint oils
  • sugar binders

Essentially the ancestors of:

  • Tums
  • Alka-Seltzer
  • Rolaids
  • Bromo remedies

The mint branding was intentional:

  • medicinal
  • soothing
  • “clean”
  • digestive
  • The green leaf graphic sells that instantly.

    Marketing Style

    The design is fascinating because it reflects a huge shift in American medicine advertising.

    By the 1930s:

    • consumers trusted “scientific cleanliness”
    • pharmacies wanted modern branding
    • medicine labels became simpler and more clinical

    Gone were:

    • Victorian cherubs
    • miracle cure promises
    • exploding sunbursts
    • snake oil theatrics

    Instead you get:

    • crisp typography
    • restrained graphics
    • sanitary white space
    • pharmacy-modern aesthetics

    It almost feels Art Deco pharmaceutical.

    Tiny object. Huge visual charm.

    Condition

    Honestly exceptional.

    Highlights:
    • attic mint glass
    • no chips
    • no cracks
    • original label
    • original cap
    • full original contents
    • tablets still present
    • extremely bright display appearance
    • recently freed from degrading celluloid wrap
    • strong shelf presence despite tiny size

    The survival rate on these is incredibly low.

    Most were:

    • opened
    • consumed
    • tossed
    • moisture damaged
    • label worn
    • cleaned out by kids using them for BBs, nails, or fish hooks

    This one looks almost untouched.

    Medicine During the Period

    This was the golden age of self-medication in America.

    Families routinely kept:

    • aspirin tins
    • nerve tonics
    • laxatives
    • liniments
    • headache powders
    • indigestion tablets

    right in kitchen drawers and bathroom cabinets.

    Doctors were expensive.
    Hospitals were avoided unless absolutely necessary.
    And digestive distress was a massive advertising category in the 1930s because:

    • coffee intake exploded
    • cigarettes were everywhere
    • heavy diets were common
    • stress during the Depression was enormous

    America basically ran on:

    • nicotine
    • pie
    • black coffee
    • anxiety

    So antacid tablets sold very well.

    Technology & Politics During the Era

    When this bottle sat on a drugstore shelf:

    Technology
    • Radios dominated homes.
    • Refrigerators were replacing iceboxes.
    • Neon signs were transforming downtowns.
    • Cars had become mainstream.
    • Air travel still felt exotic.
    Politics

    America was climbing out of the Great Depression under Franklin D. Roosevelt.

    Major events included:

    • New Deal programs
    • bank reforms
    • labor unrest
    • massive public works construction
    • rising global tensions before WWII

    This little bottle existed during a time when Americans desperately wanted:

    • affordable comforts
    • reliable remedies
    • inexpensive everyday conveniences

    A 25-cent stomach remedy fit perfectly into that world.

    Hampton, New Hampshire During the 1930s

    Hampton was still a relatively small coastal New England town during this period, balancing:

    • tourism
    • fishing
    • local commerce
    • small-town retail pharmacies

    Nearby Hampton Beach was already a popular summer destination, drawing visitors for:

    • dance halls
    • arcades
    • seafood
    • seaside tourism

    A regional drug company operating there makes perfect sense — seasonal travelers constantly bought small remedies for: