Prescribing Doctor –
Dr. E. B. Minor
Patient Name – Mabel Walters
Pharmacy – S.E. Wait Pioneer Drugstore
Date – Undated
Location – Traverse City, Michigan
Ingredients/Dosage –
GC Pills
Quinine Sulfate gr. iii (3 grains ≈ 195 mg)
“Pillular” (unclear term; possibly refers to pill form)
Sig: Take one every 3 hours with liquid medicine.
No. XXV (25 pills)
Historical Context & Commentary
This handwritten prescription from Dr. E. B. Minor offers a glimpse into early 20th-century pharmaceutical practice in Traverse City, Michigan. Issued to a patient named Mabel Walters, it features a now-obscure label—“GC Pills”—and a classic antipyretic, Quinine Sulfate, dosed at 3 grains (roughly 195 mg). The term “Pillular” may describe the delivery format, though this usage is ambiguous. The patient was instructed to take one pill every three hours with liquid medicine—suggesting treatment for an acute condition, possibly febrile or infectious.
The precise identity of GC Pills remains unknown—possibilities include a proprietary or compound formula used in-house or a shorthand term now lost to time.
Quinine, while effective, was known for significant side effects, including tinnitus, GI upset, and visual disturbances. It was eventually replaced in many uses by better-tolerated antimalarials.
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