25. Holy Aspirin! ST. JOSEPH or ST. ANTHONY?

ST. JOSEPH ASPIRIN FOR CHILDREN,  Print Ad, 1965

In the 60s, when kids got sick with fever and pain, parents turned to aspirin for quick relief. Two children’s brands were readily available at the local botica back then—carrying names of saints—perhaps for the holy men to intercede and hurry up the healing.

One was  America’s leading  brand, ST. JOSEPH ASPIRIN FOR CHILDREN. St. Joseph was already about 80 years old in the 60s, doctor-approved and trusted by mothers to give quick  and safe relief. It has a pleasant-tasting true orange flavor and a a creamy texture that children preferred. The aspirin brand may have gotten its name from its roots—St. Joseph; but others contend the brand was named after the patron saint of (among other things) families, children and the sick.

ST. ANTHONY ASPIRIN FOR CHILDREN, Print Ad, 1961

On the other hand, a local aspirin brand was developed and distributed by Metro Drug Corp. and gave it the name ST. ANTHONY FRUIT-FLAVORED ASPIRIN FOR CHILDREN. St. Anthony was invoked in recovering lost things, so maybe the product was so named for the easy recovery of children from fever and its discomforts. The ads harped on the three appealing flavors of the product: Orange, Pineapple and Strawberry.

Today, new medicine ingredients like acetaminophen and ibuprofen have been developed with better safety profiles. St. Joseph Aspirin, for awhile, disappeared from the market, but the brand (now 125 yearss old), still fondly remembered by millions of "baby boomers" as the medicine mom used to give for aches and pains has just been relaunched in America. At its reintroduction, June 12 was declared St. Joseph Aspirin Day!  As for St. Anthony Aspirin, the brand is no longer in existence.