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Coza Powder, The Cure For Drunkenness

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The 19th and early 20th century is filled with accounts of quacks and patent medicines sold by snake oil salesman. All sorts of wild claims were made and almost without exception they were complete bunkum. I just came upon one I hadn’t seen before, something called Coza Powder, from the Coza Institute in London, England. Here’s the ad, from “The Strand Magazine,” published in 1907. I also found examples of the same ad as late as 1909, and even a couple in Spanish, so it appears to have been sold worldwide.

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There’s a lot not to like about Coza Powder, but it’s an amazing ad. First, there’s that horrific image of the bottle man being squeezed, then there’s the idea that someone could put it in your drinks without you even being aware of it. That sure sounds like a great idea to promote. They try to sell it by explaining it has “the marvelous effect of producing a repugnance to alcohol in any shape or form.”

And it’s guaranteed to be safe? Of course it is. Thank goodness for that, it hadn’t even occurred to me to wonder until they brought it up. And let’s all beware of imitations, only get genuine Coza powder from the Institute itself, the “only genuine powder for Drunkenness.”

Sounds reasonable, right? Not everybody thought so, even at the time. No less than The British Medical Journal took a look at what was in Coza powder, among other such remedies of the day and in 1909 published their findings in an article entitled “The Composition Of Certain Secret Remedies.” On the page concerning the cure for drunkenness, the first one they examined was Coza powder:
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Not surprisingly, the BMJ found that Coza powder was nothing more than bicarbonate of soda, cumin, and cinnamon. And essentially it’s 90% sodium bicarbonate and the remaining 10% is equal parts cumin and cinnamon. They put the cost — in 1909 — at 1/30th of a penny for 30 packages of the powder.

I don’t know if this is relevant, but in Portuguese, “coza” means “bake.”

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Beer In Ads #2298: Arthur Fiedler, I’ve Found Out

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Monday’s ad is for Carling’s Red Cap Ale, from 1950. In this ad, part of a series featuring well-known celebrities of the day and the tagline “I’ve found out,” it features “long-time conductor of the Boston Pops Orchestra” Arthur Fiedler holding a beer and giving his testimonial about why he loves Red Cap Ale. “With a combination of musicianship and showmanship, he made the Boston Pops one of the best-known orchestras in the United States. Fiedler was sometimes criticized for over-popularizing music, particularly when adapting popular songs or edited portions of the classical repertoire, but he kept performances informal and sometimes self-mocking to attract a bigger audience.”

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Beer In Ads #2297: Jack Kramer, I’ve Found Out

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Sunday’s ad is for Carling’s Red Cap Ale, from 1950. In this ad, part of a series featuring well-known celebrities of the day and the tagline “I’ve found out,” it features “American tennis player” Jack Kramer holding a beer and giving his testimonial about why he loves Red Cap Ale. “A World No. 1 player for a number of years, and one of the most important people in the establishment of modern men’s “Open”-era tennis, he was the leading promoter of professional tennis tours in the 1950s and 1960s.”

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In some of the ads, the inset box is not blank, but included another person, presumably a regular non-famous person and probably localized for where the ad ran, if not in a national publication.

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Beer In Ads #2296: Cary Middlecoff, I’ve Found Out

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Saturday’s ad is for Carling’s Red Cap Ale, from 1950. In this ad, part of a series featuring well-known celebrities of the day and the tagline “I’ve found out,” it features “American professional golfer” Cary Middlecoff holding a beer and giving his testimonial about why he loves Red Cap Ale. “His 40 Tour wins place him tenth all-time, and he won three major championships. Middlecoff graduated as a dentist, (and his nickname was “Doc”) but gave up his practice at age 26 to become a full-time Tour golfer.”

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Beer In Ads #2295: Randolph Scott, I’ve Found Out

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Friday’s ad is for Carling’s Red Cap Ale, from 1950. In this ad, part of a series featuring well-known celebrities of the day and the tagline “I’ve found out,” it features “American film actor” Randolph Scott holding a beer and giving his testimonial about why he loves Red Cap Ale. Is it me, or does that glass in his hand look really tiny, as if it was photoshopped in (or whatever they did before Photoshop)?

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Beer In Ads #2294: Grantland Rice, I’ve Found Out

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Thursday’s ad is for Carling’s Red Cap Ale, from 1950. In this ad, part of a series featuring well-known celebrities of the day and the tagline “I’ve found out,” it features “early 20th-century American sportswriter” Grantland Rice holding a beer and giving his testimonial about why he loves Red Cap Ale.

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In some of the ads, the inset box is not blank, but included another person, presumably a regular non-famous person and probably localized for where the ad ran, if not in a national publication.

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Next Session: Looking For Late, Lamented Loves

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For our 124th Session, our host will be David Bardallis‏, who writes All the Brews Fit to Pint, which focuses on Ann Arbor, and Michigan more generally. For his topic, he’s chosen Late, Lamented Loves, and while he confesses that the “late” part of that title is, at least in part, due to accidentally forgetting to post his announcement sooner (though to be fair, I forgot to remind him, which I usually try to do, so it’s not all on him) the result is that we all have one day to come up with a topic for tomorrow’s Session. Think of this month’s Session as a “speed session,” and shoot from the hip. And for his topic, that actually works. So what’s the topic? What’s a beer that’s no longer being brewed that you really miss, and wish was still available? Quick, top of your head? I can think of a few beers no longer around that I’d happily crack open if I could. I bet you can think of some, too, off the top of your head. “So… what are your late, lamented beer loves?” But here’s David’s full description:

Nevertheless, I think the chosen subject, “Late, Lamented Loves,” is still worth talking about. I mean a beer you remember fondly but which is no longer in production.

It needn’t be an objectively “great” beer, though it could be. It could also be a nostalgic or youthful memory. It could be a “go-to” you still reflexively want to reach for. It could be all of these things.

Maybe the brewery and the beer are both long gone. Maybe the brewery is still around but just decided for whatever reason not to continue producing the glorious nectar you still pine for.

Whatever the case, there’s probably at least one beer that’s already leapt to your mind that fits into this description. Maybe even more than one, and, if so, feel free to go there.

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To participate in the June Session, on or before Friday, June 2, 2017 — which is tomorrow — write a post as soon as you can and either e-mail your post’s link to annarborbeer@gmail.com or tweet him at @allthebrews. If that’s not quite enough time, don’t worry, if you “need more time than a day, hit [him] up anyway. [he]’ll continuously update in the days and weeks ahead as necessary.” Get cracking.

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