In doing research for this blog, I came across the archives of the Quarterly Journal of Inebriety, which are hosted on the site of the addiction history researcher William L. White. I’m trained as an archivist, and am beginning research into the history of addiction treatment, so of course I found this fascinating.
The Quarterly Journal of Inebriety was the first medical journal devoted to the study of addiction. To quote Eoin Cannon at the wonderful Points blog:
The Quarterly Journal of Inebriety (QJI) was published by the American Association for the Study and Cure of Inebriety (AACI), a group of managers and doctors that formed in 1870 to normalize and improve practices at the residential treatment institutions that had been springing up since midcentury. Its sole editor for 38 years was T.D. Crothers, superintendent at the Walnut Hill Asylum in Hartford, Connecticut and a leading advocate of the medical treatment of inebriety until his death in 1918.
I hope to write more about the history of alcoholism treatment, but right now let’s just check out these incredible vintage ads. Keep in mind, the Quarterly Journal of Inebriety was a medical journal, so these ads are geared towards medical professionals.
There are many, many ads for treatment centers, but the above ad is creepy as fuck, no?.
As a native Michigander, I was pleased to J. H. Kellogg’s ads featured prominently in many issues.
Herion tablets, why not? (Interesting to note, Antikamnia was a pain reliever involved in a Supreme Court case about drug labeling.)
Or some cannabis or opiate pain killers?
For the ladies! (You know what this is, right?)
Or try this one!
Or maybe just eat some yogurt?
My favorite part about the above ad, is that there were apparently enough “beef tonics” on the market, that they had to disguinish themselves.
But if you are still having some digestive problems (you know, after all those opiates and beef tonic…)
A product still on the market today! 
For all your asylum needs! 
My aunt made 6,000 dollars working at home last month, and so can you! (My personal favorite ad, mostly because it looks like an R. Crumb drawing!)
unrecovered 