Dr. Briggs Worm Destroyer – a real mystery

20 June 2013 (R•112213 see bottom comment)

Here is a weird one that is currently on ebay. A Doctor Briggs Worm Destroyer. This little puppy is as whittled as can be and is as cute as a button. What a bottle! The ebay listing is below:

DOCT. BRIGGS WORM DESTROYER

Unlisted & Mint Dr Brigg’s Worm Destroyer Open Pontil Killer Crude Wavy Whittle

Here is a ONE OF A KIND open pontil medicine bottle that is unlisted in all the catalogs, books, auction sales, etc. You can check Greer, Glassworks, etc and you won’t find it listed. This is a great opportunity to acquire a awesome medicine for your collection. It is an icy blue aqua, round and stands just over 4 inches tall. It is embossed DOCT. BRIGGS WORM on one side and DESTROYER on the other. It has a super crude rolled lip and is hammered with gorgeous whittle and wavy glass. It has a nice sharp and crisp tubular open pontil scar on the bottom. EXCELLENT CONDITION with no chips, cracks, or dings. brandon551 100% Positive Feedback

“Ladies and gents, this is where you git the Blackfoot Injun Root-ee, the Pain Balm, the Cough Balsam, the Magic Salve and the Worm Destroyer – the fi-i-ive remedies fer two dollars!” The medicine show followed the dawg fight. It hit Briggs City towards sundown one day…”

This is a tough bottle to trace online. Very few leads but some make your imagination wander. For instance, one hit led me to a book called Cupid the Cow Punch by Eleanor Gates who writes about a medicine man, worm destroyer and the tiny Texas town of Griggs. “Ladies and gents, this is where you git the Blackfoot Injun Root-ee, the Pain Balm, the Cough Balsam, the Magic Salve and the Worm Destroyer – the fi-i-ive remedies fer two dollars! The medicine show followed the dawg fight. It hit Briggs City towards sundown one day…” Briggs City is a tiny town in North Texas that is all but gone now. Most likely this is just a red heron. Another lead takes me to Nashville for a Charles S. Briggs who was a surgeon in the late 1800s. Don’t think this is it either.

Looking at AntiqueMedicines.com I do see three separate listing for Briggs bottles.

G E BRIGGS’ RUSSIAN COSMETIC PREPARED BY E. B. G. KINSLOE PHILAD. OP, Greer 280

DR J BRIGGS N.Y. (IN RECESSED PANEL) Chiropodist (foot doctor) at 212 Broadway NY

M.A. BRIGGS TONIC PILLS NUNN BETTER NEVER FAIL TO CURE VALDOSTA, GA

Oh well, just something to think about. Maybe someone out there has some information on ole’ Doct Briggs and his Worm Destroyer?

Just some neat medicine show writing – Cupid the Cow Punch by Eleanor Gates

Dr. Peters Worm Lozenges – Testimonial by a Mrs. Catherine Ann Briggs – Schenectady, NY 1842

Read More: Morphine Copy Cat – Dr. Hobson’s Soothing Syrup (similar bottles)