Crispin's Drug Store Museum

10/07/2026

In 1909, bad news for Coffeyville, KS, turned out to be good news for Independence. The two George Boyd drug stores in Coffeyville had to be sold in a bankruptcy auction and the contents of one store was bought by Lee Holt & Will Frank and moved to Independence, where they opened in the new Sunflower Building and adopted its name for their business. They got right to work promoting the store, starting with a concert by Prof. Ryan's Orchestra. The next month, another in-store concert with the music provided by the line of Victrola phonographs the store sold. The two men were very active in the social life of the city, so much so that they each kept a dapper suit at the store to change into before stepping out. Evidently, this fact became too well known, for one night when they went to change, they discovered someone had slipped in the back door and stole both suits. They were up to date on the fountain business as well, and were one of the first to start serving a light lunch along with all the ice cream and soda treats. At some point, Holt bought out Frank, and ran it solo until 1921, when he sold it to Don Richardson and Arthur Tarbert of Blackwell, OK. Unfortunately, the new owners were unable to come up with the final payment, and it was back to the auction house. The new owner was O.D. Fair of McCune, KS. Six months later, the newspaper ads proclaimed the owner was E. Clate Fair, who had owned his own drug store in town for a number of years. There must be some relationship between the two Fairs, but I wasn't able to discover it. The name of the store remains the Sunflower until at least 1923, when the trail ran dry. Below are a drug store bottle and a trade token from the Sunflower.

09/08/2026

I found another item to add to my collection of stuff from H.J. Chapman, M.D., who, on various items described himself as a Chronic Disease Specialist, an Electrical Specialist, and a Pharmacy Manager. He was in business out in Speed, Kansas (near Norton) from 1900 to 1914, as far as I can tell. The newest add to the museum is the medicine or dose glass. It is a thin clear glass with etched sides, calibrated in markings of up to 8 teaspoonfuls, then on to 4 tablespoonfuls, which equaled a w**eglass full. Kinda stingy on the w**e.

09/02/2026

Here is a picture post card of the Mentholatum building in Wichita. Post card is postmarked 1918. Mentholatum started in Wichita, before 1900. They started packaging in white glass, eventually in green glass, and now, of course, green plastic. This building is now occupied by the Spice Merchant, offering coffees, teas, tasty treats and kitchen accessories. I am sure the building is just as aromatic today as in the olden days, just a different scent.

08/19/2026

08/10/2026

In Horton, Kansas, the Fisher & Stivers Drug Store becomes the Stivers & Sautter Drug Store in 1887. Christian A. Sautter buys Dr. Stivers out in 1893 and runs it as C.A. Sautter, Druggist, until his death in 1913. The name C.A. Sautter Co., The Reliable Drug Store continues on until at least 1920. Below are drug store bottles for the last two owners.

07/22/2026

In 1880, Druggist Thomas Calk came to Independence, Kansas, and got a job at Pugh's Drug Store. He worked there until 1884, when he and a Mr. Breard teamed up and opened the Opera House Drug Store. It was a two-story building and the second floor held the Opera House. This was a fairly common arrangement, and usually access to the opera house was up a staircase located towards the back of the store so attendees would have to walk thru the store and see their merchandise. Calk bought out Beard in 1887. Calk was very active in the community thru the years. In 1896, he must have been trying to change things up, for his newspaper ads changed to Calk's Drug Store. That attempt must not have worked, as the next year he sold the store to a long-time employee, Charlie Joyce. The name goes back to the Opera House and continues until it was sold again in 1905 and the name changed to the Corner Pharmacy. The bottle below is a two ounce size and about 4 inches tall.

06/29/2026

In Independence, Kansas, in 1906, Thomas Calk of the Calk & De Mott Drug Store was having more health problems, so he and his partner decided to sell their store, operating under the name of the Crystal Drug Store, to Charles Harrison and Dale Hebrank of the city. I didn't learn much about Harrison, but Hebrank was constantly in the newspaper. He was a member of the Gun Club, the town baseball team (third base), the Masonic Lodge and a trombone player in the town band. He delivered mail for a living. There were a couple of news items about the druggists they hired and with neither of the partners working in drug stores before or after this venture, they may not have been trained druggists themselves. They boosted for a trolley line to be built in town and lobbied for it to run in front of their store. They hired a soda fountain expert away from Kansas City to work on increasing their refreshment trade. In 1909, an offer to buy into a restaurant in town was too tempting for Harrison and he sells out, so the business becomes the Hebrank Drug Co., Crystal Drug Store. Below are a drug store bottle used by the partnership and a prescription label for the new firm.

06/19/2026

The first mention I find of Joslin's Drug Store was a small ad in the Topeka Daily Journal in 1906. The business was located in a large building at 12th & Taylor and contained apartments as well as other businesses. Not much more was found, other than a few exciting moments like when they were burgled in 1907 of about $100 in the change bag laying in the back of the store while Charles E. Joslin's attention was averted. In 1921, a fire started at night in the basement that was used by several organizations, but had been vacant the evening before the fire, so Joslin was sure no smoldering cigar or cigarette butts were the cause. The damage was extensive and took a couple of months to get back to normal. Just two weeks later, the Joslins had a fire start in the chimney flue at home, but was quickly discovered and put out. In 1927, the business was sold to Pat Rowland who operated it as one of a local chain of stores and called the Crescent Drug No. 6. Below is a medicine glass handed out to his better customers to help with home dosing of liquid medicines.

06/10/2026

Among the many serious issues we Kansans will have to make decisions on this fall is the question of electing our judges. I am currently reading a book entitled Lincoln’s Mentors by Michael J. Gerhardt and I was struck by how applicable the following passage from the 1840’s was to today:

“Lincoln continued to ride the circuit in order to earn additional money, and as he became more familiar with the law’s complexities, he, like other lawyers at the time, had to deal with the jarring reality that judges varied in quality. Some judges knew and cared about the law, while many others did not. Outcomes often did not depend on the facts but on a judge’s politics. In the nineteenth century, judges rose to the bench because of their political connections, rarely because of their acumen or distinction as lawyers. Their courts were often poorly run and their decisions erratic. Lawyers were representing different parties constantly, so an opponent one day could be an ally the next or vice versa. The legal system was much like the rest of the Old West at that time, where order did not strictly follow the law.”

Abraham speaks to us yet today.

05/29/2026

It might seem strange that a drugstore bottle would list Drugs & Jewelry, but when you get to know the career of Alexander Eisler, the inclusion of Drugs might be questionable. A new ad in the Harper Graphic newspaper in 1884, announces the opening of the jewelry business of C. Irion and A. Eisler in the drugstore of E.B. Weatherly. Life is good and Alex marries Elise Otti of Harper. That same year he is elected to the City Council. In 1892, he starts serving on the fair board. By 1897, Eisler decides to get into the drug business as well and buys Dr. McManigle's drugstore and moves his jewelry business into there. He hires N.H. Kilmer of Belle Plaine to fill the prescriptions. Business is good, but home is calling him, and 1903 he sells the drugstore to Earl Collins and announces his plans to return to Hungary for a year long visit. In 1905, an ad shows him back in Harper and the jewelry business in a new location.