Dr. Harter & Co.
Dr. Harter's Family Medicines

This firm was established in Saint Louis around 1868 by Milton G. and Samuel K. Harter and Thomas W. Boyer, originally Ohio residents. It operated as Dr. Harter & Company for several years, then by 1873 as The Dr. Harter Medicine Company. The company's products included Dr .Harter's Fever and Ague Pills, Dr. Harter's Pile Ointment, Dr. Harter's Little Liver Pills - Do not Gripe or Sicken, Dr. Harter's Iron Tonic, etc.

Stamps for Dr. Harter & Co. were issued from June, 1870 to June, 1873. 639,009 were printed on old paper, and 1,182,338 on silk paper. The copy shown is on silk paper.

Those issued for The Dr. Harter Medicine Company or Dr. Harter's Family Medicines were issued form November of 1873 until April 10, 1883. 3,060,000 were printed on silk paper and 9,062,114 on pink and watermarked papers. This copy is on watermarked paper.


Here is a small gallery of Harter covers.


A receipt for purchase of Harter products sometime in the 1870's. The form was printed in early 1870, as it has a place for a revenue stamp, which was only required on receipts from August 1, 1864 to October 1, 1870, but has an 187_ dateline.


After the repeal of the tax on proprietary medicines, Dr. Harter's Family Medicines used a facsimile label.


This Harter advertising card from 1888 made a patriotic appeal to the Southern trade.


The back of the Winnie Davis advertising card.


An intercity railroad ticket with Harter Medicine Company advertising. It is not from Saint Louis.


A much later receipt, July 31, 1894. By the end of 1895 mail to the Dr. Harter Medicine Company was being diverted to Dayton, Ohio, and by the end of the decade its business was acquired by the San Antonio Drug Company.


The Dr. Harter Medicine Company was operating in 1899, using general purpose revenue stamps for its products.


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