Sanford's Jamaica Ginger

robertk · Aug 26, 2025

Bottle Vitals

	Date	Color	Shape	Size (Height x Diameter)	Value*
Sanford's Jamaica Ginger	1880s	Aqua	Rectangular	6.75" x 2.25" x 1.25"	$10.00

Bottle Views (click to enlarge):

Front	Back	Side	Side	Bottom

Sanford's Jamaica Ginger The quintessence of Jamaica Ginger Finest Aromatics & French Brandy Registered 1876		Weeks & Potter	Boston Mass USA

Sanford's Jamaica Ginger was a popular cure-all made by the Weeks & Potter drug company in Boston, Massachusetts. It was an infusion of ginger that was then blended with herbs and Brandy. It was promoted as a cure for all sorts of ailments -- everything from colds and flu to diarrhea and even flatulence! Here are some of their advertisements from the 1800s, with directions for how to take it to cure various ailments. Click any of the ads to enlarge.

No doubt since it was blended with Brandy, it had a high alcohol content. Weeks & Potter were no strangers to alcohol -- for medicinal purposes, of course (click to enlarge).

In later years, Jamaica Ginger infusions began to be called "Jake", and were consumed more for the alcohol than any medicinal effects. Since it was available over the counter at the drugstore, it was a way to get alcohol in places where it was otherwise forbidden. The government began cracking down on that during prohibition and required that other ginger solids and other things be added to make it taste awful so that people would not voluntarily consume it just for the alcohol. (Is this the reason that most medicines still taste awful?). That led to its own set of problems, because by the 1930's some of the additives turned out to be neurotoxins that cause partial paralysis, but that was well after the era of this bottle. (If you're curious about that, see this wikipedia article.)

The company that made Sanford's Jamaica Ginger was Weeks & Potter, a druggist located originally on Washington Street in Boston. It isn't clear exactly when they got started, but they are mentioned in a business listing on that street in 1850. It is also not clear when they changed to being the Potter Drug & Chemical company. One source says it was 1883, though it was not incorporated under that name until 1899. The company apparently had a run of bad luck with fires. Their first building burned down in 1864.

The amount of damage, as well as the amount of insurance loss, seemed a bit imprecise.

But of course that didn't stop them, so they rebuilt and then promptly had their building destroyed again in Boston's Great Fire of 1872. Unfortunately, four firefighters lost their lives when the building collapsed on them during that fire.

Weeks & Potter again rebuilt, only to have their building damaged by a gas explosion in 1879. (Click to enlarge)

But it wasn't all doom and gloom. In 1896, it was the building next door that caught fire, and the Weeks & Potter building was used to stage a daring rescue that had folks walking a 3" stone ledge several stories up to escape the flames. Click to enlarge:

Over the years, the company continued to prosper, and apparently did quite well. When George R White, president of the Potter Drug & Chemical Company, died in 1922, his personal estate was estimated at eight million dollars. That's around 150 million in 2025 dollars. He apparently bequeathed most of it to the city of Boston -- they got seven million (135 million in 2025 dollars), and the rest went to various other recipients including some employees of the drug company itself. Click to enlarge for details.

Bottles of Sanford's Jamaica Ginger exist with either of the "Weeks & Potter" or "Potter Drug & Chemical" company names on them. This example, with "Weeks & Potter", is the earlier of the two. As noted above, it isn't entirely clear when the company name changed, but I'm going with 1880's as the timeframe for this bottle.

Finally, here are the "before and after". It was cleaned with soap and water, brushes, and wooden scrapers.