On Sunday, Gossips posted about "Men We Know," a series of drawings of prominent Hudsonians that appeared once a week in 1909 in the Hudson Morning Republican, and its companion volume "Just for Fun." In that post, William Gray, proprietor of R. Gray's Sons Furniture was featured. Today, we share another of the images from the series.
The rhyme that accompanies the drawing reads as follows:
If by any chance if happened that his medicines ran shy,
Why, it needn't bother him a single bit.
He could cure man or beast with a banjo tune,
From the minstrels in which he made a hit.
The rhyme and the clues in the drawing--the horses, the medicine bottles, the sign on the door--were very likely sufficient to let readers in 1909 know this was the veterinarian Dr. J. Homer Luff. The drawing, with its subject identified, appears again in "Just for Fun."
Luff, who practiced veterinary medicine in the building that is now Governor's Tavern, was the founder of Carter-Luff Chemical Company, which produced very popular liniments for horses.
On April 12, 1979, the Chatham Courier featured an article about Luff and the Carter-Luff Chemical Company titled "The Horse is still king at Carter-Luff Co., makers of equine ailment cures since 1904." The following is quoted from that article:
No. 738 Warren Street in the City of Hudson is a handsome residence whose large pillars pinpoint the date of its construction, circa 1837. Passersby, particularly those of the present generation, probably don't realize it, but immediately behind this old homestead is one of the city’s venerable firms established when horses afforded Columbia County residents with their principal form of transportation.
One has to look sharply to see a small sign with gold leaf letters at one comer of No. 738 which marks the location of Carter-Luff Chemical Co. Entrance to the laboratory is gained by walking through a narrow flower-lined passageway until the visitor stands before a story and a half wooden frame building on Hudson's little known Haviland Place.
Founder of this firm was Dr. J. H. Luff, a native of Felton, Delaware, who came to Hudson in 1897 at the age of 28. He graduated from New York College of Veterinary Surgeons and hung out his shingle at a small office near Van Tassel’s Livery Stable on South 7th St. to be near the horse trade.
Dr. Luff’s fame as a veterinarian spread rapidly as he not only drove a horse and buggy to all sections of Columbia County but he frequently crossed the Hudson River ice in wintertime to treat Greene County animals. In 1900 he purchased the pillared home at 738 Warren St. and four years later had constructed the story and a half laboratory of Carter-Luff Company at a total cost of $1,000.
Just how the name Carter fitted into the corporation’s title, no one is quite sure. Mrs. Elizabeth Riley, Dr. Luff’s daughter, who succeeded her father in ownership, believes her father chose Carter, a family name, to give the new laboratory, “a touch of prestige.”
By 1910, Dr. Luff’s reputation as an expert in diseases of the horse was known throughout the Middle Atlantic States. Hardly a day passed without several consultations with prominent horsemen on possible cures for their animals. With the advent of the motor age, horses, particularly runners and standardbreds, were trucked to Hudson for examination by Dr. Luff.
In the pre-World War I era, as many as 75 pharmaceuticals were prepared and distributed by Carter-Luff Chemical Co. from their Hudson office. Dr. Luff originated the packaging of proprietory medicines for veterinarians and he added a personal touch by placing the doctor’s name and address on every bottle or box that left the lab.
 |
| This picture of Luff accompanied the 1979 article in the Chatham Courier |
Dr. Luff, in addition to being an expert in veterinary medicine, was also an adept musician and cook. He played the banjo and appeared in a number of Hudson’s minstrel shows. The kindly, whitehaired gentleman also enjoyed spending hours in the kitchen testing his culinary skill and indeed fortunate were the Hudsonians invited to his home for one of his lobster dinners. . . .
Among the popular medicines still sent out from Hudson is “MAC,” a trade name for a counter-irritant used by horse owners who seek to avoid blemishing a valuable animal by firing or blistering.
Originated in 1900 as “Mist Argenti Comp" compound mixture, it was given its present abbreviated name in 1940 and, by that time, more than 3,000 veterinarians were using “MAC” for treating lameness in horses. Another popular product sent out from Hudson is Carter’s Liniment. A pink solution, it is used to relieve muscle soreness in horses and mules.
COPYRIGHT 2024 CAROLE OSTERINK
No comments:
Post a Comment