No, I don’t have a headache. Not today. 😉 But this a word I’d looked up to make sure I could use it in a 1914 setting, so I thought I’d share the interesting pharmaceutical history that went along with it.
Aspirin was a trademarked name, created in 1899 by German chemist Heinrich Dreser. It’s from the Latin spiraea, or “meadow-sweet,” the plant from which it’s derived.
Here’s the interesting bit. According to German law, prescriptions had to be filled exactly as written. So chemist companies would trademark very easily-made drugs that were made from common items, using household names for things that were easy for doctors to remember. Doctors would then write a prescription, and they would have to be filled as written. No generics for them! So these companies were then making a lot of money from very simple items.
I find it interesting that, in the U.S. at least, “aspirin” is certainly not considered a brand name; it’s the rather generic name for that type of medicine, which any company can then make. I wonder if the same is true these days in Germany…
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On a totally unrelated note, the paperback of A Stray Drop of Blood is finally available on Amazon again!
Roseanna M. White is a bestselling, Christy Award winning author who has long claimed that words are the air she breathes. When not writing fiction, she’s homeschooling her two kids, editing, designing book covers, and pretending her house will clean itself. Roseanna is the author of a slew of historical novels that span several continents and thousands of years. Spies and war and mayhem always seem to find their way into her books…to offset her real life, which is blessedly ordinary.
I'm a little behind with my blog reading…
The usage of pills in Germany is less wide-spread than in the United States (where they seem to be distributed like candy). So there is less common talk about it.
From my experience, people talk about "taking a pill" when complaining about headaches. Less naming of a brand or active component. And, thanks to frequent advertising, people will know that Aspirin is a brand name.
Nonetheless, when the name aspirin is used in Germany, it is not limited to the brand product. In other words: If you ask for aspirin in a pharmacy, the pharmacist will still ask for your preference of manufacturer.
They will also ask in case you come with a prescription, since generics are allowed by now (even encouraged by most health insurance plans).
You know who to ask that question.
You know who to ask that question.
Wow, I didn't know that about aspirin. Interesting.
Hard to believe, it seems so commonplace now.