0:00:02 > 0:00:06Blists Hill Victorian Town in Shropshire revives the sights, sounds and smells
0:00:06 > 0:00:09of the 19th century.
0:00:09 > 0:00:12At its heart stands the pharmacy, a treasure house of potions
0:00:12 > 0:00:15and remedies from a century and a half ago.
0:00:15 > 0:00:20Now, in a unique experiment, historian Ruth Goodman,
0:00:20 > 0:00:22Professor of Pharmacy Nick Barber
0:00:22 > 0:00:27and PhD student Tom Quick have opened the doors to the Victorian pharmacy,
0:00:27 > 0:00:31recreating a high street institution we take for granted
0:00:31 > 0:00:35but which was once a novel idea.
0:00:35 > 0:00:39They're bringing the pharmacy to life, sourcing ingredients,
0:00:39 > 0:00:45mixing potions and dispensing cures. But in an age when skin creams contained arsenic
0:00:45 > 0:00:51and cold medicines were based on opium, the team need to be highly selective.
0:00:51 > 0:00:57They're only trying out safe versions of traditional remedies on carefully selected customers.
0:00:58 > 0:01:02The start was like the Wild West. People didn't know what was good and bad.
0:01:02 > 0:01:04Try and get a bit of speed up. There we go, yeah.
0:01:04 > 0:01:09The pharmacy was something that affected everybody's lives in one way or another.
0:01:09 > 0:01:15They're discovering an age of social change, that brought healthcare within the reach of ordinary people
0:01:15 > 0:01:21for the very first time, heralding a consumer revolution that reached far beyond medicine
0:01:21 > 0:01:25to create the model for the modern high-street chemist as we know it today.
0:01:33 > 0:01:36By the middle of Queen Victoria's reign,
0:01:36 > 0:01:39the pharmacy was an established and trusted supplier
0:01:39 > 0:01:41of remedies and cures,
0:01:41 > 0:01:44but the commercial pressures of the time
0:01:44 > 0:01:46pushed them towards other products and services.
0:01:46 > 0:01:50Their access to raw and sometimes dangerous chemicals
0:01:50 > 0:01:54allowed them to experiment in a way that wouldn't be allowed today.
0:01:54 > 0:02:00It must've been a marvellous thing being a Victorian chemist and druggist in those days.
0:02:00 > 0:02:02They were just able to play around.
0:02:02 > 0:02:06The lack of controls and regulations also led to the inventiveness and freedom to experiment
0:02:06 > 0:02:10and come up with new ways of improving the life of people.
0:02:15 > 0:02:18Their experiments enabled pharmacists to invent products
0:02:18 > 0:02:21like soap powder, table salt and matches.
0:02:21 > 0:02:26Tom has drafted in Phil Dunford, a member of the UK Pyrotechnic Society,
0:02:26 > 0:02:29to show him how to make his own matches for the pharmacy.
0:02:30 > 0:02:34I don't suppose you could recommend a few techniques that we could use?
0:02:34 > 0:02:38Well, the matches used earlier, maybe from 1800,
0:02:38 > 0:02:39were called Promethean matches.
0:02:39 > 0:02:46The way they work is by mixing potassium chlorate and sugar.
0:02:46 > 0:02:50The method of lighting the match was to dip it into sulphuric acid.
0:02:50 > 0:02:55So, if you dip it quickly in, just so that you cover the tip. That's it.
0:02:55 > 0:02:57And leave it out there, yeah?
0:02:57 > 0:03:00That's it. And you should see it will start to fizz.
0:03:01 > 0:03:04Oh, yeah. Look! Here we go!
0:03:04 > 0:03:06Oh, wow!
0:03:09 > 0:03:14So rather more messy and harder to light than a modern match.
0:03:14 > 0:03:18Other advances in matchmaking had disastrous side effects.
0:03:18 > 0:03:23The precursor of today's red phosphorous matches were made of white phosphorous,
0:03:23 > 0:03:29which poisoned match workers and caused a disease known as phossy jaw.
0:03:29 > 0:03:33The phosphorous was a waxy substance, which has to be melted and it gave off a vapour,
0:03:33 > 0:03:37which at first gave you headaches and sallow skin,
0:03:37 > 0:03:40and then gave you toothache and then you lost your teeth.
0:03:40 > 0:03:45And then your jaw and your bones started to go spongy, and, um,
0:03:45 > 0:03:51for a long time, people worked under these conditions until they finally banded together
0:03:51 > 0:03:55and refused to do it any more and went on strike, in the famous match-girls' strike.
0:03:55 > 0:04:00Tom's made about 20 matches, enough for a box full.
0:04:00 > 0:04:03The downside to carrying these matches around
0:04:03 > 0:04:07was that in order to light them, you needed sulphuric acid.
0:04:07 > 0:04:14As Phil demonstrates, an accidental spillage of acid would have had nasty results.
0:04:14 > 0:04:17- That's the mixture that's in these Promethean match heads.- Right.
0:04:17 > 0:04:19This is some sulphuric acid,
0:04:19 > 0:04:23- and this is what happens when they get together.- Oh, wow!
0:04:25 > 0:04:30- So you really don't want that happening in your pocket, do you? - No, not at all.
0:04:30 > 0:04:35Tom will need to explore safer, more reliable alternatives to these early matches.
0:04:45 > 0:04:51As the century progressed, pharmacists kept expanding their product range beyond medicines.
0:04:53 > 0:04:58With Britain's population more than doubling during Victoria's reign,
0:04:58 > 0:05:03products for babies and toddlers offered great potential to become big sellers.
0:05:03 > 0:05:06They appealed to parents' concerns for their children's health.
0:05:09 > 0:05:13Ruth is setting up a free weighing service for babies,
0:05:13 > 0:05:16a common ploy used to entice mothers into the pharmacy.
0:05:17 > 0:05:20We're looking to extend our range.
0:05:22 > 0:05:26All of life, from cradle to grave.
0:05:26 > 0:05:30Jenny Flegg, a local mum and prominent member
0:05:30 > 0:05:34of the National Childbirth Trust, has arrived to test out the scales.
0:05:34 > 0:05:36Hello, Billy. And how old is he now?
0:05:36 > 0:05:39He's...he'll be 12 weeks tomorrow.
0:05:39 > 0:05:41You're a nice big lad, aren't you?
0:05:41 > 0:05:43Looking all bright and cheery.
0:05:43 > 0:05:45We'll put you on. Here we go.
0:05:45 > 0:05:48One, two, three...whee!
0:05:48 > 0:05:54With poorer nutrition, Victorian babies tended to weigh less than a modern healthy baby like Billy.
0:05:54 > 0:05:57- 14 pounds, 2 ounces.- Oh.
0:05:57 > 0:06:02Once a baby was weighed, the pharmacist had the opportunity to promote their products.
0:06:02 > 0:06:06So it's a sort of community service but with a bit of an ulterior motive.
0:06:06 > 0:06:09We all know how big you are. You're nice and healthy, aren't you?
0:06:09 > 0:06:12- Yeah.- Nice big healthy baby.
0:06:12 > 0:06:13- Is he bottle fed?- No.
0:06:13 > 0:06:15I'm feeding him myself.
0:06:15 > 0:06:19Which is really nice. Even for someone who is feeding themselves,
0:06:19 > 0:06:22a pharmacist would offer a whole range of feeding products.
0:06:22 > 0:06:24- So, a breast pump. Have you ever...? - Yes, yes.
0:06:24 > 0:06:26I've got the most...
0:06:26 > 0:06:28- Oh, my word!- ..amazing...
0:06:28 > 0:06:31Isn't it so Victorian?!
0:06:31 > 0:06:34I mean, it is basically just a, you know, a cup on a pump, isn't it?
0:06:34 > 0:06:40- Mind you, they weren't all quite as nice as this. There's also a range of nipple shields.- Oh, my word!
0:06:40 > 0:06:42- If you're feeding, you know?- Yes.
0:06:42 > 0:06:44Some of them are all right, you see.
0:06:44 > 0:06:48Like that one. And there was a little rubber teat that went on it
0:06:48 > 0:06:52and you could feed directly. That's fine. But some of them were made of lead.
0:06:52 > 0:06:55- Right...- It's such a soft material, they felt that it was
0:06:55 > 0:06:59easier for the baby to get in the mouth and you'd get a better seal.
0:06:59 > 0:07:02But you were poisoning the child. People just weren't anywhere near
0:07:02 > 0:07:06as aware of the dangers of lead poisoning, you know?
0:07:06 > 0:07:09And you weren't safe if you had bottles, you know?
0:07:09 > 0:07:12Despite a pharmacist's best intentions,
0:07:12 > 0:07:16many of the baby products they sold caused more harm than good.
0:07:16 > 0:07:17What a brave baby you are.
0:07:17 > 0:07:20- This stuff, Mrs Wilmslow's Soothing Syrup.- Oh, yes.
0:07:20 > 0:07:22This is utterly horrifying.
0:07:22 > 0:07:25"For a child under one month old." They've got opium in them!
0:07:25 > 0:07:28You've got four or five children, you're on the edge of starvation,
0:07:28 > 0:07:32if you don't work, your children die. The only thing you could do was dope up your babies
0:07:32 > 0:07:36so that you could carry on working so that you could feed your other children.
0:07:36 > 0:07:40Babies who are fed opiates, they lose their appetite.
0:07:40 > 0:07:42They have no hunger, so they won't suck.
0:07:42 > 0:07:46- Right. So they waste away.- They do. They basically die of starvation.
0:07:46 > 0:07:49When Victoria came to the throne, at the very beginning of her reign,
0:07:49 > 0:07:54- the infant mortality rate, so that's babies under five...- Yes.- ..25%.
0:07:54 > 0:07:57- Oh. Right.- Just horrendous, isn't that? A quarter of babies.
0:07:57 > 0:08:01- That doesn't bear thinking about. - It doesn't, does it? Imagine.
0:08:01 > 0:08:04I've got three, so I may well have lost one of them.
0:08:04 > 0:08:07Yeah. Exactly.
0:08:07 > 0:08:10Don't fancy buying any of these products, do you?
0:08:10 > 0:08:11I don't think I'll bother.
0:08:11 > 0:08:15Bit too young for alcohol. All right. I shall get you home.
0:08:15 > 0:08:18Narcotics were freely available across the counter.
0:08:18 > 0:08:20Thank you very much.
0:08:20 > 0:08:24Before the Dangerous Drugs Act of 1920, anybody could buy them
0:08:24 > 0:08:27from a pharmacy without even needing a prescription.
0:08:27 > 0:08:34Medical practitioners often advised opium addicts to take cannabis or cocaine to cure their addiction.
0:08:34 > 0:08:40I have been really quite astounded at just how many narcotics were available
0:08:40 > 0:08:44in a pharmacist, how much they were used, how cheap they were,
0:08:44 > 0:08:47and the range of products that they were in!
0:08:47 > 0:08:50All these things aimed at babies and children and nursing mothers -
0:08:50 > 0:08:55absolutely loaded with opium, laudanum, morphine
0:08:55 > 0:08:58in one form or another, and the price!
0:08:58 > 0:09:04So extremely cheap. So cheap that it would be much, much more sensible in a way
0:09:04 > 0:09:10for a working-class mother to drug her baby than to try and pay for childcare.
0:09:14 > 0:09:20The dangers of the explosive Promethean matches had been clear for all to see.
0:09:20 > 0:09:23One pharmacist, John Walker, used his knowledge of science
0:09:23 > 0:09:28to create a safer, more marketable alternative - the friction match.
0:09:28 > 0:09:31- OK. Do you want me to have a go? - So if you just scrape the tip along.
0:09:31 > 0:09:33So straight like that, yeah?
0:09:33 > 0:09:35- Just like a normal match?- Yep.
0:09:37 > 0:09:40Walker was making percussion caps for guns
0:09:40 > 0:09:44when he discovered that antimony sulphide and potassium chlorate
0:09:44 > 0:09:47caught fire when they were rubbed together.
0:09:47 > 0:09:49We need to add
0:09:49 > 0:09:51a couple of drops of water.
0:09:51 > 0:09:53This will make up a blacky brown sort of mixture,
0:09:53 > 0:09:56which is a bit more the colour we're familiar with matches.
0:09:56 > 0:10:00It's quite surprising to me that pharmacists were making matches
0:10:00 > 0:10:03and, not only that, but coming up with new processes of making them.
0:10:03 > 0:10:06Well, I suppose the pharmacists had the materials on hand
0:10:06 > 0:10:08and they were educated men.
0:10:08 > 0:10:11And very many of them, particularly this John Walker,
0:10:11 > 0:10:15who invented this friction match, was very much a polymath.
0:10:15 > 0:10:17The locals called him Stockton's Encyclopaedia.
0:10:17 > 0:10:21You can really imagine someone sort of working in their back workshop,
0:10:21 > 0:10:25trying to come up with the latest or a new technique
0:10:25 > 0:10:29that's going to really propel their business.
0:10:29 > 0:10:33These are definitely safer than the first ones we made, aren't they?
0:10:33 > 0:10:37- Absolutely.- But, I mean, they're not safety matches?
0:10:37 > 0:10:41No. The definition of safety matches is where there are two separate parts,
0:10:41 > 0:10:44each of which on their own can't do any harm at all.
0:10:44 > 0:10:48So in a modern safety match that you strike on a box,
0:10:48 > 0:10:51the head, in itself, can't actually catch fire on its own.
0:10:51 > 0:10:57When you scrape it down, what in fact you're doing is the side of the box is covered with red phosphorus.
0:10:57 > 0:11:00So when you scrape, you take a little tiny bit of the red phosphorus
0:11:00 > 0:11:06off of the match and create a more dangerous mixture on the end of the match, but only a tiny amount.
0:11:06 > 0:11:11But the match itself can never catch fire unless it's touching the red phosphorus,
0:11:11 > 0:11:15and that's what makes it truly a safety match as opposed to just a friction match.
0:11:16 > 0:11:19So, if you're ready, then?
0:11:19 > 0:11:21Yes, that looks about right. Just...
0:11:22 > 0:11:25..dip the tips in. Make sure it's only the very tip,
0:11:25 > 0:11:29otherwise, obviously, it can burn further down...
0:11:29 > 0:11:31which could be dangerous. That looks good.
0:11:31 > 0:11:36And that looks rather more like you would think a modern match looks, with the dark colour.
0:11:37 > 0:11:43John Walker, already comfortably well off, passed up the option of making himself a fortune.
0:11:43 > 0:11:48Instead of patenting his match, he made it freely available for anyone to make.
0:11:48 > 0:11:52Walker produced the matches for just three years, and the credit
0:11:52 > 0:11:56for his invention was attributed only after his death in 1859.
0:12:06 > 0:12:09The lack of regulation gave pharmacists the liberty
0:12:09 > 0:12:14to continue to experiment with the hazardous chemicals on their shelves.
0:12:14 > 0:12:18There were no restrictions, even on the manufacturing of fireworks,
0:12:18 > 0:12:22which many enterprising pharmacists made and sold.
0:12:22 > 0:12:25Finally, in 1875,
0:12:25 > 0:12:28the government introduced laws and regulations,
0:12:28 > 0:12:32following a number of serious accidents.
0:12:32 > 0:12:38Today, only qualified explosives experts, like Steve Miller, can make fireworks.
0:12:38 > 0:12:43Steve, I've just been looking at this Chemist And Druggist
0:12:43 > 0:12:45from April 15th 1868.
0:12:45 > 0:12:50There's a large article on a fatal explosion of chemicals at Nottingham,
0:12:50 > 0:12:52saying that, "A frightful explosion occurred in the shop
0:12:52 > 0:12:58"of Messrs Fletcher, Chemists and Druggists of Nottingham, by which the errand boy was instantly killed.
0:12:58 > 0:13:00"And several persons more or less injured."
0:13:00 > 0:13:05And he seemed to be doing what you're doing, really - making an explosive.
0:13:05 > 0:13:09Yes, an awful lot of factories did blow up, and chemist shops and things.
0:13:09 > 0:13:12So that ended up with the 1875 Explosives Act being brought into force.
0:13:12 > 0:13:18And that stipulated that you had to make your explosives in particular factories,
0:13:18 > 0:13:21at specific distances away from storage facilities.
0:13:21 > 0:13:24It took it away from the chemists, it made the whole process safer.
0:13:24 > 0:13:27It could be done in facilities where everything was controlled.
0:13:27 > 0:13:33I'm using things like a brass mortar and pestle here, so it's non-sparking...
0:13:33 > 0:13:38Despite the Explosives Act, modern legislation does allow Steve to make a small quantity
0:13:38 > 0:13:41of gunpowder in Nick's lab using the Victorian method.
0:13:41 > 0:13:45So, I've now ground up the potassium nitrate.
0:13:45 > 0:13:49Steve will make fireworks out of his gunpowder for a display
0:13:49 > 0:13:52that Nick is organising to attract customers to his shop.
0:13:52 > 0:13:56And then I'm going to add some water to it and then give it a proper grinding.
0:13:58 > 0:14:01Make it into a nice paste so I can grind it
0:14:01 > 0:14:05- with less chance of it going off in my face.- Hmm.
0:14:05 > 0:14:06Always an advantage, I think!
0:14:06 > 0:14:10- You see that's sort of clumped together?- Yes. Shall I pour it out?
0:14:10 > 0:14:14- Yes, if you could pour it out onto the paper there.- Then we can dry it.
0:14:15 > 0:14:17Well, let's lay this out in the sun.
0:14:17 > 0:14:21The gunpowder will take the rest of the day to dry before it's ready
0:14:21 > 0:14:27to be compressed into fireworks, but it's still explosive, even when wet.
0:14:27 > 0:14:31- This should give us just a little fizz.- Right. - So if I light this, like that,
0:14:31 > 0:14:36leave it there, it should hopefully go "fizz" and produce a bit of smoke.
0:14:36 > 0:14:37Here we go.
0:14:37 > 0:14:38- There you go.- Wow!
0:14:38 > 0:14:41That's even when it's wet, so it's still quite violent.
0:14:44 > 0:14:48Armed with the tools and ingredients to experiment, and a solid understanding of science,
0:14:48 > 0:14:54innovative pharmacists were well-placed to become successful entrepreneurs.
0:14:54 > 0:14:57James Crossley Eno was a pharmacist in Newcastle.
0:14:57 > 0:15:04He was worried about sailors on ships and their health, and so he developed Eno's Fruit Salts.
0:15:04 > 0:15:06Here it comes, look at that go!
0:15:06 > 0:15:12Robert Hudson was working an everyday task with a mortar and pestle - pounding soap -
0:15:12 > 0:15:17and he realised he could market it as Hudson's Dry Soap.
0:15:17 > 0:15:21Joseph Swan, who developed the light bulb at exactly the same time as Edison.
0:15:21 > 0:15:25He's never got the fame for it, but invented the light bulb.
0:15:26 > 0:15:30The key thing is, they were businessmen.
0:15:30 > 0:15:35They knew what the public wanted, they knew what would sell, and some of them made a fortune.
0:15:35 > 0:15:38Some real rags-to-riches fortunes made in pharmacies.
0:15:40 > 0:15:46Among the most successful of the great entrepreneurial chemists was Alfred Bird.
0:15:46 > 0:15:50This Birmingham pharmacist, whose wife had a yeast allergy,
0:15:50 > 0:15:54invented a yeast-free raising agent - baking powder.
0:15:54 > 0:15:58She was also allergic to eggs, inspiring Bird to develop his recipe
0:15:58 > 0:16:02for custard powder - still a brand leader today.
0:16:02 > 0:16:07Ruth is adding custard powder to the Barber and Goodman line.
0:16:07 > 0:16:10This is thickened, not with eggs, but with cornflour.
0:16:12 > 0:16:17Really, really cheap - which of course helps.
0:16:17 > 0:16:22And to be honest, that's pretty much all custard powder is - cornflour.
0:16:22 > 0:16:26Cornflour that's slightly coloured and slightly flavoured.
0:16:26 > 0:16:29I'm not sure that Mr Bird would have been too keen on people knowing
0:16:29 > 0:16:33that that's all it was and that they could make their own quite simply!
0:16:33 > 0:16:37So for the colour, the cheapest and easiest ingredient to use,
0:16:37 > 0:16:40because it's already a food ingredient, is turmeric.
0:16:40 > 0:16:45The turmeric gives the pale cornflour an egg-like yellow colour.
0:16:45 > 0:16:50Don't want too much turmeric flavour, just enough to give it a bit of yellow. And now, flavour.
0:16:50 > 0:16:56Then almond essence is added, to disguise the spicy flavour of the turmeric.
0:16:56 > 0:17:00Alfred Bird really prided himself on his experiments. He actually had
0:17:00 > 0:17:06the words "experimental chemist" over the shop door.
0:17:06 > 0:17:10And it's not difficult chemistry, this. It's a really simple thing.
0:17:10 > 0:17:13It's like so many inventions - in hindsight, they seem simple
0:17:13 > 0:17:18and basic and obvious, but it's wanting to do it in the first place.
0:17:18 > 0:17:20It's coming up with that concept.
0:17:20 > 0:17:21I found this in the pharmacy.
0:17:21 > 0:17:24It's another of his products.
0:17:24 > 0:17:26"Bird's medicinal olive oil."
0:17:26 > 0:17:28Look at the size of that bottle -
0:17:28 > 0:17:31I wonder how much he was charging for that.
0:17:34 > 0:17:36Right, make myself a basic funnel.
0:17:36 > 0:17:41Bird gave up being a chemist to manufacture his custard powder
0:17:41 > 0:17:46on an industrial scale, supplying British troops in the Crimean War.
0:17:47 > 0:17:53When his son, Alfred Frederick Bird, took over the business in 1878, he added further products
0:17:53 > 0:17:57to his father's range, including jelly powders and tablets.
0:18:00 > 0:18:05Pharmacists marketed jelly as an invalid or baby food.
0:18:05 > 0:18:09Baby food as such didn't really exist in this period.
0:18:09 > 0:18:12You'd get infant and invalid food all in one.
0:18:12 > 0:18:16And it's all to do with digestibility.
0:18:16 > 0:18:23The 19th century is the first time that people begin to look scientifically
0:18:23 > 0:18:26into how the body breaks up the food that we put into it.
0:18:29 > 0:18:35This is one of those foods that was considered to be particularly easy to digest.
0:18:35 > 0:18:37Gelatine. Jelly.
0:18:37 > 0:18:41So I've got a load of trotters here - these are leftovers from the chop house.
0:18:41 > 0:18:44So somebody's already had these for dinner
0:18:44 > 0:18:50and eaten all the meat off them, leaving all the skinny, cartilagey bits, which is brilliant.
0:18:50 > 0:18:54So I've got several batches -
0:18:54 > 0:18:57there we go, up there - on the go all at once here.
0:18:57 > 0:19:01Each batch of trotters needs to boil for several hours,
0:19:01 > 0:19:04so that the connective tissues congeal and reduce.
0:19:06 > 0:19:10I have really been surprised by the number of things which the chemists and druggists developed,
0:19:10 > 0:19:15which are everyday things in the home today, in the kitchen.
0:19:15 > 0:19:17I knew about the medicines to a fair degree,
0:19:17 > 0:19:20but the extent to which they used their chemical knowledge
0:19:20 > 0:19:24to sort of permeate everyday life and the way we live
0:19:24 > 0:19:26really surprised me.
0:19:35 > 0:19:40Tom is trying to master a basic skill that an apprentice carried out regularly.
0:19:43 > 0:19:45I'm practising folding
0:19:45 > 0:19:47powder papers.
0:19:47 > 0:19:53People would have put powders into these sorts of things
0:19:53 > 0:19:57and when they needed to put them in a...
0:19:57 > 0:20:00in a drink or take them straight,
0:20:00 > 0:20:03you just undo it, straight in there.
0:20:04 > 0:20:08Take the medicine. So, yeah. I mean...
0:20:08 > 0:20:10Still not quite mastered it yet.
0:20:10 > 0:20:14I mean this thing, for example, tells me that the powder folder -
0:20:14 > 0:20:18which is this - "is a valuable implement to most dispensers.
0:20:18 > 0:20:22"It is well to learn powder folding with it, rather than without,
0:20:22 > 0:20:25"for powders of unequal length are as irritating to the equanimity
0:20:25 > 0:20:29"of a practice pharmacist as pills of unequal size."
0:20:40 > 0:20:43This is the one I reduced down...
0:20:43 > 0:20:48In the pharmacy kitchen, Ruth has finished her first batch of jelly.
0:20:48 > 0:20:49Come on out of there, you.
0:20:51 > 0:20:56Aha! That's a saleable product as it is, just chopped up into little squares.
0:20:56 > 0:21:00I could sell that as a fresh product. There we are. That's my custard.
0:21:00 > 0:21:03Have a quick try of that.
0:21:03 > 0:21:06She'll promote her products tomorrow at the pharmacy's firework display.
0:21:08 > 0:21:10Mmm, that's really nice.
0:21:12 > 0:21:14Nick is still in the lab.
0:21:14 > 0:21:20Legally, although Steve Miller could make the gunpowder here, he can only make fireworks on licensed premises.
0:21:20 > 0:21:22If you take just iron filings...
0:21:22 > 0:21:27But he can show Nick the colours and effects he's going to put into them.
0:21:27 > 0:21:30We should be able to get some nice sparks.
0:21:30 > 0:21:32- See?- Ooh, yeah!
0:21:32 > 0:21:35You can do the same thing by mixing iron filings with gunpowder.
0:21:35 > 0:21:39Steve will use the iron filings to create jet-like fountains.
0:21:39 > 0:21:45And different chemical elements will create different colours when they burn.
0:21:45 > 0:21:46Step back.
0:21:48 > 0:21:50Barium for green...
0:21:51 > 0:21:53Whoa!
0:21:53 > 0:21:55Sodium for yellow...
0:21:59 > 0:22:01And strontium for red.
0:22:01 > 0:22:04Materials still used in fireworks to this day.
0:22:04 > 0:22:06Whoa!
0:22:08 > 0:22:09Poke that down...
0:22:09 > 0:22:11Steve demonstrates with a dummy firework
0:22:11 > 0:22:17how these chemicals are mixed with gunpowder to create the colour effects in a Roman candle.
0:22:17 > 0:22:21As the fuse burns down the cardboard tube, it lights each separate
0:22:21 > 0:22:27coloured star and propels it into the air, creating bursts of colour.
0:22:27 > 0:22:31So, because of the 1875 Act,
0:22:31 > 0:22:34I certainly can't do this in the modern-day pharmacy.
0:22:34 > 0:22:40No, you certainly can't. The 1875 Act was in place until 2005, so it lasted quite a long time.
0:22:40 > 0:22:44Really? Good grief. Well over a century, it was valid.
0:22:44 > 0:22:48For the pharmacy's display, Steve will make the fireworks
0:22:48 > 0:22:51to Victorian specifications, using real gunpowder.
0:22:51 > 0:22:55As they test the power of the gunpowder they made earlier, it becomes clear
0:22:55 > 0:23:01that Victorian regulations were much needed to bring this dangerous enterprise under control.
0:23:03 > 0:23:04Ooh!
0:23:04 > 0:23:06HE CHUCKLES
0:23:08 > 0:23:11Thank goodness we didn't do that in the laboratory!
0:23:19 > 0:23:25After a long day, Nick and Tom can't resist the opportunity to try Ruth's custard.
0:23:34 > 0:23:39- Ruth's custard.- This looks good.
0:23:39 > 0:23:41One of the key things you must learn as an apprentice
0:23:41 > 0:23:46is always to test the quality of the pharmaceuticals which you're involved in making.
0:23:46 > 0:23:47- Right, shall we try it?- Yeah.
0:23:51 > 0:23:55- Mmm. - It's not bad, is it? It's very good.
0:23:55 > 0:24:00That is good. I think we've got another good product on our hands here!
0:24:02 > 0:24:05Mmm. I think you're right.
0:24:32 > 0:24:39The team are using the firework display to bring in a crowd and promote Ruth's new products.
0:24:39 > 0:24:43I've got my flare, I've got my matches. So we're all set.
0:24:43 > 0:24:44Well, just be careful.
0:24:44 > 0:24:49- That stuff was pretty dangerous when we were playing with it before. - See you later!
0:24:49 > 0:24:53- Do you think this stuff's going to sell?- I hope so.
0:24:53 > 0:24:57Here we are, everyone. Jelly and custard.
0:24:57 > 0:25:02Can we interest you, at all, in a little taste of Barber & Goodman's jelly and custard?
0:25:02 > 0:25:04Our very own home-made custard powder.
0:25:04 > 0:25:08Even if you don't like it, you can go "bleugh!"
0:25:08 > 0:25:11Only your best quality, natural ingredients in this. We can guarantee.
0:25:11 > 0:25:16You're trying cornflour - slightly flavoured, slightly coloured cornflour!
0:25:16 > 0:25:21Armed with his new matches, Tom has one last task to perform.
0:25:21 > 0:25:23OK, light the fuse. Crouch right down.
0:25:23 > 0:25:30- Once it's lit, step away, walk back away from it and let it do it's thing, OK?- OK.
0:25:32 > 0:25:36Hang on, I think the fireworks are about to start now.
0:25:38 > 0:25:43Like the matches, the fireworks have been made to Victorian specifications.
0:25:43 > 0:25:45Right, then, on with the fireworks!
0:25:45 > 0:25:47They became extremely popular.
0:25:47 > 0:25:53Queen Victoria herself often celebrated her birthday with extravagant displays.
0:25:53 > 0:25:55ALL: Yay!
0:26:06 > 0:26:07Whey! Watch out, watch out!
0:26:07 > 0:26:10Oh, yes!
0:26:10 > 0:26:16Playing with explosives, this is every schoolboy's dream, in many ways!
0:26:18 > 0:26:20This is one of the reasons I went into chemistry,
0:26:20 > 0:26:24was to enjoy these sorts of things and to find out about them.
0:26:28 > 0:26:31They weren't just somebody tinkering in a shed
0:26:31 > 0:26:34and forgetting about it - they were people who were
0:26:34 > 0:26:38primed and ready to take these ideas and move them into the mass market.
0:26:41 > 0:26:42Wow!
0:26:42 > 0:26:47I think there would probably have been quite a high mortality rate amongst apprentice pharmacists.
0:26:47 > 0:26:53And in some ways, I'm actually pretty glad that I don't have to use
0:26:53 > 0:26:57all these substances without being told about them in the first place.
0:27:05 > 0:27:07WHOOPING AND CHEERING
0:27:08 > 0:27:11CHEERING AND APPLAUSE
0:27:30 > 0:27:32Well done, Tom!
0:27:39 > 0:27:40Thank you very much, everyone.
0:27:40 > 0:27:45Thank you for coming and remember, we're open for business again at 8 o'clock tomorrow morning.
0:27:47 > 0:27:50APPLAUSE
0:27:53 > 0:27:57Next time on Victorian Pharmacy, Nick, Ruth and Tom realise
0:27:57 > 0:28:01just how many dangerous chemicals they handle every day.
0:28:01 > 0:28:05- I hate to think what's on this flypaper. - Oh, probably arsenic.
0:28:05 > 0:28:10It was the most dangerous shop in a town or a village, absolutely by far.
0:28:10 > 0:28:15They also face an era of new legislation and professional accountability
0:28:15 > 0:28:18as exams for pharmacists are introduced for the first time.
0:28:18 > 0:28:22I'd like you to go away and make some suppositories.
0:28:23 > 0:28:27I'm kind of working from a complete and utter position of ignorance.
0:28:29 > 0:28:30Et voila.
0:28:30 > 0:28:31Oh, no! HE LAUGHS
0:28:38 > 0:28:41Subtitles by Red Bee Media Ltd
0:28:41 > 0:28:44E-mail subtitling@bbc.co.uk