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