Wojciech Ślusarczyk

Euskol incense briquettes were produced in Lubostroń. Their factory was founded in 1909 by Witold Skórzewski. It was still operating under the German occupation, in the 1940s. Euskol was used mainly for prophylactic and therapeutic purposes in veterinary and medicine. Enjoyed great and unfl agging popularity, and was exported to Western Europe. The manufacturer explained the characteristics of Euskol using bacteriological arguments. However he situated diseases in one semantic fi eld with rot. The medical context of the use of Euskol (and other incense) in the post-Pasteur period indicates a strong attachment to the miasmatic narrative.

In the years 1919‒1939, „Kronika Farmaceutyczna” was the press organ of the Trade Union of Pharmaceutical Employees of the Republic of Poland. The magazine was filled with articles devoted to defence of pharmacists’ rights but the aim of its editors was also to publish scientific and popular content, in which a prominent place was occupied by articles on the history of natural medicines. This work attempts to analyse the forms and content of that kind of articles: describe how the subject of old medicines was written about, what types of medicines were discussed, and also who and why wrote about them. Articles devoted to the history of natural medicines can be divided in four categories: scientific and popular articles dedicated to current pharmaceutical issues and preceded by historical introductions; scientific and popular articles on history; summaries from foreign pharmaceutical magazines and news from the world covering pharmaceutical problems of the time, accompanied by historical introductions, as well as summaries from foreign pharmaceutical magazines and historical news from the world. According to our research, the majority of analysed articles belonged to the first category. Articles concerning the past of natural medicines appeared throughout the interwar period and became a permanent element of “Kronika Farmaceutyczna”. They focused on plant drugs, less often on zoonotic and mineral ones. Majority of texts were written according to a pattern based on chronological narration. Historical content was supplemented with ancient mythology information and folk medicine. Abundance of information obtained from contemporary literature dealing with this subject and from the sources proves that authors were undoubtedly erudite people. They committed some mistakes from time to time, though. Their errors, as well as uncomplicated, chronological system of narration were the results of the fact that they were not professional historians but pharmacists. Their interest in the past of natural medicines was to a large extent the outcome of general tendencies predominant in the Polish pharmaceutical milieu at that time. Analysed publications were therefore written by pharmacists and for pharmacists. Their purpose, aside from satisfying readers’ curiosity, was to deepen professional knowledge through enabling the perception of current pharmaceutical problems from the larger, historical perspective.

In 2017, the Leon Wyczółkowski District Museum in Bydgoszcz purchased the collection of a private pharmacy museum, previously functioning in the back of the now-liquidated Pod Łabędziem (‘Under the Swan’) pharmacy in Bydgoszcz, first opened in 1853. Among the acquired museum exhibits, there is prescription room equipment from the Polish People’s Republic period. From the point of view of museum workers and researchers of pharmaceutical material culture, in order to learn more about the acquisitions, it is essential to answer the following questions: Where and when were the prescription furniture and their equipment produced? Were they used only in Pod Łabędziem (‘Under the Swan’) pharmacy? Is the room equipment complete? What can the preserved equipment tell us about the type of drugs produced there? The conducted analysis allows us to state that the prescription furniture were manufactured in Nowe nad Wisłą at the turn of the 1970s. The prescription room is an original component of the described pharmacy but preserved in a truncated form. Its location is secondary. Chaos reigns among the preserved utensils. The current state of affairs does not reflect the standards of work in the former community pharmacy. The sum of the cases prevails over the genius loci.

The article aims to depict the socio-professional position of pharmacy employees in the Second Polish Republic (1918–1939) and the factors which influenced their status. In the interwar period, reforms of the pharmacists’ education system were implemented, the office of the provincial pharmaceutical inspector was introduced, and bills were adopted to settle the particulars of the profession. Thus, the foundations were created to depart from the former semi-artisanal character of pharmaceutical practice towards an academic and independent profession. This had a positive impact on the social and professional position of pharmacy employees. In theory, they were equal to their employers and representatives of other liberal professions. However, the reforms had awakened their ambitions and expectations. The reality was different, especially during the great economic crisis (1929–1933/35). The salaries of professional pharmacy personnel, especially in the eastern provinces, were not high. Instead of sufficient remuneration, people were still offered – as in the 19th century – housing and board at a pharmacy. The burning problem was unemployment, and the employers did not respect the working time regulations. All this frustrated the employees. Their presumably high socio-professional status was not always reflected in real life.