Zam-Buk is a patent medicine which was produced by the Zam-Buk Company of Leeds, England, founded by Charles Edward Fulford. It was first sold by his Bile Beans company in 1902, [1] as a herbal balm and antiseptic ointment; the use of a complementary Zam-Buk soap was recommended to augment the treatment. The ointment was advertised as being effective against a wide range of conditions, including cuts, bruises, sprains, ulcers, bleeding piles and even colds and toothache. It could also be used as an embrocation by rubbing it into the muscles of the back, legs or feet. [2]
The source of the name is uncertain, but a link to South Africa has been suggested. It remains very widely popular in South Africa. [3] The brand name was at one time used to refer to ambulance-men and first aiders at rugby league matches in Australia and New Zealand. [4]
The product is still manufactured today, often by Bayer, who now owns the trade mark [5] in some, but not all, countries. It is available in Southern Africa, Malaysia, Indonesia and Thailand.
In the early 20th century, it was reported that the formulation comprised 66% paraffin wax, 20% pale resin (colophony), and 14% eucalyptus oil, with small amounts of other ingredients. [2] More recently, the composition eucalyptus oil, 1.8% camphor, 0.5% thyme oil, and 0.65% sassafras oil. The English and Thai varieties do not contain sassafras oil. [6] A 1908 report published in The British Medical Journal estimated that the cost of ingredients for a standard 0.6-ounce (17 g) box was one farthing, yet its retail price was 1s 1½ d. [2]
Widely used in earlier times as an all-round antiseptic and healing ointment, particularly with rugby players worldwide. [7]
When Radio Luxembourg started longwave commercial radio broadcasts in English in 1933, its first advertisers were Fulford's Zam-Buk and Bile Beans. [8]
The Zam-Buk brand and trademark were eventually acquired by Fisons, but production ceased in 1994 after the business was sold to Rhone-Poulenc; the product was revived in the United Kingdom by Rose & Co. in 1996. [9] After the original trademarks expired, Rose & Co successfully resisted a new application by a third party to register Zam-Buk as a trademark in 2008. [10] As of 2015, the trademark for Zam-Buk is registered to Bayer Consumer Care AG in Australia, Canada and the United States. [11] [12] [13] . Zam Buk is manufactured for Bayer in Thailand by Interthai Pharmaceutical Manufacturing and is distributed in Malaysia, Thailand, Singapore, Indonesia and South Africa.
In Leeds, the tin boxes used for Zam-buk were printed in Hunslet by Charles Lightowler, at their Hunslet Printing Sheds on Jack Lane. They also printed the Peps and Bile Beans tins, which were delivered by horse and cart to the Fulford's factory on Carlton Hill, off Woodhouse Lane. [14]
Root beer is a sweet North American soft drink traditionally made using the root bark of the sassafras tree Sassafras albidum or the vine of Smilax ornata as the primary flavor. Root beer is typically, but not exclusively, non-alcoholic, caffeine-free, sweet, and carbonated. Like cola, it usually has a thick and foamy head. A common use is to add vanilla ice cream to make a root beer float.
Sassafras is a genus of three extant and one extinct species of deciduous trees in the family Lauraceae, native to eastern North America and eastern Asia. The genus is distinguished by its aromatic properties, which have made the tree useful to humans.
Cymbopogon, also known as lemongrass, barbed wire grass, silky heads, oily heads, Cochin grass, Malabar grass, citronella grass or fever grass, is a genus of Asian, African, Australian, and tropical island plants in the grass family. Some species are commonly cultivated as culinary and medicinal herbs because of their scent, resembling that of lemons . The name Cymbopogon derives from the Greek words kymbe and pogon "which mean [that] in most species, the hairy spikelets project from boat-shaped spathes." Lemongrass and its oil are believed to possess therapeutic properties.
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Satureja montana, is a perennial, semi-evergreen herb in the family Lamiaceae, native to warm temperate regions of southern Europe, the Mediterranean, and Africa. It has dark green leaves and summer flowers ranging from pale lavender, or pink to white. The closely related summer savory is an annual plant.
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Eucalyptus oil is the generic name for distilled oil from the leaf of Eucalyptus, a genus of the plant family Myrtaceae native to Australia and cultivated worldwide. Eucalyptus oil has a history of wide application, as a pharmaceutical, antiseptic, repellent, flavouring, fragrance and industrial uses. The leaves of selected Eucalyptus species are steam distilled to extract eucalyptus oil.
Sassafras albidum is a species of Sassafras native to eastern North America, from southern Maine and southern Ontario west to Iowa, and south to central Florida and eastern Texas. It occurs throughout the eastern deciduous forest habitat type, at altitudes of up to 1,500 m (4,900 ft) above sea level. It formerly also occurred in southern Wisconsin, but is extirpated there as a native tree.
Crocodile oil is extracted from the fatty tissues of crocodiles. Crocodile fat is a product of commercial farming, evident in Thailand. Historically, for centuries crocodile oil has been used by traditional practitioners across the globe, including Chinese Traditional Medicine, Southeast Asia, Ancient Egypt. Crocodile oil was found to be used since the 19th century for different purposes in different cultures. Due to the oil's components, its richness in monounsaturated and Polyunsaturated fats, it is today commonly used as ointment for treatment of skin conditions, skin structure enhancement, collagen deposition, and medicine for illnesses. In recent times, the use of crocodile oil has invited criticism from the use of crocodile oil as there is an increased demand for cruelty-free and vegan-friendly beauty products in consumers of today's society.
General Pharmaceuticals Limited is a pharmaceutical company based in Dhaka, Bangladesh since 1987.
F. H. Faulding & Co was a pharmaceutical company founded in Adelaide, Australia, in 1845 by Francis Hardey Faulding, a native of Swinefleet, near Goole in Yorkshire, son of Francis Faulding, a surgeon.
Sarsaparilla is a soft drink originally made from the vine Smilax ornata or other species of Smilax such as Smilax officinalis. In most Southeast Asian countries, it is known by the common name sarsi, and the trademarks Sarsi and Sarsae. It is similar in flavor to root beer. In the US, sarsaparilla is traditionally made with birch oil rather than the tropical plant.
Fred Farrar, also known by the nickname of "The Farsley Flyer", was an English professional rugby league footballer who played in the 1900s and 1910s. He played at representative level for Great Britain, and Yorkshire, and at club level for Bramley, Hunslet and Keighley, as a wing.
Bile Beans was a laxative and tonic first marketed in the 1890s. The product supposedly contained substances extracted from a hitherto-unknown vegetable source by a fictitious chemist known as Charles Forde. In the early years, Bile Beans were marketed as "Charles Forde's Bile Beans for Biliousness", and sales relied heavily on newspaper advertisements. Among other cure-all claims, Bile Beans promised to "disperse unwanted fat" and "purify and enrich the blood".
Frank Harris Fulford was an entrepreneur, art collector and businessman. Born in Canada in 1868, Fulford was educated in Leipzig then he returned to Brockville, a city in Eastern Ontario, where he worked as a dealer in music. He married sometime before 1902 and had three children. An older brother to Charles Edward Fulford, he moved to Leeds, in England, during 1902 to manage the British division of Charles's manufacturing business, C. E. Fulford Limited. The company produced patent medicines, manufacturing products including Bile Beans and Zam-Buk ointment, and was first established in the UK in 1899 after achieving success in Australia. The company undertook an unsuccessful court action, and a later appeal, against an Edinburgh pharmacist in 1905 but it continued to trade and prosper despite the judge opining that the business was "founded on, and conducted by fraud". A year later after the sudden death of his wealthy brother, Charles, Fulford took up the reins of the family business. He purchased Headingley Castle, Leeds, in 1909 and it became the family's main residence.