Maybe it’s just me, but “Penetro” isn’t a very pleasant-sounding name for a medicine that you swallow, rub on your body, or squirt in your nose. Without going into any details, it just sounds to me like you’d stick it somewhere else in your body.
Despite the name, it was a hugely successful product, manufactured here in Memphis by the Plough Chemical Company (better known today as Schering-Plough). Though company records are a bit vague, I believe you could still find Penetro on drug-store shelves as late as the 1950s.
I discovered this old booklet tucked away in the Lauderdale Library, and I have to admit I like the way the product is marketed. Just look at that nice old woman! “Grandma created it,” says the booklet, and “medical science perfected it.” As a result, “NOW MILLIONS USE IT.” And wouldn’t you, if Grandma said it was good for you?
So what did they use it for, exactly? Well, just about anything. The makers of Penetro claimed it could cure “sprains, bronchial irritation, cuts and scratches, tired and sore muscles, head cold discomfort, superficial burns and scalds, irritated feet, sunburn, bruises, and abrasions.”
Why, it could even treat frostbite!
The secret ingredient behind this miracle product? Mutton suet. Yes, that’s right — globs of FAT extracted from SHEEP. Hard to believe (downright impossible, I’d say), but Plough claimed this “is one of the earliest of all home remedies. Your grandmother, great-grandmother, and great-great-grandmother placed their faith in mutton suet.”
Really? I’m pretty sure my mother’s family was all Methodists, and if they had any faith in mutton suet, they never mentioned it around me. Is it in the Bible somewhere?
