History of Mushatts
Written by: Bernard Warfield
The American Indians used to call them Medicine Men and in the annals of
medieval Dublin, Ireland, they might have been known as Witches or
Alchemists. But with the progression of science, names like Apothecary
and Pharmacist came into use. But whatever we call the science, the
Mushatt family became an institution in the Liberties area in Dublin for
over forty years. With their mixtures and preparations, they seemed to
cure all the ills of the poor and working classes of the city – they
sometimes found their way to the better off and, because the rich had a
choice, their beliefs were often stronger than the actual medicine they
were taking.
It
was 1886 when Harry's father, a credit draper, came to Ireland from a
small town in Lithuania. He settled in Dublin where he married and had a
family of five children. They were part of a community that had started
to come to Dublin from Eastern Europe around 1834 to 1880. Louis was
born in Dublin around 1903 and Harry was born 7 years later. The
medicine making started when the elder of the Mushatt brothers, Louis,
got a position as an apprentice or assistant in the Mistear's Medical
Hall or Pharmacy. The Mistear's made a lot of their own preparations and
it was this hands-on approach to compounding and putting together of
medicines that was to make the Mushatt brothers locally famous. Louis
Mushatt qualified as a chemist when he was 21 and it was a few months
later that his father started a "chemist shop" at Number 3 Francis
Street, Dublin. The shop was officially established in 1922 where, as a
boy of 14, Harry would go down and help his brother after school. When
Harry was 15 he went on to serve a four-year apprenticeship under his
brother.
Remembering fondly his apprenticeship days, Harry recalls when he would
ask his brother for more money , he would turn around and say sure I
served my apprenticeship for nothing - you are lucky that your getting 3
shillings a week. But I washed the floors, I washed the bottles, I
cleaned the windows. Whatever donkey work was to be done, I did it.’
Although Louis was 7 years older than Harry, they worked well together,
each doing his share of the work. Leaving the house in the morning at a
quarter to nine, they often did not return until eleven at night.
The
shop was situated at No. 3 Frances Street - thats the Thomas St. end
and my own vague memory of the shop was when my father took me there as a
child. He was a firm believer in the Mushatts remedies. Jogging my
memory, I'm told that the building was a tenement house with a small
ground floor shop of about 12 feet long by 6 feet wide with shelves on
the back and a mahogany counter in the middle that took up about 3 feet.
In the back room they had the dispensing counter where they kept all
their chemicals and potions. The shelves were full of brown bottles with
ready-made remedies for quick sale. The front window displayed dozens
of Mushatts skin soaps with a big painted foot on a card for Mushatts
foot paste showing the sole of the foot.
Most of their customers were from the tenements in Dublin,
particularly those in the Liberties. The people of the tenements, who
lived in abject poverty, went to the Mushatt brothers because they
really could not afford a doctor. Because they made up their own
medicines, they became known as the fellas with the cures. They made
up to 44 different preparations, each written in a large book which they
kept in the back of the shop under lock and key. The shop was never
empty, serving up to 300 on a Saturday. The interesting thing was that
most of their customers were women but, then again, women did most of
the shopping for their men-folk in those days.
They sold all their preparations over the counter and, because of the
local peoples' poverty, they often brought with them their own Baby
Power bottle (small empty Irish whiskey bottle) for maybe a penny or
tuppence worth of the various mixtures - camphorated oil for a childs
cough or iodine if they had a cut.
Not being able to afford the money for a doctor, the people in the
area went to the Mushatt brothers for all their medical help. It was a
big part of the business, whole families coming into the shop
complaining of various ailments, stomach trouble or skin rash, tooth
ache or scabies, but no matter what the complaint was they had a mixture
for them:
- Foot paste for removing corns, calluses and warts
- Various lotions and potions for skin problems
- Stomach bottles for flatulence, acidity
- Pale and bloodless – an iron blood mixture
- Teething powder for the baby
- Worm powder for the children
- A sweet oil and ammonia with a little wintergreen for chilblains
While
most of their mixtures and preparations had some measure of success,
there were several of these ointments and creams for Psoriasis and other
skin conditions that became very successful.
Now for a hangover they would give you black draft as it was commonly
known — a mixture of Senna pods and Epson salts which costs sixpence a
draft or two ounces. Harry recalls, ‘this man came into the shop one day
and I measured out two ounces for him and mixed it, handed it to him
and waited while he drink it down. And then he says ‘if it works I'll
come back and pay you and walked straight out.
Then they had their hair tonic that was a stimulant to make
the hair grow and be free of dandruff. Oh yes, the tonic was to grow
your hair, which they had some success with. ‘There was this man who
used to come in, a bricklayer, and one evening he came in and takes his
cap off and says, I want something to make my hair grow. So my brother
takes down his hair tonic - now my brother was bald! – and after a few
minutes the man says ‘Ill tell you Mr. Mushatt, you use it on your scalp
this week and I'll come in on Saturday and if it does you any good I’ll
buy it.
‘Another night a girl came in for a tuppenny box of face powder. And a
half an hour later a little kid was back with the face powder and she
says ‘Me sister sent me back with the box of face powder - she wants her
tuppence back. So I says ‘Why? Does she not want the powder; is she not
going to the dance? Shes going to the dance alright, but the
whitewash off the wall will do … the gas has gone out and she wants the
tuppence for the gas meter.
These are just some of the many funny stories as told by Harry
Mushatt in an interview he did around 1994 at the age of 83. When Harry
retired in 1967, a piece of Dublin folklore went into our history books.
The people in the Dublin area had tremendous faith in the brothers and
whenever you mention the name Mushatt, they knew it. Nobody else had a
name like Mushatt and, as Harry said himself, "I'll tell you, I feel
very proud that we had such a good name because my father, God rest him,
was anything but a rich man but he said, theres one thing I'll leave
you and that is a good name. Guard your name, your name is worth more
than money will ever bring you".
But they still live on in the memory of my generation and in the new
products that I notice are now being produced under the name of Mushatts No. 9
Skin Care products. Possibly a tribute to Louis and Harry Mushatt for
their professionalism and commitment to the people of the Liberties and
Dublin.
