1-191-837 - © London Museum/Heritage-Images

Poster advertising Parr's Life Pills, 19th century. The 19th century saw a profusion of quack medicines which were claimed to cure all sorts of diseases and ailments. One example was Parr's Pills, which were supposedly made to a recipe invented by Thomas Parr, who allegedly lived to 152 years of age. The pills were claimed to cure both constipation and diarrhoea, and as the poster describes, would 'conquer disease and prolong life'. Friederich Engels reported in 1845 that the British working classes consumed up to 25,000 boxes of Parr's Pills every week, taking them for a whole range of diverse complaints.