Great Moments: Authenticity, Ideology, and the Telling of Medical" History"

J Metzl, JD Howell - Literature and Medicine, 2006 - muse.jhu.edu
J Metzl, JD Howell
Literature and Medicine, 2006muse.jhu.edu
This essay sheds light on present-day pharmaceutical advertisements by looking back to an
important early chapter in pharmaceutical company–sponsored promotion: the Great
Moments in Medicine and Great Moments in Pharmacy series of commercial paintings
produced by Parke, Davis and Company between 1948 and 1964. Beginning in the early
1950s, Parke-Davis delivered reproductions of the Great Moments series to physicians and
pharmacies throughout the United States and Canada and funded monthly pull-out …
Abstract
This essay sheds light on present-day pharmaceutical advertisements by looking back to an important early chapter in pharmaceutical company–sponsored promotion: the Great Moments in Medicine and Great Moments in Pharmacy series of commercial paintings produced by Parke, Davis and Company between 1948 and 1964. Beginning in the early 1950s, Parke-Davis delivered reproductions of the Great Moments series to physicians and pharmacies throughout the United States and Canada and funded monthly pull-out facsimiles in key national magazines. The images also appeared in calendars, popular magazines, and" educational" brochures. By the mid-1960s, articles in both the popular and the medical press lauded the Great Moments images for" changing the face of the American doctor's office," while describing the painter, Robert Thom, as the" Norman Rockwell" of medicine.
Project MUSE