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“Removes All Obstacles”: Abortifacients in Nineteenth-Century Toronto and Beyond

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Abstract

Exploring the biographies of small artifacts from archaeological contexts is an endeavour that can expose unrealized or forgotten historical and cultural meaning at local, regional, national, and international levels. The recovery of a small glass bottle embossed with the name “Sir J. Clarke’s Female Pills” from a site in Toronto has drawn together the production history and advertising during the nineteenth century of a patent medicine product classed as an abortifacient. Furthermore, it connects the history of women’s health and fertility rights to the social and economic motivations influencing control over family planning.

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Acknowledgments

The authors would like to thank Eva MacDonald, Wesley Oldham and Mary-Catherine Garden for their support, insights and editorial comments. The authors would also like to thank Zeeshan Abedin, Andrew Clish, David Robertson, Andrew Davidson, and the Penn-Brad Oil Museum for their support throughout the preparation of this article.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Archaeological Services Inc., 528 Bathurst Street, Toronto, ON, M5S 2P9, Canada

    Andrea Carnevale & Johanna Kelly

  2. School of History, Classics, and Archaeology, Newcastle University, Newcastle Upon Tyne, NE1 7RU, UK

    Denise McGuire

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  1. Andrea Carnevale
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  2. Denise McGuire
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  3. Johanna Kelly
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Correspondence to Andrea Carnevale.

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Carnevale, A., McGuire, D. & Kelly, J. “Removes All Obstacles”: Abortifacients in Nineteenth-Century Toronto and Beyond. Int J Histor Archaeol 20, 743–767 (2016). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10761-016-0376-z

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10761-016-0376-z

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