COLLECTION

The collection includes: 

  • Over 10,000 pharmaceutical and medical objects made of glass, ceramic, metal, paper and leather, including medicine bottles, perfumes and cosmetics, medical instruments, pharmacy cabinetry, an 1855 Lippincott soda fountain, and artifacts excavated from an archeological dig in the courtyard believed to have originated from the original Dufilho apothecary and household; 

  • Roughly 2000 books and 250 periodicals related to the history of pharmacy and medicine, including approximately 300 books published before 1900, a good deal of which require conservation care; 

  • Approximately 15 pharmacists’ recipe books, 50 oversize prescription files and ledgers, and several hundred individual prescriptions from New Orleans and Louisiana dating from 1850-1920; 

  • Paper ephemera, artwork on paper, and posters, such as ads for 19th century patent medicines; 

  • Records, year books, ephemera and photographs from the New Orleans College of Pharmacy (1900-1919) and Loyola University College of Pharmacy (1920-1965); 

  • Files about historic pharmacies in New Orleans and elsewhere in Louisiana; 

  • Photographs of historic pharmacies in the United States; 

  • Institutional records, photographs, and clippings documenting the origins, history and collections of the New Orleans Pharmacy Museum.

The museum’s collection  comprises approximately 18,400 historical items dating from the late 18th century until the mid-20th century, the bulk of which originates from the United States and dates from 1880-1930. The majority of the collection was curated and donated by Loyola College of Pharmacy for the opening of the museum in 1950, and has been added to since then through donations by pharmacies, universities, hospitals and private collectors.