Do you have malaria? Read this post.

"Hard" cider (with about 7% alcohol) was a very popular beverage in the U.S. during colonial and early American times and continues with some popularity today. However, bottles with "cider" noted on them seem to have been most prevalent from the late 1840s until about 1880, largely disappearing about the time of the pictured example. It is thought that the popularity of hard cider was an early victim of the rising power of the Temperance movement in the late 19th century. (source)

I can say with relative certainty that there was Missouri Cider being sold in 1888. I saw the advertisements in the St. Louis Jewish Voice microfilm this afternoon at the library. There were also some editorials on the Temperance Movement, taking the stance that legislating against food/drink of any sort was unAmerican, and that moderation has to come from the home, or church, and not the law. (The editor was a local rabbi.)

The newspaper's anti-Temperance Movement stance may have encouraged a struggling company to advertise there. The advertisements were single lines intermingled with local announcements submitted by the community. "Have malaria? Drink Missouri Cider." "Bilious? Drink Missouri Cider." (Actual wording.) I'm not sure about the research that went behind the claims. Of course, they really weren't claiming it would help, were they? They just wanted you to drink their product.

In the room the women come and go
Talking of Michelangelo.

The only other discovery I made today was the Wm Prufrock Furniture company. They advertised a lot in the paper too. And since TS Eliot was born in St. Louis in 1888, I wondered: "Is this where he got the name?" It turns out that I am not the first to discover this. (I'd have been surprised if I were.) TS Eliot stated in 1950: "I did not have, at the time of writing the poem, and have not yet recovered, any recollection of having acquired this name in any way, but I think that it must be assumed that I did, and that the memory has been obliterated."

A very minor case of cryptomnesia.

I found nothing about my ancestors.

Note: If you think you might have malaria, here's some information the CDC provides