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All the United States Louisiana New Orleans New Orleans Pharmacy Museum

New Orleans Pharmacy Museum

The curiosities and wonders of pharmacy in a delightful historic building.

New Orleans, Louisiana

Added By
Walter
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The museum is stuffed with old bottles.   Allison / Atlas Obscura User
The museum is stuffed with old bottles.   Allison / Atlas Obscura User
Some medicines are still held in their original packaging.   Allison / Atlas Obscura User
Bottles, bottles, everywhere.   Allison / Atlas Obscura User
The collection includes plenty of old spectacles.   Allison / Atlas Obscura User
Before they were found alongside ice cream, soda fountains were housed in pharmacies.   octal/CC BY 2.0
The New Orleans Pharmacy Museum’s historic courtyard.   nopmsocial / Atlas Obscura User
The Pharmacy Museum’s leech jar, displayed on the first floor of exhibits.   nopmsocial / Atlas Obscura User
The entrance to The New Orleans Pharmacy Museum.   nopmsocial / Atlas Obscura User
The stairwell, taken from the entrance to the museum’s second floor of exhibits.   nopmsocial / Atlas Obscura User
Shelves of apothecary jars and scales on the museum’s second floor.   nopmsocial / Atlas Obscura User
A sugar balance in a display window   RHF / Atlas Obscura User
The soda fountain   RHF / Atlas Obscura User
  amandahagar / Atlas Obscura User
  amandahagar / Atlas Obscura User
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About

In a two-story historic building in the French Quarter of New Orleans, this pharmacy museum showcases its extensive collection and provides educational programs on the history of pharmacy and health care.

Among the holdings of the New Orleans Pharmacy Museum is a large collection of apothecary jars containing their original ingredients, old wheelchairs, black leather physicians' bags, medical instruments, eyeglasses, optical prosthetic devices, and surgical tools all displayed in hand-carved, glass-fronted cabinets.

Keep your eyes open for an array of voodoo potions, including the famous "Love Potion No. 9." Next to an antique brass cash register, look for a white ceramic jar labeled "Leeches," which nods to a time when the worms were affixed to people's skin in the name of medicine.

The back of the shop has a recreated pharmacist's work area, complete with mortar and pestle, microscopes, and wooden blenders. The museum also highlights the original role of the "soda fountain," which once served the purpose of helping pharmacy customers chase a particularly nasty-tasting medicine.

The museum highlights the role of Louis Joseph Dufilho, Jr., whose work symbolizes the beginning of a system of certifying the professional competence of pharmacists and recognizing the vital role they could play in promoting public health. It also hosts the extensive Dr. J. William Rosenthal's Spectacles Collection on the second floor.

Related Tags

Pharmacy Museums Medicine Museums

Know Before You Go

Admission Rates: $10/adults, $7/seniors and students, (tickets purchased at the door).Hours of Operation: Tuesday-Saturday, 10:00 am - 5:00 pm.

The museum offers self-guided tours of two floors of exhibits. 

Community Contributors

Added By

Walter

Edited By

wheninroam, Molly McBride Jacobson, erjeffery, Pharmacy Museum...

  • wheninroam
  • Molly McBride Jacobson
  • erjeffery
  • Pharmacy Museum
  • mbison
  • Allison
  • amandahagar
  • originalcynmv
  • RHF
  • nopmsocial

Published

September 4, 2009

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Sources
  • www.pharmacymuseum.org/
  • http://www.atneworleans.com/body/pharm-museum.htm
New Orleans Pharmacy Museum
514 Chartres Street
New Orleans, Louisiana, 70130
United States
29.955924, -90.065139
Visit Website
Get Directions

Nearby Places

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Explore the Destination Guide

Photo of New Orleans

New Orleans

Louisiana

Places 122
Stories 27

Nearby Places

Napoleon House

New Orleans, Louisiana

miles away

Antoine’s Restaurant

New Orleans, Louisiana

miles away

M.S. Rau Antiques

New Orleans, Louisiana

miles away

Explore the Destination Guide

Photo of New Orleans

New Orleans

Louisiana

Places 122
Stories 27

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