Cannabis, Through the Rx Bottle opened at the Lloyd Library and Museum on March 30, 2019, Cincinnati, Ohio, with a crowd that packed The Lloyd Library and Museum. Interested patrons attended the exhibit, which came about through collaboration with The Lloyd Library and Museum and the Cannabis Museum of Athens, Ohio. Viewers described the exhibition as fascinating and engaging as they learned about the history of this plant through artifacts dating back to the 1500’s.
The exhibit features more than 100 items loaned to the Lloyd Library by the Cannabis Museum in addition to cannabis artifacts from the Lloyd archives. The centerpiece cabinet features an herbarium specimen of Cannabis sativa pressed by Lloyd co-founder Curtis Gates Lloyd in 188, displayed with a Cannabis Indica Lloyd Brothers Pharmaceutical bottle preserved by the Cannabis Museum. The bottles outline the history of cannabis in pharmaceutical products dating from the 1830’s to the 1930s, Bottles that would be found in an 1860’s apothecary begin this story, which traces the use of this botanical through modern medicines that would fit in on a drugstore shelf today.
The idea for the show was hatched between Liz Crow, Projects Director for the Cannabis Museum and Erin Campbell, Projects Director for the Lloyd Library and Museum. Crow was documenting more the thousand plus pharmaceutical containers in the Cannabis Museum collection produced prior to the 1937 prohibition of cannabis, including eleven bottles produced by the Lloyd Brothers Pharmacy in Cincinnati. The Lloyd Brothers endowed the Lloyd Library and donated their extensive collection of books and Lloyd Brothers products, however a quick check showed no cannabis products in the Lloyd’s inventory. The idea for a cooperative show was born.
Patricia Van Skaik, Executive Director of the Lloyd Library and Museum was excited by the resulting exhibit. “The Cannabis Museum brought to the exhibition an outstanding collection and years of content specific knowledge. The Lloyd brought rare books, research skills and exhibition curation experience. Together the result a blend of science, art and history in a visually compelling approach to a complex topic.”
According to Van Skaik, it was not only the subject matter of this exhibition that made the event unique. Van Skaik said “While guest curation is not uncommon, few cultural institutions undertake co-curating exhibitions with an out-of-town partner. The Lloyd Library and The Cannabis Museum accepted the challenge. With multiple site visits, frequent telephone conversations and email communications, and shared electronic files and ideas, the result was well worth the effort. An interview with Van Skaik by radio station WVXU about the Cannabis, Through the Rx Bottle exhibit is available at this link.
Don E Wirtshafter, Executive Director of Cannabis Museum, began collecting cannabis medicine artifacts when challenged to prove cannabis was ever accepted as a mainstream medicine. This challenge turned into the Cannabis Museum, the amassed rewards of collecting cannabis artifacts for 35 years as a cannabis activist and attorney. According to Wirtshafter, “These developments in pharmaceutical science were suppressed by a wave of prohibition which culminated in the removal of every cannabis item in stores, museums, and libraries. This knowledge would be lost to history except for efforts like ours to accumulate the remaining fragments of this evidence.”
The exhibit, which a visitor described as ‘thoughtfully planned and splendidly executed,’ is open through August 23rd, 2019. More information about The Lloyd Library and Museum hours is available at https://lloydlibrary.org/
Additional events scheduled around this exhibit include a talk entitled “The first Golden Age of Cannabis Medicine, 1830-1937” by Don Wirtshafter on April 12th which is now sold out, and a “Cannabis Symposium: Issues from the Past to the Present” on May 11th. Tickets are currently still available for the symposium event.[/text_output][/vc_column][/vc_row]