Dr Williams’ Pink Pills for Pale People

A blog post from the Wellcome Library reveals that these almost legendary pills were:

Originally produced and patented by Dr William Frederick Jackson, a physician in Ontario in 1866, the international success of the pills was due to the marketing skills of the Canadian politician, Senator George Taylor Fulford.

According to Ancestry William Frederick Jackson was born about 1853 in Brockville, Ontario
and died on 29 January 1935 in Leeds, Ontario. His father was William Hayes Jackson and his mother the delightfully named Polyanna Beach. His death notice in the Ottawa Journal of 30 January 1935 makes no mention of the pills. He is said to have been an associate of Alexander Graham Bell in the invention of the telephone and a graduate of McGill University where he was a fellow student of William Ostler.

A wikipedia article on George Taylor Fulford, also Brockville-born, gives further details on his involvement with Dr Williams’ Pink Pills for Pale People and reports he was the first Canadian fatal automobile accident victim.