Glessner Medicine Company Findlay Ohio 1889-1962 Royalties ending 2014!

Glessner Medicine Company on E Sandusky in Findlay OH, 1930's 

Visiting the Therabiotics warehouse in Victoria MN during my work with Master Supplements in this century, continues to remind me of the family business, founded by Leonard Cowles Glessner in Findlay Ohio where my Glessner ancestors lived from the 1860's until the 1970's when my grandparents passed over.    born 3/17/1853 in Delaware OH, Len Glessner as he was known in Findlay,  died  11 Dec 1936, when he was hit by a car crossing the street in downtown Findlay.  He was my great grand father and began making Dr Drakes German Croup Remedy out of his Findlay home in 1889 and who founded the Glessner Medicine Company in 1905 as a stock company. In 1912 the word German was removed prior to the WW I as antipathy toward German people and the language in America built.

 He built this brick factory at 230 E Sandusky Ave in Findlay.  My brothers and  I. each,  visited in the 1950's when they were still bottling  product at this location. I have already posted a photo of the labels of products on another blog page.

. Pain a Lay, developed by Harry Chappelear Glessner, son of Len, from a formula used by dentists in St Louis, still has a following and sales, that I and my family receive residual income from even after the company was sold in 1962, when operations creased in Findlay after 73 years of production.

Nov 21 article in the Findlay OH newspaper announcing the closing of the Glessner Company.
I will be contacting Keith Roberts of Roberts Proprietaries in New York City and including a link to this blog that outlines some of the family business history.

For those interested in the history of the Glessner Products and Robert's proprietaries, there is an ending story for the last product, Pain A Lay.  In looking at my income records for last year...I work a 12 step program on money and spending (see DA Debtors Anonymous https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Debtors_Anonymous) and have since 2001, when I was living out of my van, and was changing careers while being responsible for taking care of my mom, Peg Glessner Weaver who was 91, and soon to move out of her home and go into assisted living.  It was using the tools of DA and DBA, that I navigated through the issues of end of death to support my mom, who I had supported earlier in creating a living trust to avoid the legal hassles of probate and have clear boundaries around inheritance to avoid hurt and anger....A great program and I strongly support the use of PRG's Pressure Relief Groups  Spending records and spending plans etc .

And recently I  noticed the last Royalty my family received for the product was in March 2014. Always of a curious nature, I sought out Keith Roberts on line and Voila'  "the rest of the story" in an email from Keith Dec 16 2015 12:27 pm

"Dear Tom,

Nice to hear from you. What happened is that the manufacturing and warehousing of Painalay were in Lee’s factory in Los Angeles. The factory and its contents were destroyed in a storm in late 2013. Nothing was salvaged except the machinery, which we did not own. The product was damaged and could not be sold, and Lee was out of business altogether. A company that bought Lee’s assets discussed with me the possibility of selllng the Painalay name, trademark, and formulas to them, at a total price of $10,000, but after thinking about it they withdrew their offer before I could present it to the royalty holders. So, that’s the sad story. Glad your family is thriving. I now spend my time as an arbitrator and writer on economic, legal, and public policy issues. My book “The Origins of Business, Money, and Markets” was published in 2011 by Columbia Business School Press, and I just finished a year as chair of the ABA’s Judicial Division Lawyers Conference. Am now working on antitrust issues.

Keith"

And as another note form the spirit of my Glessner ancestors, Mike Boer from Oregon found the following in a book in Oregon and discovered my blog. This had to be before WW I and after 1905, as that is when the German - was removed from Dr Drake's Croup Remedy because of the war issues with the German's over the pond back them.  I note that Leonard C Glessner was the president (my great grandfather, and his first born son, Lewis William Glessner was the secretary then. From notes from my mom, Margaret Glessner Weaver and other research "Lewis served the secretary of the Glessner Medicine Company at 230 E Sandusky Ave, Findlay. He built a home on a lot on S Main,  a craftsman style at 1212 S Main. My Mom, Peg Weaver, remembered her cousins, Lewis’ sons,  Robert M Glessner b 1907, and John L Glessner b 1910r, moved to California, San Francisco area in 1925,  when Lewis disassociated himself from the family business and went west. In the 1930 US Census he was living at 55 Parnell in San Francisco,  Listed his business, as L.W. Glessner and son, Cosmetic Distributor.  28 years in occupation and 39 years of residence in California-San Francisco."

I notice this mentions a coupon for the Dr Drake's German Croup Remedy, and I have written back to Mike Boer to see if he has that too.  Fun to honor the spirit of my Glessner, Glassmacher, ancestors....