‘A Cure for a Cold’, c1833

Mounted coloured lithograph, entitled ‘A CURE FOR A COLD’, designed and lithographed by anon, and published by Gabriel Shire Tregear 1833.

This caricature is a satire on the complicated and incongruous remedies for even the simplest of maladies. It shows a man, in hopeless misery, sitting in an armchair wearing an overcoat over his nightshirt, and a muffler and cap. With his left hand he stirs a bowl of gruel on a nearby table, while his feet are immersed in a tub of steaming water.

Lettered below the scene: “HERE’S A GO; I MUST KEEP MY FEET IN HOT-WATER 20 MINUTES TAKE TWO QUARTS OF GRUEL WRAP MY HEAD IN FLANEL AND TALLOW MY NOSE”.