The Curious Rise and Fall of Tomato Pills in 19th Century America

During the 1830s, Americans purchased pills touted as cures for conditions ranging from indigestion to syphilis, with the key component being the familiar tomato.

This emerging market sparked fierce rivalries among sellers, each claiming their tomato-based remedies were authentic. Investigations later revealed that some products contained no actual tomato.

The craze was largely fueled by Dr. and amateur botanist John Cook Bennett, who began advocating tomato’s medicinal virtues in 1834. His efforts helped launch a brief patent-medicine trend centered on tomatoes decades before ketchup became a staple condiment.

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John Cook Bennett Champions Tomatoes for Health

Bennett promoted tomatoes as a preventative measure against cholera and a treatment for ailments such as diarrhea, headaches, and indigestion, referred to then as dyspepsia. According to Atlas Obscura, there is no record of Bennett conducting scientific studies to back these claims.

This campaign coincided with the growing introduction of tomatoes into American households and their early inclusion in ketchup recipes.

History Cooperative credits Philadelphia scientist James Mease with publishing one of the earliest tomato ketchup recipes in 1812, predating Bennett’s medical advocacy by over twenty years.

Commercializing Tomato Pills

Entrepreneurs quickly capitalized on tomatoes’ purported healing properties by marketing concentrated tomato extracts.

By 1837, advertisements for Dr. Miles’ Compound Extract of Tomato appeared in newspapers, offered by Cleveland businessman Archibald Miles as treatment for a variety of issues from indigestion to syphilis.

Guy R. Phelps, a physician trained at Yale, entered the same market with his own Compound Tomato Pills.

A contentious rivalry soon developed between Miles and Phelps, marked by public disputes over which product was the authentic tomato remedy, leading to what Atlas Obscura calls a two-year “tomato pill war.”

Investigations during their feud uncovered a startling truth: products marketed by both Miles and Phelps contained no actual tomato.

Though their rivalry concluded by late 1839, tomato pills continued to be sold, with Phelps maintaining his product on the market into the early 1850s.

The Enduring Legacy of Tomato Ketchup

Despite the demise of the tomato pill fad, tomatoes steadily integrated into America's culinary scene. Cookbooks, magazines, and seed catalogs promoted their use, appearing in dishes like soups, jellies, jams, and, of course, ketchup.

Ketchup's roots extend further back than the 19th-century medicinal craze. According to History Cooperative, it evolved from fermented fish sauces in Asia. British adaptations with ingredients like mushrooms and walnuts eventually gave way to the tomato-based versions popularized in the U.S.

Food historian Andrew F. Smith explored this peculiar medical chapter in his 1991 study, “Tomato Pills Will Cure All Your Ills”, chronicling a time when Americans' perceptions of tomatoes were shaped by competing medical claims.

The tomato pill phenomenon was short-lived. By the late 1830s, the public feud between Miles and Phelps had ended and the pills soon vanished from shelves. Meanwhile, tomato ketchup secured its place in American kitchens long after the medicinal tomato craze dissipated.

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