Lydia Pinkham made a medicine that was supposed to cure womanly aches. Only women used it. In 1875, her husband went bankrupt, so that's when Lydia made her medicine. She started the first successful business run by a woman. She had only women employees.

Almost 20% of her medicine was alcohol. She said that the alcohol acted only as a solvent and preservative. Not just her medicine was mostly alcohol, but mostly every homemade medicine was mostly alcohol in those days.

The ingredients in the medicine were roots. senecio gracils, pleurisy root, aselepias tuberusa, false unicorn root, heloniadioca and the magic touch of ethy alcohol.

On the Brooklyn Bridge, Mrs. Pinkham had a sign that said "Lydia Pinkham's Vegetable Compound." She died in 1883. Her medicine is not available in stores or pharmacies now!