A 3 1/2" tall antique advertising cup from the ARMOUR PACKING CO. which was a Meat Packing Co., that was a going concern well over a century ago. Under the "VIGORAL" name, they produced beef and pork by - products, such as lard, soap, and even patent medicine products such as this Armour's Vigoral, a meat broth or concentrate animal by-product for interesting medicinal purposes, like "restoring lost manhood" and "making weak men strong" to name a few that we saw in an 1800's magazine ad. for this product. This is a super OLD and ORIGINAL antique cup, dating back over 100 YEARS OLD, to put it in perspective, it is over ONE CENTURY OLD; now this IS an OLD cup!
ARMOUR'S VIGORAL? We have seen small milk glass jars from Armour's Packing Co. which was a nineteenth century meat packing company with headquarters in Chicago (close to the stock yards and rail-road line) that slaughtered and packed beef, pork, etc. Their "VIGORAL" was a meat 'broth', a by-product of the packaged meat that Armour's dealt in. One ad we saw for it claimed that the Vigoral held valuable medicinal properties that (supposedly) made 'weak men strong', restored 'lost manhood', and ... 'cured the results of youthful folly', if you get their meaning. Rumor has it that it was also served at Drug Store soda fountains, which would explain the existence of these beautiful and delicate little cups. Fittingly enough, this particular cup was excavated from a property that at one time housed a large female boarding house, in a 19th Century Western railroad town. One's imagination can take it from here. Again Please DO NOT steal ANY of my LISTING INFORMATION; my title, PARTS OF THIS description, item specifics, PICTURES, or format, per eBay's "ITEM DESCRIPTION AND PICTURE THEFT POLICY". I continue to have problems with defiant sellers stealing my work AND presenting it as their own- check it out!
Terms of Sale: Our goal is 100% customer satisfaction. We put our 30+ years of experience in antiques to use in describing every item we list. Items are sold in a store front format and your purchase is a binding contract, so please don't be hasty when looking over the listing. We find that communication is the key to successful transactions so PLEASE completely read the item description AND ask questions before purchasing, thank you!