Bromo-Seltzer was invented in 1888 by Isaac E. Emerson and produced by the Emerson Drug Company of Baltimore, Maryland. It was sold in the United States in the form of effervescent granules that were mixed with water before ingestion.[1] The product took its name from a component of the original formula, sodium bromide; each dose contained 3.2 mEq/teaspoon of it. Bromides are a class of tranquilizers that were withdrawn from the U.S. market in 1975 due to their toxicity. Their sedative effect probably accounted for Bromo-Seltzer's popularity as a hangover remedy. Early formulas also used acetanilide as the analgesic ingredient; it is now known to be toxic.[2] Acetanilide was replaced with its metabolite acetaminophen, and its current formulation uses aspirin, sodium bicarbonate, and citric acid, the latter two of which provide the carbonation.
Bromo-Seltzer's main offices and factory were located in downtown Baltimore, Maryland, at the corner of West Lombard and South Eutaw streets.[3] The factory's most notable feature was the Emerson Bromo-Seltzer Tower, built in 1911, whose four clock faces are ringed by letters spelling out the product name. The tower was patterned on the Palazzo Vecchio in Florence, Italy, and is listed on the National Register of Historic Places. The tower originally held a 51-foot (16m) representation of a Bromo-Seltzer bottle at its top, glowing blue and rotating on a vertical axis. The sign weighed 20 tons (18.1 tonnes), included 314 incandescent light bulbs, and was topped with a crown. The sign was removed in 1936 because of structural concerns.[1]
Emerson, who traveled widely, said the fizz reminded him of the bubbling action of Mount Bromo, a volcano in Java.[4]
