Druggist Mural Ad, Cripple Creek, Colorado Poster

"Vintage Druggist Sign on a Building in Cripple Creek, Colorado" by Catherine Sherman. A vintage advertisement is painted onto a red brick wall promoting Fehringer & Black, labeling them as the leading druggists. The ad mural makes claims about having the most complete drug and sundries stock in Cripple Creek, Colorado, including medicinal liquors, and offers King's Catarrh Balm for great relief. Catarrh is a term more commonly used in the past to describe postnasal drip and a buildup of mucus in the back of the nose, throat, or sinuses. Proprietary (patent) medicine makers employed a wide array of advertising and marketing techniques to sell their products. Miners will probably have use of a wide range of drugs to ameliorate their aches, pains and illnesses. This advertisement mural is one of many in Cripple Creek, an historic mining town. Cripple Creek is a former gold mining camp located 20 miles (32 km) southwest of Colorado Springs near the base of Pikes Peak. The Cripple Creek Historic District, which received National Historic Landmark status in 1961, includes part or all of the city and the surrounding area. The city is now a part of the Colorado Springs, Colorado, Metropolitan Statistical Area and the Front Range Urban Corridor. The mining district of Cripple Creek and its neighboring Victor became the second largest gold mining district in the country and realized about $10 billion of mined gold in 2010 dollars. It reached its peak around the turn of the century when there were about 18,000 residents in the town of Victor. Depleted ore in mines, labor strife and the exodus of miners during World War I caused a steep decline in the city's economy, from which it has never recovered. The population was 379 at the 2020 census. Gold mining continues in the district.