1878-83 6c Wm. E. Clarke Hunt's Remedy, Black, Double Line Watermark USIR

This 6-cent black proprietary revenue stamp was issued by William E. Clarke of Providence, Rhode Island, proprietor of Hunt's Remedy — marketed as "The Great Kidney Medicine" and advertised as a cure for diseases of the kidneys, liver, bladder, and urinary organs, among a long list of other ailments. Clarke came into possession of the Hunt's Remedy formula on May 9, 1872, and built it into a nationally advertised product over the following decade. The double line watermark USIR variety dates this example to the 1878-83 period. Clarke directed the National Bank Note Company of New York to engrave the die in 1878, and the Commissioner of Internal Revenue approved the proof on January 20, 1879. The 6-cent denomination covered the tax on larger bottles of Hunt's Remedy.

The design of this stamp is typographic rather than pictorial — the "HUNT'S REMEDY" name dominates the center within a decorative ribbon framework, flanked by lightning bolt ornaments and framed by the proprietor's name and Providence, R.I. origin. The bold, commercial layout reflects the marketing sensibility Clarke brought to all aspects of his Hunt's Remedy business, which included advertising in publications across the country and the use of colorful trade cards to promote the product at the retail level.

Clarke was a Civil War veteran who had served as an officer in the 11th Regiment of the Rhode Island Volunteers, rising to 1st Lieutenant and then Adjutant Aide-de-Camp on the staff of Brigadier General John Potts Slough before being discharged in July 1863. He was admitted to the Rhode Island Pharmaceutical Association in 1875. The Revenue Act proprietary stamp program that required these stamps ran from 1862 through 1883, when Congress retired the last of the Civil War-era excise taxes.