Ayer’s Cherry Pectoral, Penn’s Treaty. 1800s.

Front of advertisement

Back of advertisement

Published after West’s “Penn’s Treaty with the Indians,” this advertisement used the now popularized image painted by West to sell medicine for the lungs. Interestingly, Ayer’s Cherry Pectoral was prepared in Massachusetts, which shows how the story of the Penn Treaty spread much further than the state of Pennsylvania, mostly because of West’s painting. The back of this card states that “the date of Penn’s Treaty is in dispute, but it is universally admitted that Ayer’s Cherry Pectoral prolongs and saves life,” using the ambiguity of the Penn Treaty to market the product. There are countless other items from the 1800s that used the Penn Treaty in their advertisements, capitalizing off of the same treaty that robbed the Lenape of their livelihood and land. Using this image of the Treaty and Elm for advertisement continues the history of white Americans taking Lenape land, whether through war or treaty, and using it for their own commercial gain.