#ndarchives

Football is big here at Notre Dame, and we’ve got the archival collections to show for it. Seen here is the Four Horsemen Liniment, a well-branded solution for all muscular ailments, and many other practical uses. Produced in the 1930’s, this bottle maintains its original packaging, as well as some of the liniment itself, posing a unique storage dilemma. The liniment was well preserved in part by a pink rubber balloon wrapped tightly around the bottle cap to prevent leaks (***not a preservation approved strategy***). Treatment involved removal of the balloon using solvents, transporting the liquid contents into a more appropriate lab grade storage container, cleaning residual liniment from the bottle, and constructing a better housing to protect and showcase these unique materials. Kozo paper and wheat starch paste were used to mend the fragmented box, while the accompanying pamphlet which had been stored wrapped tightly around the bottle, was humidified and flattened to reduce its curl. We can’t make any claims to this product’s effectiveness, but as a collection item we think it’s pretty cool.