Be Prepared’ Medicine Cabinet
Object number
AMHAM: OBJECT.1553
About this object
The Eayres family owned this decorative cabinet and were keen members of the Scouts. They moved to Chesham Bois after the First World War, in 1926, and lived there for the next 100 years. There are more items that once belonged to this local family in our collection, including part of the front door to their house and a brown leather case, possibly a doctor’s gladstone bag, with the initials H.E.H.E on the outside.
Herbert Edward Harold Eayres was born in 1893 in Tottenham, one of five brothers. He served in the First and Second World Wars and was an active member of the local Amersham community. He was heavily involved with the Scouting movement and was Secretary of the Chesham Bois Boy Scout Association.
This cabinet was used to keep homeopathic and other medicines. Homeopathy is a system founded by German doctor Samuel Hahnemann (1755-1843). It was brought to England in the 1830s. There was friction with the traditional medical establishment when it was established, which has continued until today.
A central principle of homeopathy is that ‘like cures like’ – a substance that causes a symptom can also help to treat that symptom. Homeopathy is also based around a process of dilution, with the belief that the more a substance is diluted, the greater its power to treat a symptom.
Physical description
This medicine chest was used in a domestic setting, namely the house occupied by the Eayres family in Chesham Bois for more than one hundred years. It is 45.5cm in length, 45.5cm wide and 15cm deep. It is made of wood, with hinged double doors at the front. The doors featured leaded windows and coloured glass with a design using squares and rectangles of colour and incorporating the scouting emblem. There are two fleur-de-lis, one on each door, and in the context of the Scout Association, these are a symbol of purity and peace. Three is another fleur-de-lis and the Scout motto ‘Be Prepared’ in wood along the top of the cabinet. The cabinet has a small metal key to secure it when closed. It has a red diamond shaped hinged handle to pull open the doors. When first acquired by the museum, it contained a large selection of bottles including homeopathic remedies.
Inscription
Be Prepared
Find out more
https://amershammuseum.org/history/people/20th-century/major-herbert-edward-harold-eayres/
| Number | AMHAM: OBJECT.1553 |
|---|