Hygeia "tobacco" (1898 humor magazine)

[Douglas G. Wilson]

>  Feb. 5, 1898 -- _The Yale Record_, vol. 26, no. 8, page title 'EDITORIAL':
>        'These are indeed days of degeneracy.  The visible muscles of
>the Owl inordinately twitched when he learned of the sudden departure
>in the meetings of his wise and temperate scholars, from the practice
>of Sophistry to the use of the genial and soothing weed.  A somewhat
>similar smilet o'er came him when his "next entry neighbor" also
>informed him that his cultured protegées had decided to use no
>violence in regard to the manner in which they would adjust
>themselves to their chairs, and that in future they would "sit
>unrestrainedly" around the chosen apartments freely indulging in
>Hygeia  and "hot dogs".'

I agree that the weed is probably tobacco.

I don't know what Hygeia refers to here. "Hygeia" as a trade name has been
applied to many things, including mineral water, baby bottles, paper cups,
drinking straws, soap dispensers, underwear, bathroom fixtures, hotels,
milk, etc., etc.

My suspicion is that this item refers to a soft drink brand. Quick Web
search turns up a remark to the effect that the Hygeia Soft Drink Co. was
opened in 1900 in Pensacola FL; maybe there were earlier bottling plants
with the same name elsewhere. Here is a picture of an old bottle which is
labeled "Hygeia" (soft drink or mineral water?) (I can't read it all):

http://www.geocities.com/Yosemite/Geyser/2344/glass/hygeiabig.jpg

-- Doug Wilson