Video of the Eating of a 50 Year Old Pine Bros Cough Drop
April 10th, 2008
Several months ago, I wrote a post longing for the unending tastiness that is the now discontinued Pine Bros cough drop. Then, my girlfriend found me an auction on eBay for a box of them (that I proceeded to win triumphantly), but they were from the 1950s. So I asked Mike Industries readers if it was ok to eat them, despite a mysterious white film that coated them.
As luck would have it, Mike Industries reader Steve L. (a fellow Pine Bros fanatic) volunteered to eat one on camera if I shipped a couple to him in Georgia. Here is the video footage of the incident:
Way to go Steve. Thousands of Pine Bros. fans around the world bow down to your greatness.
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Way to go Steve! I’ll send ya a dolla’ since according to playground rules that’s how much eating a weird or disgusting thing is worth.
Mike — you’re a sissy for letting someone else do your dirty work. :)
Wait a minute, let me get this straight Mike… You were too chicken to try it, so you let a guy with newborn *twins* risk his life eating one? That’s the worst thing I’ve ever read on this website :-P
[...] Virginia, it is okay to eat a 50-year-old cough drop. The video proof is [...]
Wait wait wait. Isn’t it cheating to soak it in hot water first? I say find someone to eat it as is. That would be more interesting to watch.
Austin: Are you volunteering?
The white stuff is probably just sugar. People forget that sugar is a preservative against bacteria: that’s why we put so much into jelly and jam. At low concentrations, yeast can magically turn it into alcohol, but too much is bad for them.
Yes, I am definitely a sissy for not doing this myself, but I’ve never been very brave of an eater. I won’t even eat bread that is within a day of its expiration date.
And yes, it’s a tad disappointing that the white stuff was rinsed off first, but that’s ok. Steve did give it quite a chew afterwards, which was nice. I was worried it was going to go down like a pill. THAT would have been disappointing… and a total waste of fabulous taste.
Who really cares if the guy lived or died after eating them…I want to know how much money it takes to win 50-year old cough drops!!!
Vermont Country Store will try to find any product for you that you’re unable to find, and then sell it to you!
I’m sure that if you suggest the Pine Bros. cough drops, they’ll be sure to help you out:
Suggest a Product to VCS
I COLLECT OLD COUGH DROPS GUM ETC. I WOUD FILM AND EAT A 50 YEAR OLD COUGH DROP STRAIGHT OUT OF THE BOX AND POST IT ON YOU TUBE….HOWEVER I WOULD LIKE A FULL UNOPENED BOX TO DISPLAY FOR MY COLLECTION…..CAN ANYONE HELP? THANK YOU AND IF I GET SOME I WON’T DISAPOINT.EDDIE.
Hi, just picked up a full unopened box of smith bros. medicated cough drops from the 1930′s….that;s around 70 years old…i’d eat one if it didn’t look to bad,but i’m not about to ruin such an old item like this…..if i could pick up a few boxes [and i would] then it would be worth it to carefully open one on video and eat it…suck on it,not chew it….if it was just rank as hell when i put it in my mouth, the best thing at that point for anyone,would be to spit it out ,right? If i pick some up i’ll be back and become a celebrity ok? Later…. Eddie “guitar” loebs
For all those searching for Pine Brothers, I have a supply of the Honey ones that recently came into my hands. If you are interested, email me and I will give you the details. I am going to put a few up on ebay so check there soon. – Dennis (dwbecker@optonline.net)
Is Eddie talking about cough drops??
“eat it…suck on it,not chew it….if it was just rank as hell when i put it in my mouth, the best thing at that point for anyone,would be to spit it out ,right?”
Of course i’m talking about cough drops……..but maby i wasn’t………yeah,i was…..Hey “BLUE SOUL” happens to the name of my band,and i’m not joking…In fact, i’m thinking your my bass player,but no….couldn’t be………….still haven’t found any old cough drops to suck on!!!!
It’s been 5 months since he ate those cough drops………..is he still alive? This video made my day :)
I bought a few boxes of pine brothers cough drops from a lady and also got some from Dennis,who posted above….i ate all of them.About 6 boxes in all…….The boxes had the bar code on them,so they where probably 1980′s i would think….the wild cherry ones didn’t taste all that good,but the honey one’s great…..they were so good……the one’s steve ate were probably 29 years older….that’s all folks
Hey guys, I’m a 70 year old young lady and I LOVE Pine Bros. Cough Drops. I have been searching for them for years. I guess they went out of business. The Smith Brothers must have driven them off, or something.
Hi Virginia, apparently your not alone…there are many of us pine bros. lovers….from what i can tell,they last made them in the 80′s,and Dennis,who has a posting on here had some on ebay…i bought a few boxes,and they where eatable….the cherry ones tasted a little old,but the honey one’s where super good……i ended up eating all i had. There is probably a bunch around somewhere….good luck…Eddie
Wow. Used to buy and eat the honey ones like candy! It’s amusing so many are still fond of them! I distinctly remember the taste, texture, smell, chewiness, etc. of them. If I remember correct, they weren’t that soft and gooey in the box, you had to suck on them a bit.
I have been searching for these cough drops forever. will they ever come back?
I found a real good substitute for those of us that loved Pine Bros.
They are Dr. Doolittle’s Apothecary Pastilles (est. 1922 and still around!), soft, fruit drops that come in different flavors. Real similar to our beloved Pine Bros.
You can get them at Cost Plus World Markets. I’m loving ‘em!
Thanks,i’ll head to cost plus and give them a try!
LOL! Damn! I guess I’m not the only person on the planet stalking the elusive and sadly discontinued Pine Bros. honey cough drop (the cherry ones were awesome too!) I remember them fondly from my youth, soft and chewy, succulent, rare-tasting even before they got extinct. I’ll continue my quest. Why would they quit making these? What were they thinking?? Maybe there’s a copycat recipe online that we can all make in our microwaves at home…??? I’ll check that next!
They are gummy, but hard, none of the substitutes get the consistency right. I used to use them to get out stubborn loose teeth! I was trying to find them online because one of my 6 year old twins has a stubborn tooth, but I don’t think I’ll let her try a 50 year old cough drop, no matter what Steve says.
Hey Mike–
A few years ago I first read your blog about the questionable safety of ingesting one of the discontinued Pine Brothers brand cough drop.
Recently, I was having a conversation with a younger friend who never experienced those great-tasting delectables, and thought I’d check the Web again for any new information, then found this You Tube video of your acquaintance sampling the PB fossil you sent him.
I also doiscovered a link to a website at PineBrothers Dot-com, claiming to sell the fondly-remembered brand once again. Have you tried that source or know of anyone who has, and if it is legitimate?
I, too, loved the old PB cough drops, both cherry and honey varieties, but especially the cherry-flavored drops. Like some others, I also vaguely remember there might have been other flavor varieties of Pine Brothers at one time, but certainly cherry and honey were the longest manufactured.
I first recall dissolving a PB drop in my mouth in the early 1960s, so these false claims on the Internet, touting the brand as a “1980s” product, are just nonsense. I think this boast just evolved from a person (whose youth was in the 1980s) remembering her/his first experiences with Pine Brothers and the misinformation was perpetuated. But as posts here clearly demonstrate, others remember the product from the 1960s and ’70s, as do I. I suspect the brand was at least first produced in the early 1960s, possibly even earlier.
Do you know which company was the original manufacturer of Pine Brothers, and the location of the company? Did one company manufacturer the product for its entire existence (not counting the revived attempts)?
It is too bad there is no information about Pine Brothers cough drops on Wikipedia. I seem to recall once reading that (despite a claim that once appeared on the PB packaging) the product never contained any actual medication, and that there were never any actual Pine Brothers, just a fictitious concoction conjured up to rival Smith Brothers’ brand.
Do you or anyone else know the whole story about Pine Brothers?
I just bought a new flavor of Jelly Belly jelly beans at the distribution center in Pleasant Prairie, Wisconsin. I have not yet seen them in stores. Anyway, as soon as I tasted them, I realized what they reminded me of–Pine Brothers Honey Cough Drops. If you liked Pine Brothers, you HAVE to find these new Honey Jelly Belly jelly beans. They are fantastic and taste so much like Pine Brothers.
The cherry ones were the best, but you are all forgetting the second best Pine Brothers flavor – LEMON ! that’s right, lemon. I loved them. There were also black ones (licorice, I never ate them) and green ones, that my wife just reminded me, were mint.
Somebody should do some research and find/buy the original recipe and bring them back. Probably make a ton of money.
I would have eaten the cherry one with the white coating. What the hell, you only live once !
Charlie, i’ve bought some Pine bros. a couple time on ebay that were probably some of the last ones made and probable fom the 80′s….i ate them all,the Cherry ones were alright but lost alot of the cherry flavor..the Honey ones were sooooo good,i really hated to see them go,but i felt the premium price i had to pay to taste them again was well worth it…i still search for them but haven’t seen any for almost a year now…Your not alone wishing someone would start making them again.
Has anyone ever looked into finding and/or buying the recipe? Hey Eddie, do you remember the lemon ones?
There might be someone seriously thinking about remaking them,that would be nice….i probably tasted the lemon ones back in the 70′s,that was the last time i remember seeing any Charlie…the honey ones that i got off ebay were about $10 or more for a box…but worth it when you know they’re no longer around.