Pharmacy Today “Not What It Used To Be”

Press, Volume CII, Issue 30108, 17 April 1963, Page 16

Pharmacy Today “Not What It Used To Be”

"The Press" Special Service

AUCKLAND, April 16. Pharmaceutical academic standards are high and chemists’ shops elaborate, but pharmacy today is not what it used to be, according to one of the oldest practising pharmacists in New Zealand, Mr H. T. King, aged 86, of Mt. Eden.

Mr King has kept a chemist shop in Mt. Eden for 52 years. He is in partnership now with his son, but comes in daily to attend to the firm’s books and serve behind the counter.

Young women might find Mr King, sen., a little hazy about the wonders of the latest toilet preparation, but there are many customers whc still want his advice.

When Mr King began his pharmacy apprenticeship with Neil’s Pharmacy, Wellesley street, in 1895, many of the customers wanted not only advice but first-aid.

“I’ve stitched up hundreds of cuts,” says Mr King with a smile. "We used to get girls from the factories with sewing machine needles in their fingers. “In the old days,” he says, “we had to be regular quack doctors. I’ve even pulled a few teeth out in my time. You wouldn’t dare do that sort of thing today—they’d sue you.” The old chemists, he said needed a good head and 3 steady hand—practical skill rather than theoretical knowledge M* King had only a primary school education before beginning a four-year pharmacy' apprenticeship but he studied and passed stiff examinations m chemistry, Latin, and general knowledge. After only one year in the profession he was sent to Napier to manage a branch shop. Three years were spent in charge of his firm’s Dunedin shop and until he opened his own business in Mt. Eden, he travelled New Zealad relieving in various towns.

Mr King paid £470 for his first chemist’s shop Moving later to larger premises across the road, he startled fellow chemists by knocking down a partition and allowing customers to see him mixing prescriptions in the dispensary “I was the first one to do that,” says Mr King proudly “It was good psychology

People always thought we disappeared into the dispensary and mixed up some Epsom salts and water in a bottle. It impressed them to see all the jars and potions.” Sales increased by a third, thanks to the open dispensary, he said. The idea worked so well that Mr King became one of the first Auckland retailers to open up the front entrance of his shop with large sliding doors. In those early days, pharmacy was a mo-re personal business. Mr King and his customers had long discussions on various treatments for cuts and ailments, and the merits of cough cures and other patent medicines. Social Security brought a flood of prescriptions and chemists had been kept busy ever since.

Mt Eden shoppers are likely to see Mr King in business for some years yet. He enjoys good health and comes from a family famous for the long lives of its members. His father, Mr C B. King, was still playing cricket for Auckland at the age of 60.