Skaggs Exhibits
Please contact the museum to view these exhibits as the building is closed to the general public.
First Floor
Lobby: Recreation of a territorial-era pharmacy, complete with a massive, mirrored frontispiece (ca. 1870) surrounded by stained glass and ornate woodwork. A pharmacist would work in privacy behind the mirror, compounding medications and preparing prescriptions, all the while peeking out through the clear glass sides of the frontispiece to keep an eye on the customers.
Brewer Room (103): Willis R. Brewer was the third dean of the College of Pharmacy, serving between 1952 and 1975. Elaborate glass and cherry wood display cabinets (ca. 1920s) lining the walls were originally used in the Hoffman Pharmacy on the south side of Chicago. The Brewer Room is laid out like an old-time pharmacy. The checkered tile floor echoes retail pharmacies of the late-19th and early-20th centuries.
Second Floor
Lobby: This display features an exquisite prescription counter from the 1930s. The case came from the Ray Drug Store in Ray, Arizona.
On the front side of the display are several over-the-counter remedies of the day. The tiles on the floor originally decorated the Winslow Drug Store. Tile work like this was commonly used as a backsplash in drugstore soda fountains. Pharmacists at the time also offered entertainment to their customers, such as punchboards and pinball and slot machines.
On the backside is the pharmacist’s work area for filling prescriptions and managing the store’s operations. The pharmacist’s counter holds balances, a glass tile for mixing ointments and powders, and other tools of the trade for a 1930s drug store.
Third Floor
Lobby: This area features two display cases in the style of territorial pharmacies holding over-the-counter items from early Arizona drug stores. Many of these medicines have attractive lithograph pictures and amusing labels touting the “benefits” of the products inside. Smaller show globes are displayed, along with a large mirrored soda fountain back-bar. This setup is typical of the fountains of the 1920s and 1930s, with leaded glass and ice cream dishes.
Fourth Floor
Lobby: This area contains a 102-drawer cabinet (ca. 1950s) is filled with natural plant and mineral products, along with vintage medicinal bottles and correlating details about how the natural products were used.