L. Gerstle Manufacturing

L. Gerstle & Company was a pharmaceutical manufacturer based in Chattanooga, Tennessee, that operated during the late 19th and early 20th centuries. The company specialized in the production of patent medicines, a popular category of proprietary remedies before the advent of modern drug regulation. Its most prominent product was Gerstle's Female Mixture (often abbreviated as G.F.M.), which was marketed extensively across the Southern United States for various gynecological and digestive ailments. The firm also produced other remedies such as Gerstle's Female Laxative and various liver tonics. Like many companies in the patent medicine industry, its business declined following the implementation of the Pure Food and Drug Act of 1906, which required more transparent labeling and restricted health claims.