- Email: [email protected]
Olivia Giles
Perspectives
Historical keyword Tabloid Now closely associated with the newspaper industry, tabloid had its origins in the pharmaceutical industry. Coined by Sir Henry Wellcome (1853–1936), it became the registered trademark of Burroughs Wellcome & Co, the company Wellcome had co-founded with fellow American Silas Mainville Burroughs in London in 1880. Wellcome strived to come up with an original, catchy word to describe Burroughs Wellcome’s new compressed medicines: “I wanted to coin some word that would be euphonious that is something that would be pleasing to the ear, that would be easy to remember”, he would later write. Inspiration struck early one morning in 1884: after passing through his mind combinations of letters and syllables, Wellcome hit upon tabloid—a combination of two words: tablet and ovoid (although some sources claim alkaloid). Wellcome quickly registered his invented word as a trademark to describe his company’s products. It proved a branding masterstroke, and Wellcome’s invented word was widely used in his company’s advertising. In the next 30 years, Burroughs Wellcome & Co became an established multinational business, with their Tabloid products—particularly medicine chests and first aid kits—being endorsed by the great and the good. Whether it was William Gladstone felling trees, Ernest Shackleton traversing the Antarctic, or Louis Bleriot flying across the English channel, “Tabloid” products were seen to be an essential part of their medical accessories. Wellcome closely guarded the use of his new word. If he spotted infringement of the Tabloid trademark, warning letters were sent out and if further breaches continued, he would resort to litigation. In 1903, Wellcome took to court the firm Thompson & Capper—who had described their own manufactured pills as tabloids—and won. This so-called “Tabloid case” generated huge publicity in the medical press, both at home and abroad, including a Lancet editorial strongly supporting the Judge’s decision. Perhaps Wellcome’s invented word was almost too successful. Over time, it began to be used to describe other things that were compressed in form, most notably the tabloid newspaper. In the 1890s and 1900s Burroughs Wellcome & Co wrote to such newspaper barons as Joseph Pulitzer and Alfred Harmsworth to warn against using the word. But by the time Wellcome Tabloid products stopped being made by the company, the word had been firmly established in common use.
Ross MacFarlane Wellcome Library, London NW1 2BE, UK [email protected]
www.thelancet.com Vol 373 January 17, 2009
Lifeline Olivia Giles was a property lawyer until 2002 when, aged 36 years, she contracted meningococcal septicaemia that led to the amputation of her lower arms and lower legs. In 2007, she set up a charity 500 miles. This charity supports the development and delivery of prosthetic and orthotic services and related surgery in deprived areas of the world, initially in Malawi and Zambia. Which medic has had most effect on your work, and why? Awf Quaba, the plastic surgeon who saved my knees and elbows. He gave me the chance to lead a more-or-less independent life and made me realise how surgery can transform someone’s life.
For 500 miles website see http://www.500miles.co.uk
What inspired you? Getting my own second chance at life through surgery, rehabilitation, and prosthetic limbs has made me want to give that same chance to other disabled people who don’t enjoy a free national health service. If you had not entered your current profession, what would you have liked to do? Clinical psychology. What would be your advice to a newly qualified doctor? There is a thinking, feeling, human being behind every patient you meet who is not so very different from you and yours. Treat them the way you and yours would like to be treated—every time. What is the best piece of advice you have received, and from whom? My Nana told me: laugh and the world laughs with you; cry and you cry alone. What is your greatest regret? Assuming that I had plenty of time to have children. What is the most memorable comment from your school reports? “Lacks confidence”, for most years. What is your favourite song, and why? I’m Gonna Be (500 miles) by The Proclaimers for its determined and aspirational lyrics, “I would walk 500 miles”, which inspired the name of the charity. What items do you always carry with you? Two velcro straps, one for a pen and one for cutlery. What one discovery would most improve your life? How to trigger, support, and control the regeneration of human tissue so that we can regenerate lost body parts in the same way that tadpoles and salamanders can. What has been the greatest achievement of your career? Probably raising £485 000 through a fund raising event called Leap for Meningitis; half for meningitis research and half for support for meningitis survivors.
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Historical keyword Tabloid Now closely associated with the newspaper industry, tabloid had its origins in the pharmaceutical industry. Coined by Sir Henry Wellcome (1853–1936), it became the registered trademark of Burroughs Wellcome & Co, the company Wellcome had co-founded with fellow American Silas Mainville Burroughs in London in 1880. Wellcome strived to come up with an original, catchy word to describe Burroughs Wellcome’s new compressed medicines: “I wanted to coin some word that would be euphonious that is something that would be pleasing to the ear, that would be easy to remember”, he would later write. Inspiration struck early one morning in 1884: after passing through his mind combinations of letters and syllables, Wellcome hit upon tabloid—a combination of two words: tablet and ovoid (although some sources claim alkaloid). Wellcome quickly registered his invented word as a trademark to describe his company’s products. It proved a branding masterstroke, and Wellcome’s invented word was widely used in his company’s advertising. In the next 30 years, Burroughs Wellcome & Co became an established multinational business, with their Tabloid products—particularly medicine chests and first aid kits—being endorsed by the great and the good. Whether it was William Gladstone felling trees, Ernest Shackleton traversing the Antarctic, or Louis Bleriot flying across the English channel, “Tabloid” products were seen to be an essential part of their medical accessories. Wellcome closely guarded the use of his new word. If he spotted infringement of the Tabloid trademark, warning letters were sent out and if further breaches continued, he would resort to litigation. In 1903, Wellcome took to court the firm Thompson & Capper—who had described their own manufactured pills as tabloids—and won. This so-called “Tabloid case” generated huge publicity in the medical press, both at home and abroad, including a Lancet editorial strongly supporting the Judge’s decision. Perhaps Wellcome’s invented word was almost too successful. Over time, it began to be used to describe other things that were compressed in form, most notably the tabloid newspaper. In the 1890s and 1900s Burroughs Wellcome & Co wrote to such newspaper barons as Joseph Pulitzer and Alfred Harmsworth to warn against using the word. But by the time Wellcome Tabloid products stopped being made by the company, the word had been firmly established in common use.
Ross MacFarlane Wellcome Library, London NW1 2BE, UK [email protected]
www.thelancet.com Vol 373 January 17, 2009
Lifeline Olivia Giles was a property lawyer until 2002 when, aged 36 years, she contracted meningococcal septicaemia that led to the amputation of her lower arms and lower legs. In 2007, she set up a charity 500 miles. This charity supports the development and delivery of prosthetic and orthotic services and related surgery in deprived areas of the world, initially in Malawi and Zambia. Which medic has had most effect on your work, and why? Awf Quaba, the plastic surgeon who saved my knees and elbows. He gave me the chance to lead a more-or-less independent life and made me realise how surgery can transform someone’s life.
For 500 miles website see http://www.500miles.co.uk
What inspired you? Getting my own second chance at life through surgery, rehabilitation, and prosthetic limbs has made me want to give that same chance to other disabled people who don’t enjoy a free national health service. If you had not entered your current profession, what would you have liked to do? Clinical psychology. What would be your advice to a newly qualified doctor? There is a thinking, feeling, human being behind every patient you meet who is not so very different from you and yours. Treat them the way you and yours would like to be treated—every time. What is the best piece of advice you have received, and from whom? My Nana told me: laugh and the world laughs with you; cry and you cry alone. What is your greatest regret? Assuming that I had plenty of time to have children. What is the most memorable comment from your school reports? “Lacks confidence”, for most years. What is your favourite song, and why? I’m Gonna Be (500 miles) by The Proclaimers for its determined and aspirational lyrics, “I would walk 500 miles”, which inspired the name of the charity. What items do you always carry with you? Two velcro straps, one for a pen and one for cutlery. What one discovery would most improve your life? How to trigger, support, and control the regeneration of human tissue so that we can regenerate lost body parts in the same way that tadpoles and salamanders can. What has been the greatest achievement of your career? Probably raising £485 000 through a fund raising event called Leap for Meningitis; half for meningitis research and half for support for meningitis survivors.
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