A single bottle of Dr. William Gray’s Specific Medicine has been discovered at the former Gilbert & Lighthall building on Picton Main Street.

While clearing out the basement, which was built in 1892, for new occupants, owner Alexandra Bake discovered a dust-covered bottle with a still-intact cork stopper. 

Barely legible were the words, “Dr. William Gray’s Specific Medicine,” accompanied by “before” and “after” illustrations, as well as “Capillary Restorer.”

Gilbert & Lighthall were undertakers as well as furniture makers. Ms. Bake thought the tonic might have been related to that practice. Being a responsible citizen, she called the County and asked for the Hazardous Waste Unit. An inexplicable accident (possibly the poor wiring at the Edward Building), however, connected her to the Mayor’s office.

Before she could explain the error, Steve Ferguson was on the line. 

“I knew it! I’d heard that there was a miracle hair tonic developed in Picton over a century ago, but nobody could tell me much about it. I’ve been searching for that bottle!”

The Mayor described  years on the lookout. The Gazette’s archives suggested the cure might have been an experiment by Charles Coppinger, the Picton Barber, Hair-Dresser and Shampooer of the 1860s who, hard on his luck, offered it to Gilbert for a song when he was setting up shop in the 1870s. 

But after that it disappeared. It is possible the recipe was sold to Dr. Gray to finance the new G&L building.

Somehow Ms. Bake didn’t have the heart to disappoint Mr. Ferguson. “Oh, Mr. Mayor,” she said, empathetically, “are you sure? Do you know what business Gilbert and Lighthall were in?”

The Mayor reassured her that he knew very well, and urged her to keep the bottle sealed and waiting for him. He wanted to see where it had been found.

“Once I saw that dark corner of the basement, I knew we had to test it,” said the Mayor.

Luckily, the Gilbert & Lighthall building is shared by The Merchant, whose in-house barber, Andru, was both intrigued and willing.

On the back of the bottle, Andru discovered some handwriting: “Apply sparingly to clean, bald scalp. Massage. Wrap in hot towel for 20 minutes. Trim to style.”

Andru was nervous. “I opened the bottle and gave it a whiff… I had to sit down for a while after that. I know it was St. Patrick’s day, but I kind of saw a rainbow!”

After the urgings of both Ms. Bake and the Mayor, Andru agreed to bring his scissoring skills to bear upon this unprecedented moment.

On the morning of April 1st, he arrived early and got to work. 

“It kind of tingled,” said Mayor Ferguson. “The hot towel helped, but before a few minutes had passed, I couldn’t feel much at all up there.”

When Andru unwrapped the towel, he and Ms. Bake gasped. Both then needed to sit down.

“I can see what Dr. Gray meant by ‘apply sparingly’,” said Ms. Bake.

“I felt I was in the presence of something cosmic,” said Andru. “I never studied the history of my trade. This was like a message from a barber of the past.

“No trimming was needed,” he added. “It was a miracle. It seemed profane even to touch it with a comb!”

“Well, I’m pretty sure I’ll be needing a comb,” said the Mayor. 

“I’m a new man.”