By Josh Edwards

jedwards@vicksburgpost.com

Two pieces of medical and family history have gone missing, and a longtime Vicksburg pharmacist is offering a reward for their return.

Sometime in the past three weeks, two medicine jugs disappeared from Fred’s Pharmacy at The Corner, said the store’s former owner Joe Gerache Sr.

Gerache, who is 86, is offering a $500 reward for the return of the family heirlooms.

“I don’t know who took them. It’s a mysterious disappearance,” Gerache said. “I’m offering a reward — no questions asked — if the jugs will be returned.”

The Gerache family operated Corner Drug Store on Washington and China streets from 1959 until April, and the store still contains the Ge-

raches’ collection of historical medical relics.

The two brown and white jugs that went missing a few weeks ago had been purchased by Gerache’s son, Joe “Bubba” Gerache Jr., while he was in pharmacy school in the 1970s. Bubba Gerache suffered a stroke in December and was unable to return to work, so the family decided to sell the downtown pharmacy, bringing to a close a three-generation tradition dating to 1920 of Gerache family pharmacies.

Bubba Gerache died July 9 at age 60.

“It’s hard to take the loss of my son, but to have this happen to something he loved is nearly too much,” Joe Ge-rache said.

The jugs date to before the Pure Food and Drug Act of 1906 and originally were used to ship medicine that did not have to list ingredients and declared the substances they contained to be cure-alls.

“These jugs were sold in bulk to pharmacists around the country,” Joe Gerache said.

One of the historical pieces was from Parke-Davis, which is still in business as a subsidiarity of Pfizer Inc.

“It’s a collectible item and my son valued it as part of his collection,” Joe Gerache said.

Though the antiques are collectible and hold a lot of sentimental value, they are actually worth very little, Joe Gerache said.

“These jugs are only worth about $50 apiece,” he said.

Joe Gerache said he still visits the store frequently, but recent heart surgery has kept him at home.

“Otherwise I would be down there just about every day,” he said. “It’s just got to be a habit.”

Anyone with information about the jugs should return them to Fred’s Pharmacy at The Corner or call the store at 601-638-5521, Joe Gerache said.

Information

Anyone with information about the jugs may deliver them to Fred’s Pharmacy at The Corner or call the store at 601-638-5521.