It's time for Positively Kansas.

Coming up, we catch up with a retired pharmacist who's using his knowledge and experience to educate people about the history of medicine.

Some of what he has to show us is pretty shocking.

Also, if you long for the good old days, you have a lot in common with this Wichita couple.

See how they live every day like it's 1939.

Plus, you'll see how this Wichita firefighter fights more than just fires.

And in our Kansas Wild Edge report, we travel to one of the best places in the state to enjoy the beauty of autumn.

I'm Sierra Scott.

A half hour of information and inspirations queued up and ready to roll on this edition of Positively Kansas.

There was a time when prescription medicine could kill you just as easily as heal you.

In Lincoln, Kansas, there's a drugstore museum devoted to that time in history.

As Chris Frank shows us, the best advice for someone picking up a prescription in those days was buyer beware.

Today, it may be hard to imagine a time when now illegal drugs like heroin, cocaine, morphine and other narcotics could be purchased at your local Kansas drugstore over the counter.

Yet, pharmacists in Kansas drug stores like this one in Lincoln, northwest of Salina, stocked their shelves with the Elixirs, Potions, Medicines of the Day, containing those drugs and containing several poisons which were meant to cure the patient's ills.

And there wasn't any restrictions on what they could put in it.

So they could put in narcotics, they could put in poisons, lead mercury, whatever, whatever was called for in the recipe.

Jack Crispin is a retired pharmacist.

The Crispins operated the only pharmacy in Lincoln County for 26 years.

And when it came time to stop making prescriptions, the Crispins in 2007 turned their modern drugstore into a drugstore museum.

This museum is an eye opener for us to learn what our grandparents or great grandparents were taking for their ailments.

Drugstores, Well, they were kind of like mini Wal-Marts back then.

They sold everything wallpaper and chemicals, just about anything you can think of, soda fountain, cigars, anything that would sell.

And then they also filled a few prescriptions.

So let me show you a couple.

And it's those prescriptions filled during the 40 year period of 1880 to 1920.

Crispin focuses on here.

This is a product called Radam's Microbe Killer.

Crispin says the company claimed this could treat any disease known or unknown.

But in 1910, when the American Medical Association got tired of the outlandish miracle claims, the Medical Association tested the mixture.

And when they analyzed Radams Microbe Killer, they found out it was water colored with a little red wine.

It was still an era when miracle cures were being peddled.

Potion peddlers and drug companies alike sold their concoctions to a public desperate for cures.

There wasn't much of anybody watching them, especially prior to 1906, when the first Pure Food and Drug Act comes into into existence.

You could make your products contain just about anything you wanted, and you could make claims that could do all kinds of miracle cures.

And unless you were killing people wholesale, you were as good as gold.

It was a completely open field.

Some so-called medicines, like the Radams Microbe Killer, hid their ingredients.

But most of the bottles here on the museum shelves list those ingredients.

Possession now of the drugs commonly used then would result in a felony charge and perhaps prison.

We just didn't know that much about the drugs.

Crispin says back then there was no standardized testing to discover potential drug side effects.

A pharmacist might hear how a prescription help someone get better, and that became the testimonial for prescribing the drug to others.

So it was, “Hey, Joe Blow down the street got better when I gave him this, so Im going to use it on everybody else.

” There weren't any blind study groups where some got a placebo while others got the real medicine.

All customers were, you might say, lab rats, proper testing didn't come in for several more decades.

Back then, it was well, it worked for this guy.

We'll try it on some other people as well.

Crispin says in those days, the bodily healings likely came about naturally rather than anything a prescription did.

In other words, the body healing itself.

Crispin says there were so many diseases without cures that the sick were often desperate for any treatment, even if it wasn't a proven treatment.

And then you pick up the newspaper and in the back page it says, We can cure cancer.

Only $1 a bottle.

How many people are going to refuse to try a bottle of it just to see?

Newspapers of the day advertise cures for about every disease and ailment.

Dr. Bull's cough sirup cures a cough or cold at once, the ad states.

Not only cold, but also said to conquer croup, whooping cough, bronchitis, grippe, and consumption or tuberculosis and constipation.

And though many so-called cures contain nothing of medicinal value, other prescriptions contain some of the most potent narcotics you can think of.

Well, over here, we've got an interesting collection of products that you could buy over the counter that all contain narcotics.

Just look at the labels.

Coca Cordial made by Parke-Davis.

It was cocaine dissolved in Sherry wine.

It was a very popular after dinner pick-me-up.

Then you get into some cough syrups.

The Harris cough syrup contained morphine.

The green bottles, Pisos Cough Cure contained marijuana and then jump over to the next one.

The Ramons English cough syrup contains heroin, which seems a little strong for just a cough syrup.

Those were all available without a prescription.

That ease of purchasing narcotics resulted in many American drug addicts.

Crispin says it took a great number of deaths before government oversight and controls were legislated.

Strychnine is pesticide used as a rat killer.

But strychnine was once prescribed in medicines as a muscle relaxer.

And its strychnine tablets chocolate coated.

Strychnine has a very bitter taste to it.

And if you're having to take strychnine, you don't want to taste that.

So they chocolate coated them to make them more pleasant to take.

And one of the same poisonous gas is used in World War One to kill and maim soldiers was after the war, thought to be a cure for the common cold.

This is a chlorine, Kilacold bomb, the yellow haze you see in there is chlorine gas.

Advertisements of the day called this the ideal chlorine treatment, stating hundreds of people have found quick, effective relief from coughs, colds and respiratory troubles by the simple use of Kilacold bombs.

The way you were to use this is when you felt a cold coming on.

You would take one of these into your bathroom, which was generally a very small room, stuffed newspapers under the door to get a gas seal, then snap this open and breathe chlorine gas.

The idea was that you would inhale the chlorine gas.

It would kill the bacteria that was causing the cold and you would stop the cold right away.

So why have we been suffering from colds all these years?

Because it didn't work.

He says too much of the chlorine inhaled would be fatal.

So what were drug companies thinking?

Well, they were thinking money.

Most of them.

The use of chlorine gas for medicinal purposes became popular.

Why, even President Calvin Coolidge took chlorine gas treatments because of allergies.

In fact, it was so popular that the United States Senate installed a chlorine gas treatment room in the Senate building so that senators that were feeling like a cold was coming down could go down and get a chlorine gas treatment to bring them back to life.

Crispin says a patient in those days often couldn't find out what they were being prescribed.

So if you took your prescription into a drugstore back then and asked the druggist, “What's Doc giving me today?

” Legally, he could not tell you what was in your prescription.

All he could say is, “You'll have to ask your doctor that.

” But he says doctors were aloof and wouldn't always inform their patients.

More than likely, he wasn't going to tell you.

He was the educated one.

You wouldn't understand.

You're the sick one.

Shut up and take your medicine.

Now, it may seem strange to learn that back in the late 19th and early 20th centuries, so many untested drugs could flood the market.

It took passage of federal narcotic laws in the 1920s to change that practice.

And while you're here in Lincoln, once you've seen enough of the drugstore museum, you can simply walk next door and get a look at the Post Rock Scout Museum.

The museum includes uniforms and other memorabilia items associated with Girl Scouts, Boy Scouts, Campfire Girls, and other Scout groups.

Well, I grew up a Girl Scout.

We had three daughters who were all Girl Scouts, and I was their leader for many years.

She started collecting scout items and realized she had enough to fill this former bank building.

Both museums are easily found on Main Street in a building erected in 1881.

Museums can show us our past and hopefully help us to learn from that history and the mistakes made.

Some of those common medical practices of that time seem barbaric now.

It raises the question what will today's practices seem like a century from now?

In Lincoln for Positively Kansas, this is Chris Frank.

These Lincoln museums are free to visit but accept donations.

They're typically open from 1 to 5:00 daily, but it's best to call ahead to make sure.

While some people long for the good old days, it wasn't good enough for this couple.

In this next story, though, they're living the good old days and they're doing it in style.

As Anthony Powell shows us.

Perfect fit.

That's how Carey Tarkman describes the move she and her husband, Thomas, made to Wichita in 2018.

They lived most of their lives in northern California.

But were looking somewhere else to retire.

They had a friend who had moved back to Wichita and suggested the air capital.

The first time Carey came to visit, she met some strangers who instantly became friends.

Honey, come sit with us.

You just made six friends tonight.

And so it was the community and the people here.

The people are very, very nice here.

And with nice, that impacts the culture.

The Tarkmans felt even more at home when they toured the Frank Lloyd Wright house in College Hill.

After the tour, they spotted this home on North Roosevelt, built in 1939 by Mr. and Mrs. L.M.

Miller, owners of the iconic Miller Theater.

1939 was also the same year as Gone With the Wind, and The Wizard of Oz.

Two of the Tarkmans favorite movies from one of their favorite decades.

After all, the couple met in a foxtrot class and soon discovered they had a mutual love for the thirties and forties, so they just knew they had to make this house theirs.

And they did.

What did we want our life to look like as our next phase of our life?

We love the history of the films.

We love the music of that period of the art deco and the thirties and forties.

We love the idea of retiring to a big grand house like you'd see in the old movies.

Today, the walls, molding, flooring, light fixtures are much the same as when the house was built.

The old days were good days.

The Tarkmans have added their own touches from vintage train sets to pictures of old stars.

Anywhere you look is a toast to the thirties and forties.

I fell in love with the old movies.

And the music.

The clothing.

The era of the lifestyle of the thirties and forties.

Ever since I was 12 and I discovered the first Fred and Ginger movie I ever watched and my first celebrity crush at 12 years old was Fred Astaire.

As often as possible, the Tarkmans appearance mirrors their beloved decades.

Thomas says You can't beat the quality of the clothes.

The details.

It's all in the details.

I get my hair set every two weeks.

I do the same vintage makeup all the time.

Carey also has a company called Fashion Archaeology, teaching people about the thirties and forties, which includes tours of their home.

And home is where you'll find the Tarkmans spending most of their time.

This spacious, lush backyard is a favorite hangout and something that caught their eye when they first spotted the house.

It had greenery.

And things that were missing where we came from, which is a lot of trees and bushes and lawns.

See, where we came from, the asphalt, concrete, jungle.

And of course, the homes inside is a source of constant joy.

(Singing) Heaven...

I'm in heaven... and by heart beats so that I can hardly speak...

Yes, indeed.

Between loving their home and the city and people of Wichita, Thomas and Carey Tarkman couldn't be more in heaven.

Never look back.

In Wichita, I'm Anthony Powell for Positively Kansas.

In addition to the music, clothing and movies of the thirties and forties, the Tarkmans say they also love the values of those decades.

They say there was a tremendous sense of community.

Families and friends spent a lot of quality time together doing traditional things like formal sit down dinners.

Now to the timeless beauty of nature.

The crispness and color of autumn in Kansas makes it the favorite time of year for many of us.

In this week's Kansas Wild Edge report, Mike Blair takes us to a serene and beautiful place to visit each fall.

Beyond Mans doors lie the creeks of October.

He can have his times, his busy schedules and workaday routines and call it living.

But along the creeks where Summer's engine is finally stalling and every breathing thing knows it, there is a plenitude of life that makes the human sphere seem small.

There, where the certainty of the end is expressed by every falling leaf, trees embrace the autumn sky with color-- not crying at their fate, but singing.

Rustling cottonwoods stir the air, filling it with quiet music.

To learn this song is to know tranquility.

Something lost in a pushbutton world.

October creeks sweep away the stresses of summer and mirror the grandeur of a changing season.

Like living film, their waters capture fall colors and print them again, offering a double portion of beauty.

To all who would walk the meandering banks, gold and silver are free for the taking.

The colors of autumn are wondrous gifts.

Every Creekside Thicket is alive with activity, songbirds flit from limb to limb as if without purpose, yet moving southward.

Bees and insects work urgently waltzing in the arms of their flowers.

Trees are scarred by restless bucks, and squirrels scamper to bury food.

All must prepare for what lies ahead.

But in spite of destiny, there is no remorse.

The wind is a friend to the creeks of October.

It plays through their trees and ripples their waters, cooling the earth with a welcome airing.

It strums the leaves and dries the dew and hurries the monarchs on their way.

And it hurries the days until glory fades.

There is joy to be found on October Creeks.

Wet sand on bare feet.

The flash of wood ducks against the blue sky and exuberance of life.

The invitation is silent but real.

The heart can hear its callings.

Beyond man's doors.

His spaces.

His ways.

The creeks of October await.

Never beyond his dreams.

They belong to those who seek them.

Im Mike Blair for Positively Kansas.

Next time, Mike shows us another side of nature.

It's a vicious little bug that flies across the Kansas countryside and attacks.

And speaking of attacks, you want to stay on the good side of the woman in this next story.

She's a real fighter in more ways than one.

Anthony Powell shows us how and why.

Newton native Carly Anderson has done a lot of things in her young life.

Back in 2021, the lifelong athlete decided to add boxing to her accomplishments list.

Carly loves the challenge.

And boxing certainly is that.

I would say nothing can really prepare you for it.

You know, getting punched in the face is not like anything else.

We met Carly at her home away from home, the Villa Boxing Center in southeast Wichita, where she was training for a charity match.

A month later in Tulsa, Carly would defeat Owasso, Oklahoma police officer Danna Johnston in the only female fight of the night.

The two competitors now consider each other good friends.

Carly is grateful for the experiences boxing has provided and the incredible shape the sport helps her stay in.

I had always wanted to try it just because I knew it would probably be a really good workout, you know, completely different than any kind of gymnastics workout that I've ever had or any type of other workout that I've ever tried before.

So I always wanted that challenge or just to try something new.

Gymnastics.

Carly's other favorite sport that she started at age three.

Both she and her coach believe being a gymnast has helped her be such a good boxer.

I could tell her immediate athletic ability.

And I didn't know she was a gymnast when I first met her.

And I found that out later.

Then when I found out, I thought, Oh, okay, now I get it.

But while sports have always been and continue to be a very important part of Carly's life, they really can't compare to her passion of being a Wichita firefighter.

Watch her response when we asked what she loves about the job.

I don't know.

I love, you know, obviously helping the community.

But just like I said, it pushes you to be better every single day.

You never stop learning.

You're always learning new things.

You can always be stronger.

You can always be better at what you do.

Firefighting is a family affair.

My dad was a fireman in Newton for 30 years, so I kind of grew up around it and it kind of runs in the family.

My brother's a firefighter here in Wichita with me on the Wichita Fire Department.

And then I have a couple cousins that were involved in firefighting.

I have a cousin up in Houston on the Houston Fire Department right now.

Coach Ted Bush is like family to Carly.

He, too, is a Wichita firefighter.

I always tell people what makes her a good firefighter, makes her a good fighter.

You have to be competitive.

You have to have drive.

You have to pay attention.

You have attention to detail.

You have to be in shape.

And it's that competitive drive.

Along with her family history that gave Carly the confidence that she could become a firefighter, despite the doubters.

Some people didn't really think that females could do the job or should do the job necessarily.

But other people were very supportive of it and thought that it was really cool that a female would want to do something like that.

Carly enjoys being a role model for young women, whether it be as a firefighter or athlete.

She works out harder than any male I've ever seen.

Hard work, determination, and a passion to serve her community.

For Carly Anderson, it's been a recipe for lots of different successes.

Don't mess with Carly.

I don't mess with Carly.

A recipe that is positively Kansas For Positively Kansas, I'm Anthony Powell.

As you heard in the piece, Carly is quite an athlete, having also been a gymnast for several years.

In high school, she won two state gymnastics championships and a national title.

Well, that's a wrap for this week.

I'm Sierra Scott.

Thanks for watching.

We'll see you again soon.