The original Dr. J. Hostetter’s “Celebrated” Stomachic Bitters was formulated in the first half of the 19th century by native Pennsylvanian Dr. Jacob Hostetter and became popular with his clientele.

In 1853, his son David commercialized the formula – macerated only in the pure essence of Monongahela rye – that would go on to sell more than fifty million bottles. During the American Civil War, Dr. J. Hostetter’s “Celebrated” Stomachic Bitters was rationed to union soldiers - perhaps dubiously - as “a positive protective against the fatal maladies of the Southern swamps, and the poisonous tendency of the impure rivers and bayous” and was enjoyed so universally that it found its way onto the back-bar of every respectable saloon in America, and beyond.