Visit A Historic New Canaan Drug Store That Dates Back To 1845

NEW CANAAN, CT — After digging through a pile of old books stacked behind a display case of glass bottles, each containing items such as coriander seeds, flaxseeds and hemlocks, Michael Murphy found what he was looking for: a visibly aged notebook, which he refers to as a "day book," containing essentially a daily activity log written by employees of the Cody Drug Store. The writing dates back to at least the 1960's, or perhaps even the 1860's.

He then proceeded to look through the drawers behind the case, pulling out various records of items purchased over half a century ago.

"When all this was put in, a lot of this stuff was recut to fit the space," Murphy said as he pulled out a drawer.

He pointed out that the top of the wood is clearly a relatively fresh cut, which is noticeable when compared to the surrounding aged wood. (To sign up for New Canaan breaking news alerts and more, click here.)

As the New Canaan Historical Society's Librarian Archivist, Murphy has studied and walked through the drug store many times, which is currently open for the general public to explore. The store itself, however, has been closed since the 1960's.

To clarify, the Cody Drug Store was New Canaan's first drug store, opened in 1845 by Samuel Silliman and his family under the business' original name, the New Canaan Drug Store. It remained under their operation until 1855, when Lucius Monroe and his family took over.

The business finally became the Cody Drug Store in 1919 when it was passed to James J. Cody, who had worked at the store prior to owning it. The store was a historical fixture in New Canaan, and was located on Main Street until the original building was torn down.

"The Cody’s owned it until it was closed in 1965," Murphy said, "and when they closed it they donated the entire interior to the Historical Society."

To accommodate the artifacts acquired from the drug store, the Historical Society built an extension onto the Town House to display them. Though the museum is obviously much smaller than the original store and is not an exact replica, one cannot help but feel they have stepped into somewhere out of time as they walk along the creaky floor and take in the aroma of aged wood.

Glass bottles that once contained colognes, acids and other items adorn the shelves on the wall, some still containing said items. Glass cases display various items either sold at the store or used by employees, and nearly every cabinet or drawer contains a piece of town history.

"Whenever someone comes in here they’re always really surprised that we have all these original bottles and prescriptions," Murphy said. "It’s a fantastic record of all the doctors that were in the area, stuff like that."

While the store sold various odd items, it was also where prescriptions were filled by a pharmacist, something the store was well-known for.

"The sort of offhand story is that the drug store was known in the area as having weird odds and ends for medicine that people from pharmacies in New York City would actually come here to pick up ingredients for their own pharmacies," Murphy said, "They would take it back with them and then sell it at their own stores. So [the store] was fairly well-known."

The store catered to all ages. One section sold ice cream and soda that children or families could come in and enjoy, however adults could also pick up items like cigarettes, whiskey and beer, such as Pabst Blue Ribbon.

"This was one of the main meeting points in New Canaan," Murphy said. "It was the place you would go to that had basically everything you need in one stop. If you needed random odds and ends, you could go to the drug store and they would have it. You’d probably be there picking up your medicine anyway, and then you could window shop."

Though he often compares it to what would today be a CVS, Murphy admitted it is difficult to think of the drug store's true modern day equivalent.

"James Cody was a Democrat, and he was also the head of the Democratic Party in New Canaan, so the Cody Drug Store served as the unofficial meeting spot for the Democrats. So it was really like a meeting place," Murphy said. "I always tell people who come in that the store was sort of like a CVS, where you can sort of buy everything, but you’re not going to CVS to have a meeting, so I don’t really know if there is an equivalent."

Were someone to walk into the store in 1918, Murphy said they would see a "pretty brisk trade of people" purchasing items, coming in and out of the store and meeting up with friendly faces, perhaps stopping to have a chat or invite each other to get lunch.

"A lot of candy was sold here, so you would see a lot of kids going through the drawers and stuff," Murphy said.

Out of all the items in the store, Murphy kept coming back to the "day book," which reads like a "who’s who" of New Canaan. While the book can tell its reader what notable town residents or visitors purchased items at the drug store, it can also give them a unique insight into the buying habits and everyday aspects of a person’s life, a person they’ve never met before and may have lived decades before them.

"We have all these old records in here that probably have not been touched since 1965. I’ve been going through all this stuff to kind of see what was happening," Murphy said. "These are disposable items; not everyone is saving these. The things that are considered disposable now were disposable then, and that makes them rare."

The Cody Drug Store is open for anyone to view, although Murphy recommends calling ahead. To learn more about the store, visit the New Canaan Historical Society or click here.