Visual Histories is a new series that highlights digitized materials from AIHP’s collections that stand out for their design, artistry, or visual impact. This series focuses on items whose imagery helps illuminate the history of pharmacy in vivid and engaging ways. Drawn from materials already available in our digital collections, these features showcase everything from advertising art to scientific diagrams, photographs, and printed ephemera—pieces that not only document the past but also reveal how pharmacy has been represented and understood through visual culture. Through this series, we invite our community to explore history through the power of images and the beauty found within our collections.
Our first feature introduces one such visually compelling example: a set of 1960s pharmacy posters created by pharmacist‑designer Frank Pinchak. These posters remind us of a truth that still holds today: pharmacists are often the most accessible healthcare professionals, and they play a vital role in helping patients make sense of complex medical information. Long before digital communication, pharmacists used tools like these displays to keep their communities informed about emerging science—from vaccine research to immunity and viruses.
These posters also offer an early glimpse into the development of the measles vaccine, which became widely used beginning in the 1960s. Looking back at these materials highlights just how long measles vaccination has been a routine and trusted part of healthcare in the United States, with decades of safe and effective use supporting community health.
Pinchak’s work captures the profession’s long‑standing commitment to patient education. Whether answering questions at the counter, guiding people through new treatments, or translating scientific developments into everyday language, pharmacists have long served as a cornerstone of community healthcare—meeting people where they are and ensuring reliable information is always within reach.
View AIHP’s entire digitized Pinchak Collection here.
