According to Historic Buildings and Structures of the West Central Neighborhood Association Fort Wayne, IN, William H. Noll started the Pinex Company in 1905. This company manufactured a cough remedy called “Pinex” which, by 1910, could be purchased in nearly any drugstore in the United States. He was born in Fort Wayne and received a degree in pharmaceutical chemistry from the University of Michigan. He married Laura Green in 1906. For two years, he was employed in a drug store operated by his father, Benedict Noll, before starting the Pinex Company. From the Pinex profits, William and Laura were able to build a grand home in Fort Wayne that, including the furnishings, was said to have cost over one million dollars. Also, several years before World War I, William operated the first liquid nail polish industry in the United States, but sold his interests after the war. William died in 1941 at the age of 66.
Bottle Embossed: PINEX TRADE MARK
According to newspapers, in 1960 Revlon, Inc. while expanding its operations in the proprietary drug field, purchased the Pinex Company.
The Pinex label included directions to mix the syrup concentrate with sugar and water to produce the cough syrup, as well as a list of ingredients (Alcohol, Chloroform, Oil of Pine Tar, Potassium Guaiacol Sulphonate, Oil of Eucalyptus, Extract Grindelia and Glycerine).
Pinex cough syrup bottle label.
1926 Pinex cough syrup ad
1935 Pinex Advertisement on back of the Pine Mountain Merry Makers Song Folio
1941 Pinex Cough Syrup Calendar – WWVA, Frankie More & Log Cabin Boys. The company sponsored a radio show on WWVA (in Wheeling, West Virginia) that featured Frankie More and Log Cabin Boys. The calendar has the words and music to a song named “If you can’t say something good about someone (’tis better to say nothing at all)” by Frankie More. Small photos of the band members are on the left and right sides of the calendar.
Pinex Cough Syrup Matchcover, circa 1935
3 Pinex Drugstore signs, circa 1940
Another popular Pinex product was laxatives.
Old Main Artifacts 
According to their grave stone William H Noll was born in 1866 and passed away in 1950 at age 84. Amma Sarah Couey Noll was born in 1871 and passed away in 1942 [there are no typo’s in this message]
Thats the wrong tombstone then. My grandmother was his niece. She says he did die when he was 66. Her father was head of the company with regards to its canadian operations/distribution. I just looked this up today for her. She said its all accurate. Ive heard this part of my family’s history from her since I was a child, as has my mother.
Do you know where the name of the product came from? Pinex is one of my friend’s last name. I’m wondering if the product Pinex is named after a person or if it was named some other way.
Kudos to you! I hadn’t thought of that!
Was he related to Bishop John Noll?
As a kid my Mom would mix the concentrate with honey.
I took this as a child, can it be purchased any where?
Hello, thanks for reading. From what I can find, it is no longer being manufactured. There are many posts online with people looking for it, but no stores seem to carry it anymore and the manufacturer does not list it.
I TOOK THIS WHEN I WAS A CHILD. I LOVED IT BECAUSE IT TASTED SOOOO GOOD !!!!
>S IT STILL AVAILABLE, IF SO, WHERE?
Hello, thanks for reading. From what I can find, it is no longer being manufactured. There are many posts online with people looking for it, but no stores seem to carry it anymore and the manufacturer does not list it.
Pinex was the very best cough syrup ever. A Big Pharma company (forget now which one) that was the manufacturer of 4 other cough syrups bought the company that was making it (AM Best, I believe) and then discontinued Pinex because it was outselling all four of it’s other cough syrups combined!
Bishop John Noll was not a member of this Noll family. I know, because my father, William Frederick Noll who was the grandson of the founder Benedict Noll was my Father. My Father died of a massive heart attack in Feb., 1945. Mr. Kohrman’s references are not applicable to this Noll family.
My father, Bernard T. Kearns, was president of the Pinex Company. I’m trying to recall the street number of the Company on Columbia Street. Does anyone know?
Kathleen Kearns
hi k. – we were neightors & group played sports w/j. our parents were the best! – tom c,.
Hi Kathleen,
Do you know where the name for the Pinex company came from? My friend’s last name is Pinex and it’s so rare I was wondering if there was any connection with his last name and the name of the company.
Than you
Nathan
Thank you, Laura, for clearing that up. I have posted a correction stating what you said.
I wondered what ever became of you and your good friend, Janice F.
PLEASE….SOMEONE..FIND SOMEWHERE I COULD PURCHASE PINEX COUGH MEDICINE!!!!!
If a bottle exactly like the one pictured in the begining of the page while river walking near where i live. (Munroe falls ohio). But the one i found still has liquid in it and still has the cork in it as well. I am wondering what you can tell me info you can tell me about the bottle. From when did they make that bottle til when did they stop making it. And no i am not going to try to sell bottle. I am keeping bottle.
Hi, thanks for reading. I don’t have any further details about the manufacture of the bottle. There may be resources available on bottle collector forums that could provide you more details.
WELL I’M SORRY TO SAY AFTER READING SO MANY GOOD THINGS ABOUT PINEX COUGH SYRUP, BUT I HATED THE TASTE. MY DADDY MADE IT SO SICKLY SWEET I STILL HATE PANCAKE SYRUP ON MY PANCAKES. HOWEVER AFTER READING SOME OF THE INGREDIENTS IN THE ORIGINAL LABEL I’M SURE IT WAS EFFECTIVE FOR COUGHS.
Pinex Co. was located at 123 W. Columbia St., Fort Wayne, IN…the telephone number was A-2206…my Dad, B.T. Kearns, was VP and Gen Mgr. of the company until its sale to Revlon in 1960
I have a full bottle in the original like new box with an 85 cent price tag from Keltsch Pharmacy on the lid. It must be at least 50 years old as I’m 70. I wonder if the Fort Wayne Museum would be interested in it? This was a staple in our house for winter blahs and we kids loved the flavor.
Sally, we were in the museum a few weeks ago, might want to contact them…good idea..
June 7, 2016 Just found a Pinex bottle in perfect condition. After reading all of the comments above, sounds like I’ve made a good find.
Mitch…did you find the bottle in an antique store?
The Pinex Building at 123 W. Columbia St., FTW Indiana, now is owned by the city of FTW as part of the future Landing project
I am looking for information on the homes fixtures. I bought the fireplace that used to be in the living room.
The Noll manse on Fairfield Ave., Ft. Wayne, IN, before its demise for the construction of a new church building was one amazing structure. I recall seeing, during public tours before the demolition, its multi-headed shower of a main bath from which one could choose hot, cold, steam, and other options !
Would anyone have access to photos of this grand home ?
The Allen County Indiana Public Library has a digital photo of the Fairfield Avenue street view of the main walk up to the front entrance of the Noll mansion. It is available for viewing online. It is possible that the library may have other archival photos of the property or with some research through the microfilm newspaper collections of either the News Sentinel or Journal Gazette around the time of the mansion’s demise, some other views may have been printed by those newspapers which I believe did some articles regarding the sale of the property and its then future reuse.
Thank you. I have some of the architecture salvage and photos of the entrance during the demolition. Was curious as to what it looked like before being lost!
I found a half full bottle of Pinex cough medicine. Its in its original bottle and box with full direction pamphlet included.
Is this worth anything or should I dump syrup and keep bottle for looks?
I am reading all these comments for the first time. My wife and I bought the Noll home on Lake Wawasee in 1998 and found renderings of the light fixures for the mansion. We framed them and they hang in our house. We also have some exterior photos of the grand mansion in Fort Wayne.
I also came across some Pinex metal boxes so they must have manufactured tablets too.
Bill Noll was in fact the brother of Bishop (acutally Archbishop) Noll and built the church on Lake Wawasee for the Fort Wayne/South Bend Diocese while his brother was Archbishop.
hello,i have ancestors from Ft Wayne,their name was Null but the ancestry web site said the spelling could be Noll ? my 2nd great grandfather Wheeler B Cutler was married to Martha M Null (Noll) Martha’s father or brothers name was William ? they were all from Ft Wayne,Allen county,i think the ancestry records even show that William was a store owner,I am not sure if these are the same family or not ? anyway the reading was interesting
found nice empty bottle in digging up front yard in miles city montana
Where can I find this concentrate today? Thank you for your time & help.
Glenda Shipp
My mom made this for us when we wr kids. We loved it. I didnt have many colds as a kid. Wish they had this in Canada. I would but a case
With so many people still looking for/and wanting to buy this products, why doesn’t some entrepeneuring person start making it again? Just don’t sell as a medicine, but as a food supplement. I used it as a kid (thru my bout of whooping cough) and used it in the 60’s for my little ones. Like everyone says, it was THE ONLY cough syrup that worked. Come on, somebody–get to work & help us oldies out. I’d buy a case…..
Uhm, formulation, as I recall, from using it from a young age had a fairly high alcohol content, It worked on the coughs, tasted as good as cough syrup is able to ( was mixed at home with fairly large amount of sugar and water ), but at age 5 or 6, after drinking it right from the undiluted bottle, had a nice buzz from it and slept afterwards for about a day and a half ! At least it wasn’t an opioid… Sincerely, Richard Alford
Need a bottle of pine please email me if and when I’m able to purchase
My mother worked for the Nolls as a young woman as a maid. She had pictures from the Florida hours outside with their cook. I wish I would have known more about Fort Wayne and I would have asked more questions of her.
Donna do you still have pictures of the Florida home. I have one of their Ft Wayne home.
Actually I own their Lake Wawasee home in Syracuse Indiana about an hour from Ft Wayne.
Mr. Leppert…Bill Noll was not the brother of Bishop Noll. There is no family connetion between Bishop Noll and the Noll’s that owned your lake home. Bill Noll was the son of Will Noll the developer of the Pinex Co…See Laura Noll’s comments above.
I respectfully disagree.
Check out this website and search for Bishop John F Noll.
Willian Henry Noll is listed as being Bishop Noll’s brother.
On my boathouse is the marker WHN 1922 the year the boathouse was build.
Mike Leppert