Thursday, October 4, 2007

Pharmacy


I travel alot and when I do I spend much of my time walking around and soaking in all the culture I can. Having grown up around Pharmacies all my life and being a product designer (and semi-hypochondriac), I have retained a fascination with the Apothecary. I particularly like Pharmacies or Chemists in Europe. They're more like Doctors who work at a store and can prescribe not only heart meds and axiety pills, but help you pick out a great foundation color or that right pair of sunglasses. It's great!

One thing I had not really thought about much until recently however is why do European Pharmacies use a green Greek cross as their symbol? The cross has become so synonymous with the Pharmacy, that I never really thought about why. To the internet I thought! I'm going to solve this inquiry right quick.

Well, things didn't quite turn out that way. I have searched for every possible reason and have come across everything from Taiwanese neon green cross manufacturers (surprisingly, more than 1) to Wikipedia entries on crosses and pharmacies and even symbology. But no one reason as to why. A specific Wikipedia entry about Pharmacies was particularly educational from several aspects and even provides a chart of various signs and symbols used in conjunction with the Pharmacy, but I was still left with no clear reason as to why. Now sure, I could come up with something clever or sacriledgious on my own, but I sure would like to know the real reason.

1 comment:

Anonymous said...

Always ready for a new project!