James Spencer Van Antwerp was born on October 7, 1894 in Benton Harbor, Michigan. He married Anna Margaret Kuschell (b. 1898) on December 7, 1919. The couple lived in Lansing until 1921 when they moved to Kalamazoo and opened Van Antwerp Drug Store located on 110 Portage Street. In 1924, James and Anna had a daughter they named Doris. Van Antwerp operated the drugstore in Kalamazoo until 1929, when they relocated to Paw Paw, Michigan. In Paw Paw James opened another pharmacy located at 211 E. Michigan Avenue. They lived at 807 East Michigan Ave. Both the house and the building that housed the pharmacy still stand. The building has “Van Antwerp 1941” etched in stone on the façade. The Van Antwerp’s moved to Pinellas, Florida sometime after 1941. James died on May 11, 1988 in Pinellas, FL and is buried in Bay Pines National Cemetery in Florida.

The manual contained in this collection was published by Humphrey’s Home Medicine Company of New York in 1922. The manual prescribes remedies for various ailments using Dr. Humphrey’s homeopathic medicines which were also sold at the Van Antwerp and other drugstores.