C. Allison Peck, from Hopewell, was the son of lawyer and member of the Provincial Legislature, Charles A. Peck. In 1894, he finished his training as a druggist and decided to set up shop in Hillsborough, purchasing the house and storefront from retiring druggist, John A. Beatty. Many of the apothecary artefacts showcased at the Albert County Museum, such as the bottles of Castor Oil and Creolin shown here, originate from his store. Although he dispensed drugs for sixty years, retiring in 1955, Peck was actually an optometrist. His career as an optometrist spanned 67 years, ending with his passing in 1964, making him the oldest practicing optometrist in North America at 92 years of age.

A good portion of Mr. Peck’s career as a druggist occurred during the years of prohibition, where the sale of liquor was made illegal in New Brunswick between 1884 and 1927. During prohibition, possession of liquor in the home was not illegal; however, its sale, or public consumption was a criminal offence. The one exception, however, was the sale of liquor for medicinal purposes. Behind C. Allison Peck’s house was a hand water pump, which was christened by the community as ‘the million dollar pump’. This was maliciously reasoned to be the value of the water Mr. Peck had used from the pump to dilute liquor before selling it as medicine. (mynewbrusnwick.ca)