Monticello Drug Company

666 products began with the Monticello Drug Company, founded by Tharp Spencer Roberts, a registered pharmacist. He purchased a drugstore in Monticello, Fla., called Monticello Drug. In 1908, with his brother and a doctor, he incorporated his business, forming Monticello Drug Company while also opening a manufacturing office in New Orleans. The men obtained a patent on a prescription known as Roberts Remedies #666. It’s said that this was a quinine medicine to treat malaria, and the name came from the prescription pad number on which Roberts wrote a formula to treat a rural African American preacher with a severe case of malarial fever and chills. This formula was credited with saving the life of the much beloved man and it came to be requested by reference to the “666” number off the prescription pad. The 666 name came to include liquids, tablets and salve. Although 666 products are still sold, the original formula (40 percent alcohol, with contained codeine, quinine, a cough suppressant and a very strong laxative) is no longer made.