Belfast's City Drug Store advertised Dana's Sarsaparilla as a reliable remedy for the liver, kidneys and diseases of the blood.

Due to a lack of government regulation in the period, virtually any substance could be advertised as a "remedy."

This changed largely due to muckraking journalists like Upton Sinclair, which exposed a need for the government regulation of food and drugs. Such eventually led to the 1906 "Wiley Act," and its 1938 revision, the "Food Drug and Cosmetic Act".

Dana's Sarpsarilla was brewed and bottled in Belfast, Maine from 1889 to 1917.