U.S. Census Bureau Daily Feature for December 28

WASHINGTON, Dec. 28, 2010 - Following is the daily “Profile America” feature from the U.S. Census Bureau:

TUESDAY, DECEMBER 28: WINTER MISERIES

Profile America—Tuesday, December 28th.  The holidays are mostly a time of bustling good cheer—but they are also a time for winter’s most frequent misery—the common cold and the cough that often goes along with it.  While science works to find a cure for colds, the rest of us can only try to reduce their symptoms.  More than a century ago, a restaurant owner in Poughkeepsie, New York, did something to make life a little easier for cold sufferers.  James Smith cooked up the first batch of cough drops in 1847, in two flavors still popular today—cherry and licorice.  Buying nonprescription cough drops and other cold medicines brings in $9.5 billion in annual revenue for the nation’s drugstores.  You can find these and more facts about America from the U.S. Census Bureau, online at http://www.census.gov.

Sources: U.S. Census Bureau, American FactFinder, 2007 Economic Census,  NAICS 446110

http://www.oldtimecandy.com/smith-brothers.htm

Profile America is produced by the Public Information Office of the U.S. Census Bureau. These daily features are available as produced segments, ready to air, on a monthly CD or on the Internet at http://www.census.gov (look for “Multimedia Gallery” by the “Newsroom” button). 

SOURCE U.S. Census Bureau