At the time of CPA’s founding, the usual procedure by which one became a pharmacists was for an individual to go to work for a practicing pharmacist, working as an apprentice, often living in a space above the drug store. During the apprenticeship he (let’s face it, at this point it was almost always a “he”) was taught how to fill capsules, make emulsions and tinctures, divide powder papers, and roll pills—virtually all drugs were compounded in the pharmacy. A minimum amount of the apprentice’s time was dedicated to studying “science,” but at the end of his 3-year term, the apprentice was duly certified by his employer as having completed his apprenticeship and was free to work as a full-fledged pharmacist. Williams and Daggett believed this to be a “lax and dangerous situation,” one that cried out for correction.
