The Centaur Company

The company is historically significant in that it was a driving force during the early development of mass marketing and advertising.

In 1984, Sterling Drug sold Centaur's raison d'être product, Fletcher's Castoria, to Mentholatum Co Inc.

The Centaur-Caldwell division of Sterling Drug also owned the marketing rights to Dr. William B. Caldwell's "Syrup Pepsin"[citation needed], manufactured in Monticello, Illinois, until the factory closed in 1985.

[citation needed] In the 1870s, The Centaur Company began doing significant advertising to create its brands, with a primary emphasis on Castoria.

H. Fletcher painted advertisements on virtually every blank wall in sight; they are quite visible in images of the opening of the bridge.