Most of these medicines were at best
harmless (unless you might be using heavy
machinery). Many actually contained generous
quantities of alcohol, opium, or cocaine,
ensuring a quick feeling of well-being for
first-time customers, followed by the
possibility of habitual use. These medicines
were widely advertised in magazines,
newspapers, mail order catalogs,
storefronts, on fence posts, and even barn
roofs. These nostrums were pitched far and
wide, but no promotion could beat the hoopla
of a traveling medicine show. These shows
featured music, comedy, juggling, and
overblown rhetoric mixed with testimonials
and stunts to demonstrate cures. Admission
was free, with the performers making a
living from the sale of cure-alls and a few
assorted other items. The masters of
ceremonies would usually add the title of
"Doctor" or "Professor" to their names to
give themselves a recognizable sense of
liquidity.
There was
Dr. Kilmer’s Swamp
Root, Dr. Hercules Sanche’s Oxydonor Balm of
Gilead, Mullen's Liniment, Rite Wate Fat
Reducer compound that promised a safe
way to a slender healthy figure,
Trilene tablets for
all fat people, Hamlin's Wizard Oil Pain
Remedy, Simmon's Liver Regulator, Pink Pills
for Pale People, and of course
Dr. J. Millers
vegetable expectorant ... invaluable
for all lung troubles. Few of these "cures"
actually healed and many didn’t contain
promised ingredients, for example:
VITAL SPARKS -
Which promised to revitalize
masculine virility, It was nothing more than
a concoction made by rolling rock candy in
powdered aloe.
TIGER FAT - A
cure-all balm reportedly made from Royal
Bengal tiger backbone, was in reality
concocted of Vaseline, camphor, menthol and
other aromatic oils.
NERVINE - A
purported nerve sedative, had alcohol as its
main ingredient (and lots of it). It
advertised a cure for nervousness,
indigestion, irritability, seasickness and
sleeplessness.
KA-TON-KA - A
medicine purportedly made from Indian herbs
by the Modoc and Nez Perce Indian tribes. In
reality, it was made in Pennsylvania, and
simply contained a modicum of alcohol,
sugar, aloes and baking soda.
PROFESSOR AMCK's
MIRACLE ELIXIR OF LIFE - A Medicine
that could purportedly cure just about
anything that might afflict you. In reality
a concentrated black tea extract with herbs
and tree bark extract. Since the bark was
from the white willow variety the concoction
contained naturally occurring salicylic acid
which modern day aspirin owes it heritage.
And the tannins in the black tea had several
calming benefits for the stomach and even if
applied topically. So, in comparison to the
rest of the elixirs ... Professor Mack
almost got it right. It also contained 12%
distilled alcohol which explained its
popularity and how people kept buying the
elixir even though their maladies persisted.
Produced until the Professor's disappearance
in 1910.
By the early 1900s,
suspicion was rising about the value of
these nostrums and so called "Elixirs". And
so the U.S. Food and Drug Administration was
established in the 1920s to regulate the
nation’s drug industry and Medicine Show
became a thing of the past.br>
The
golden age of Medicine Shows took advantage
of a receptive, unsophisticated public who
may have been awed by legitimate scientific
discoveries of the time. People such as
Thomas Edison, Alexander Bell and Madame
Curie had stirred the public’s dreams for
inventions that would make daily life
easier. If you looked at the "medical
journals" of the time you would be barraged
with recommended cures for maladies that
have all but vanished in this 20th century.
