Patently False

In the late nineteenth century, patent medicine makers printed postcard sized advertisements for their products and distributed them to druggists. Most of these so-called trade cards had a picture on one side, and a description of the product on the other. The pictures ranged from imaginative to bizarre to grotesque to racist. Manufacturers were not required to divulge ingredients, and they often made wildly fraudulent claims. Worse still, some of these patent medicines contained powerful poisons. Many were some combination of sugar, alcohol, and opiates.

Here’s a little sampling for you:

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“Liquid bread.” Another term for “beer.”

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I don’t think this one’s poisonous, but the note the racist caption, which reads: Your hand is as soft, sweet Mistress O’Doyle, as me harness whin rubbed wid vacuum oil.”

The medicines claimed to cure everything from constipationto consumption.

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Shiloh’s consumption cure was introduced about 1873. It contained some combination of chloroform, heroin, and Prussic acid (cyanide).

Then there were the baby medicines for teething, colic, and diarrhea. Dr Bull’s contained morphine:And Mrs. Winslow’s soothing syrup contained alcohol and opium:No wonder Parker’s tonic brought the bloom of health to the cheek. It was 83 proof.And then there was Dr Thomas’ Eclectric oil, which contained opium, alcohol, and chloroform.One of the most successful hawkers was Dr. Ayer of Lowell, Massachusetts. By 1873 he was producing 630,000 daily doses of Ayer remedies. The Sarsaparilla was mostly alcohol (40 proof). The pictures on some of these are just flat-bizarre. Remember, these are ads.