While today a “snake oil salesman” is someone who knowingly sells fraudulent goods, the use of snake oil has real, medicinal routes. Extracted from the oil of Chinese water snakes, it likely arrived in the United States in the 1800s, with the influx of Chinese workers toiling on the Transcontinental Railroad. Rich in omega-3 acids, it was used to reduce inflammation and treat arthritis and bursitis, and was rubbed on the workers’ joints after a long day of working on the railroad.
Enter Clark Stanley, “The Rattlesnake King.” Originally a cowboy, Stanley claimed to have studied with a Hopi medicine man who turned him on to the healing powers of snake oil. He took this new found “knowledge” on the road, performing a show-stopping act at the Chicago World’s Fair in 1893, where he reached into a bag, grabbed a rattlesnake, cut it open, and squeezed it. He labeled the extract snake oil, even though the FDA later confirmed that his products didn’t contain any kind of snake oil, rattlesnake or otherwise. That didn’t stop other unscrupulous doctors and fraudulent salesmen, who also started traveling the American West, peddling bottles of fake snake oil, giving the truly beneficial medical treatment a bad name.
Traveling Medicine Shows were really popular in the late 1800s and early 1900s. A Medicine Show was a traveling group that held performances and entertainment to lure people in, then gave a sales pitch for their ‘miracle cures’ and elixirs. This practice was the beginning of the patent medicine industry. Before the government regulated the medical industry, these medicines were not necessarily patented but rather trademarked. Many of these tonics originated in England and began to be exported to America in the 1800s.
Traveling Medicine Shows is where we see the real beginnings of marketing campaigns. The person in charge, i.e. the ‘doctor,’ would send people to the next town to garner excitement for the show, put up posters and banners, and get folks excited to see the wonders that would be shown. Sometimes the shows had so many entertainers that an actual hall would be needed, but usually, the show would be held right on the street in order to attract the largest crowd possible. In between the entertainment, the ‘Doctor’ would make a sales pitch about his miracle cures. One of the most popular attractions was the ‘muscle man’ who would show his strength and claim it was from one of the potions. People were typically planted in the crowd and would step up to give (fictitious) testimonials about the medicines. Some of these people would appear to have an ailment that the elixir would manifest a miraculous recovery.
While these medicines were very popular, there was no regulation of the ingredients. Most of these elixirs contained morphine, cocaine and large doses of alcohol; some containing over 30%. These potions were advertised for babies and children as well, which sometimes ended with horrible results*.
As more and more people began questioning the claims of these tonics, Medicine Shows were increasingly less successful. Because of some horrible side effects from some of these ‘medicines’ and even deaths, the government began taking notice. Eventually, the Pure Food and Drug Act was passed in 1906 and led to the eventual creation of the Food and Drug Administration. Traveling Medicine Shows may have gone by the wayside, but their legacy lives on. The marketing strategies and sales pitches used back then are still very effective and used in advertising today.
*This blog does not recommend injecting disinfectants as a potential cure for the Coronavirus.
