Bronchial Cigarettes? What the heck?!
The ad below caught our eye while trawling old newspapers for interesting 19th century stories.
A glance at the 19th century Cambridge newspapers reveals a plethora of cockamamie remedies for nearly every common affliction. Today, such products seem quaint or even downright hilarious, but that is only because we now have more medical knowledge. These examples of 19th century adverts illustrate something about both the worries and prevalence of illnesses as well as what people thought—or hoped—would prove to be real cures at a time when true scientifically-based remedies were limited.
Below are advertisements for all that ailed you back in the day: King’s Evil (tubercula swelling of the lymph glands), catarrh (mucus congestion), tuberculosis, nervous prostration, piles, weak lungs, brain fatigue, seminal weakness (oh dear…), “Brickdust Deposit,” gravel (Kidney stones), costiveness (constipation) worms, ague, and jaundice.
One of the features of these advertisements is that they often include an astonishingly-long list of ailments they purported to cure, without mentioning the actual ingredients. For instance, Holman’s “Nature’s Grand Restorative”:
Or “MRS. DR. TUCK’S PLASTERS.” (Did you know you needed an electrician to cure your aches?)
“…Inflammatory and Gouty Rheumatism and Neuralgia, Bunions and Enlarged Joints positively cured. Sciatic, Lumbago, Liver and Kidney troubles relieved and cured. Asthma treated very successfully, by drawing the inflammation and humors to the surface. Indigestion removed, weak stomachs strengthened. This is no imposition upon the public. The Dr. has used 250 in two months, without advertising. Testimonials given. Circulars sent by sending stamp to her office.
The Dr. is a thorough Electrician and Eclective Physician. Piles and Constipation and Female Diseases a Specialty. Office 28 Winter Street, Boston, or Hygienic Retreat, South Weymouth, Mass. N. B. All patients while under treatment, by calling at the Dr.’s office, can avail themselves of the cumulative exercise known as the health-lift of lifting cure. It is good for everybody.” (Cambridge Chronicle February 23, 1878)
Here we have “Vegetable Germicide,” another wonder cure. But wait a minute—Germicide? Isn’t that an oxymoron?
40 drops of “Constitution Water” seems easy to take. Especially since the product was apparently “pronounced by the medical faculty and the public to be the most wonderful remedy for the stomach, liver, kidneys and bladder that has ever been offered. IT IS NOT A SPRING WATER, but a preparation by an eminent physician.”
Sometimes adverts were clearer than others as to a concoction’s ingredients. Sarsaparilla had been used since ancient times as a remedy for joint and skin problems, including leprosy. (Not to be confused with the soft drink of the same name which was made from the Sassafras tree.)
“Elixer” of Opium: now there’s a surefire remedy! Advertised by Henry Thayer, Apothecary:
Jujube Paste is made from a deciduous shrub of the buckthorn family (Ziziphus jujuba). The shrub’s fruit has the consistency of an apple and tastes like a date.
Jujube’s medicinal use dates back to China 3000 years ago, when it was considered an effective herbal remedy for calming the mind and improving sleep. It is still marketed today.
Here we have a “Kidney & Liver” cure with no known ingredients. The text of this ad (below) claims that “Scientists of to-day agree that most diseases are caused by disordered Kidneys or liver”—That’s quite a claim!
It continues: “If, therefore, the Kidneys and Liver are kept in perfect order, perfect health will be the result. This truth has only been known a short time and for years people suffered great agony without being able to find relief. The discovery of Warner’s Safe Kidney and Liver Cure marks a new era in the treatment of these troubles. Made from a simple tropical leaf of rare value, it contains just the elements necessary to nourish and invigorate both of these great organs, and safely restore and keep them in order. It is a POSITIVE Remedy for all the diseases that cause pains in the lower part of the body…” (Cambridge Chronicle November 13, 1880)
Without knowing more about the manufacturing of this cure, it is uncertain whether the above illustration was intended to relay an accurate portrayal of the harvesting of this leaf in tropical setting, or was simply the racially insensitive employment of a stereotypical figure that would have been more quickly recognized by the illustrator’s audience.
And then we have blood food for “the Intellectual Worker”!
There were many remedies for “Nervous Diseases,” including Phosphoric Air:
For a more subtle approach to what ails you, you might try “animal magnetism,” a practice developed by Franz Anton Mesmer (1734-1815). Mesmer was a German physician who believed in “the existence of a natural energy transference occurring between all animated and inanimate objects.” He called this phenomenon “animal magnetism” which later came to be known as “Mesmerism” and is today akin to hypnotism. Mrs. H. F. Mumler of Boston was a practitioner:
Then there is the “Dreaded Disease”—Smallpox. In November 1901, the Cambridge Board of Health discussed a possible smallpox outbreak, but “…It was decided to take no measures at present looking toward the vaccination of citizens, but to await developments since but one case of smallpox had thus far made its appearance.” (Excerpt from Cambridge Chronicle November 9, 1901). Nonetheless, druggists were on alert, as was the Lifebouy Soap Company:
Other ailments and remedies:
Costiveness:
Vermifuges – to expel intestinal worms:
Olive Tar
Catarrh: Ely’s Cream Balm “positively cures Catarrh colds in the head, Hay-fever, Deafness…”
And Gents—one just for you:
We close with the efficacy of “Foreign Leaches”
Just as in the 19th century, “snake oil”[1] salesmen are still among us. A casual trawl through internet and TV advertising today will reveal an equal number of “health cures” that are unsubstantiated by fact.
Today’s post was written by CHC volunteer Kathleen Fox.
SOURCES
Adhamy, Amir. “Did Salesmen Really Sell Snake Oil?” HistoryExtra. HistoryExtra, April 7, 2022. https://www.historyextra.com/period/victorian/did-salesmen-sell-snake-oil-what-when/.
Bundaberg Brewed Drinks. https://www.bundaberg.com/.
Cambridge Public Library’s Historic Cambridge Newspapers Collection.
Chen J, Liu X, Li Z, Qi A, Yao P, Zhou Z, Dong TTX, Tsim KWK. A Review of Dietary Ziziphus jujuba Fruit (Jujube): Developing Health Food Supplements for Brain Protection. Evid Based Complement AlternatMed. 2017;2017:3019568. doi: 10.1155/2017/3019568. Epub 2017 Jun 7. PMID: 28680447; PMCID: PMC5478819.
[1] “Snake oil” derives from the Chinese workers on the transcontinental railroad. “They used the oils produced by the Chinese water snake, rich in omega-3 fatty acids, to soothe sore muscles or treat arthritis.” – HistoryExtra