Buzz
Ah, the simpler days, when there were no government bodies regulating what could be marketed as medical wonders. The 1800s were an era when people had just enough knowledge of medicine and the human body to be hazardous—and enough entrepreneurial spirit to make it even worse. With little to no drug regulations and no authorities demanding companies disclose their miracle cure ingredients, the outcome was babies hooked on heroin and adults swearing by the hydrochloric acid they rubbed into their scalps.
3. Victory V Lozenges
Victory V Lozenges became a staple for cough relief in Britain starting in the mid-1800s. Created partially by confectioner Thomas Fryer, they were marketed as a remedy for the common cold. Thanks to their sweet, licorice flavor and the soothing warmth they provided, they gained massive popularity. Sailors particularly loved them due to a clever marketing campaign that associated the lozenges with Admiral Nelson and his ship.
For many years, Victory V Lozenges were produced in the Fry and Company candy factory, continuing with their sweet and candy-like advertising. Sadly, that soothing sensation was due to other active ingredients—ether and chlorodyne, a combination of cannabis and chloroform. Today, Victory V Lozenges are still available, but without the ether and chlorodyne.
9. Dr. Thomas’s Eclectric Oil
Dr. Thomas’s Eclectric Oil was a wonder drug with remarkable claims, promising to cure a wide range of conditions in impressively specific time frames. Backaches would vanish in 2 hours, earaches in 2 minutes. It was also said to relieve toothaches, deafness, coughing, sore throats, and even burns when applied topically.
Created in the mid-1800s by Dr. S.N. Thomas from New York and later marketed as Excelsior Eclectric Oil, this remedy was as eclectic in its ingredients as the conditions it claimed to treat. It contained opium, chloroform, hemlock oil, turpentine, an unknown type of alcohol, and alkanet (used for coloring). The product's popularity was so great that recipes for making it at home were published in books like the 1899's *Secret Nostrums and Systems of Medicine* by Charles Wilmot, allowing people to craft their own versions.
8. Perry Davis’ Vegetable Pain Killer
Perry Davis grew up in poverty in Dartmouth, Massachusetts. Initially an apprentice shoemaker, he later dabbled in invention but found little success. His middle years were marked by chronic discomfort from colds, stomach issues, coughs, and kidney pains. Determined to find a cure, he used his inventive mind to create a remedy using only herbal and naturally sourced ingredients.
Long before ‘all-natural’ became a trendy marketing term, Davis developed his Vegetable Pain Killer. Claiming it cured him of his ailments, he gained international fame for his remedy, said to relieve everything from cholera to coughs. It was even given to horses during the Civil War to help with their discomfort. The remedy was indeed all-natural—though it did contain significant amounts of opium and ethyl alcohol.
7. The Microbe Killer
William Radam took the art of quack medicine and deception to new heights in the late 1880s. Building on recent scientific discoveries suggesting that disease was linked to tiny microbes in the body, Radam’s Microbe Killer made bold claims. This tonic was said to purify the blood and eliminate any harmful microbes causing illness and discomfort. Radam gained the support of a few individuals who claimed to have been completely cured by his miraculous potion. The Microbe Killer wasn’t just a miracle cure, it was a ‘safe’ miracle cure.
The tonic was created by exposing water to the vapors of sulfur, sodium nitrate, manganese oxide, sandalwood, and potassium chloride, and was promoted as not being just another one of those so-called modern medical miracles aimed at gullible people hoping for a revolutionary cure. No, this was the real deal, crafted by a humble gardener with no agenda beyond improving the world. Thankfully for Radam, more people paid attention to advertisements than the transcripts of lawsuits or findings from the Department of Agriculture’s analysis. He amassed a fortune selling a miracle tonic that was 99 percent water.
6. Gripe Water
Gripe water, a modern remedy, is simply a more refined version of a once-popular treatment. Invented in the 1840s in America, it was primarily used to calm colicky babies and alleviate their discomfort. The formula worked effectively, containing ingredients such as sodium bicarbonate, dill seed oil, sugar, water, and up to 9 percent alcohol.
Originally derived from a medication aimed at treating a strain of malaria in infants, gripe water remains a popular recommendation from pediatricians to ease colic symptoms in babies. Today, however, the active ingredient is a blend of herbs designed to break up air bubbles in the baby’s digestive system, replacing the alcohol that once served to sedate them.
5. The Seven Sutherland Sisters' Hair Growth Tonic and Scalp Cleaner
In the late 1880s, Reverend Fletcher Sutherland of Cambria, New York, made a name for himself in marketing. His seven daughters and their singing act helped promote his hair growth product, which gained attention due to their extraordinary 37-foot-long hair. Rumors circulated that their deceased mother had used a special tonic to achieve such impressive hair length. Sutherland decided to capitalize on these rumors, creating and selling his own version of the tonic.
The Sutherland sisters, who had joined the Barnum & Bailey Circus, endorsed a hair care product that ultimately earned them over $3 million. With the credible reputation of their preacher father and the undeniable proof of their daughters’ lengthy hair, who could question the effectiveness of a mixture containing rum, salt, magnesia, and hydrochloric acid?
4. Coca Wine
Coca wine was the first energy drink. It wasn’t just sold as a wine, but also as a therapeutic beverage that promised to alleviate physical and mental fatigue, while providing a boost for the emotions. This was not far from the truth, as the drink was primarily a blend of alcohol and cocaine.
Vin Mariani, a company founded in Corsica in 1863, led the way in coca wine production. With over 7,000 written testimonials from doctors praising the product for stimulating the body, brain, and nerves, they had one endorsement that stood out—an official gold medal from Pope Leo XIII. The pope was even said to carry a flask of the drink for moments when prayer alone wouldn’t suffice and appeared in promotional posters with his personal endorsement: 'His Holiness The Pope writes that he has fully appreciated the benefits of this Tonic Wine.'
John Pemberton, an American inventor, is also well-known for his contribution to coca wine production. He initially mixed wine with cocaine, but the arrival of prohibition disrupted his plans as it banned the sale of wine. This forced him to swap the wine with sugar syrup, rebranding the drink as 'the temperance drink.' Over time, even the cocaine was removed, but the name 'Coca-Cola' remained.
3. Bayer Heroin
Bayer's case was unique in that the company didn't just use a controlled substance— they were responsible for its creation. The first manufactured heroin came from Bayer's pharmaceutical company in Germany in 1897. By 1899, the company was producing large quantities of heroin, which it exported worldwide. Heroin was used as a treatment for tuberculosis, pneumonia, and pain relief.
Interestingly, heroin was marketed as a remedy for a growing global issue in the late 1800s— opium addiction. The initial solution was to switch addicts to morphine, but when that failed, they introduced heroin as a supposedly safer alternative. Despite worldwide reports giving heroin a cautious approval into the early 1900s and its endorsement by the American Medical Association in 1906, it soon became clear that heroin did not solve the problem. By 1924, approximately 98 percent of drug addicts in New York were addicted to heroin.
2. Cocaine Toothache Drops
Lloyd Manufacturing was at least upfront about the ingredients in their Cocaine Toothache Drops. Marketed as an 'Instantaneous Cure!' for a mere 15 cents, these drops were produced in Albany, New York during the 1880s. Astonishingly, they worked. The cocaine was processed to serve as a topical anesthetic, numbing pain without the full spectrum of the drug's mood-altering effects. However, the idea of children and adults using this product today still feels unsettling, despite the claims of safety.
Cocaine-infused throat lozenges also gained popularity for their ability to numb sore throats. These lozenges acted as a topical anesthetic, easing the pain of a sore throat. Many pharmacists and chemists would purchase the lozenges in bulk, only to repackage them under their own brand names.
1. Dr. Scott’s Electric Devices
Although Dr. Scott’s devices didn’t contain opium, heroin, cocaine, or alcohol, his extensive production and mislabeling still earned him a spot among others. While he called his creations 'electric devices,' their so-called healing powers were actually attributed to the magnetically charged iron rods in each of his brushes for hair and skin. Though one might assume that an 'electric' hairbrush could relieve headaches and prevent hair loss, Dr. George Scott took it a step further by claiming his devices could also cure constipation, blood disorders, and even paralysis.
Dr. Scott didn’t limit himself to just brushes. He expanded his range to include an entire collection of magnetic devices, such as corsets, belts, button hooks, curling irons, bracelets, toothbrushes, nail brushes, hats, anklets, rings, shoulder supports, shoe inserts, and even brushes for horses. In what might have been his most brilliant marketing strategy, Scott advised against sharing these devices, claiming that the more people who used a product, the less effective its healing powers became.
