The Quack Doctor

This noble composition was on sale for most of the first half of the 18^th century but enjoyed a moment of fame 200 years later when an American news editor stumbled on the advert and found it entertaining enough to fill a space in his paper. Other papers lifted the text and printed it as a curiosity from the funny olden days. If those early 20th-century reporters had gone back in time to Jacob’s Coffee House in 1739, however, they would not have found much spiritual enlightenment. The product name just meant it contained angelica.

Source: The Daily Post, 17 January 1739

Angelick Snuff

The most Noble COMPOSITION in the World, instantly removing all Manner of Disorder of the Head and Brain, easing the most excruciating Pain in a Moment; taking away all Swimming or Giddiness, proceeding from Vapours, or any other Cause; also Drowsiness, Sleepiness, all other Lethargick Effects; perfectly curing Deafness to Admiration, and all Humours or Soreness in the Eyes, wonderfully strengthening them when weak.

It certainly cures Catarrhs or Defluxions of Rheum, and remedies the most grievous Tooth-ach in an Instant; is excellently beneficial in Apoplectick Fits, and Falling Sickness, and assuredly prevents those Distempers; corroborates the Brain, comforts the Nerves, and revives the Spirits.

Its admirable Efficacy in all the above mention’d Cases, has been experienc’d above a thousand Times, and very justly causes it to be esteem’d the most beneficial Snuff in the World, being good for all sorts of Persons: And as most of the above Disorders are sudden, and the Remedy by this most noble Angelick Snuff as speedy, no Family ought to be without it, nor ever will, when they have once used it. Price One Shilling a Paper, with Directions; and is to be had only at Jacob’s Coffee-house against the Angel and Crown Tavern in Broad-street, behind the Royal Exchange.

EDE’S PATENT AMERICAN EYE
LIQUID CURES
Eyes! which Ache with tears that’s shed,
Eyes! which Bloodshot overspread;
Eyes! which Cataracts oppress,
Eyes! which Dimness too distress;
Eyes! which Evening fogs soon blight,
Eyes! which Fever weakens quite;
Eyes! which Great depression gives
Eyes! which Health enfeebled leaves;
Eyes! which Inflammation show,
Eyes! which Jaundice spoils we know
Eyes! which Kells attack with rage,
Eyes! which Languish too with age;
Eyes! which Misty are and dull,
Eyes! which Nervousness we cull;
Eyes! which Overwork will show,
Eyes! which Palsy weaken so;
Eyes! which Quincy oft attacks,
Eyes! which Rheumatism racks;
Eyes! which Specks soon flickering spoil,
Eyes! which Time will dim with toil;
Eyes! which U once prized so much,
Eyes! which Various causes touch;
Eyes! Which Weakness will display,
Eyes! which Xcell’d in many a way;
Eyes! which You such pleasure gave,
Eyes! which Zeal would prompt to save!
MORAL
Beautiful Eyes! What a treasure they are,
Whilst above all attractions they soar;
If aught befall them how sadly we grieve,
And the loss of their beauty deplore;
But if any danger should threaten your eyes,
Why, here is a safeguard indeed;
Whilst thousands can vouch for the wonderful cures
That’s made by the liquid of EDE!
One Fact is worth a Bushel of Arguments.—The number of testimonials received from those that have been cured speaks volumes as to the value of the well-known PATENT AMERICAN EYE LIQUID. Unlike many similar preparations, it is perfectly harmless, and the only cure for dimness, aged, weak, watery, sore, bloodshot, kells, cataracts, specks, colds, inflamed, near sight, over-worked, and every disease of the eye. Sold by all chemists, 1s. 1½d. and 2s. 9d.; from EDE, Eye Liquid Depot, Birmingham, 15 and 35 stamps. Bottle enlarged.
Book on “Human Eye,” with Testimonials and Opinions of Press, three stamps.

Source: Reynold’s Newspaper (London) 21 April 1878

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John Ede’s poetical talents might run out of steam towards the end of the alphabet but they were better than his money management skills.

Ede started out as a wholesaler, purchasing and reselling job lots of millinery supplies, hosiery, haberdashery, jewellery, corsets, and second-hand clothes for export. Although by 1871 he had moved around a lot and his business income had fluctuated severely, he built Snowball Villa, a smart four-bedroom house in Chain Walk, Birmingham, and mortgaged it for £800. The desirable residence had a conservatory and vinery, a coach house, aviary, pigsty, gardens and a modest two-stall stable for his horses – who included one named Snowball.

In 1872 Ede began making the Eye Liquid – he later said that the recipe had been passed down from his father, who would give it away free of charge to friends but realised it might have a wider market. About the same time, he got rid of his wholesale stock, placing an advert in the Birmingham Daily Post to try to shift 800 boxes of elegant French millinery flowers, ‘Also, job lot Stays and Corsets; bargain.’ He began referring to his premises as the Eye Liquid Depot, and introduced another remedy, Ede’s Patent American Blood-Purifying Pills.

Although Ede’s ads claimed fame and worldwide demand for the Eye Liquid (which is fair enough – he was hardly going to say it was rubbish), most of them were in Birmingham papers. The American connection is not clear – perhaps he made it up, or perhaps he was of American descent. His vehicle was an American ‘buggy,’ but this is not exactly conclusive evidence as to his origins. One hopes that the Eye Liquid was not similar in composition to a US version patented in the same year by Ransom C Fisher of New York. His product comprised green tea, sugar of lead, white vitriol, camphor gum and alcohol, mixed with rain or other soft water. Rather than use an eye-bath, the patient had to dip one finger into the mixture and apply it to the outside of the eyelid.

Snowball Villa went on the market in 1874, with Ede claiming that he was moving to bigger premises nearby. The reality was that he was in financial trouble. Far from being ‘The Greatest Wonder of the Age,’ the Eye Liquid had not sold well, and the following year the business went into receivership with debts totalling more than £10,000 to 489 creditors. Most of this had been spent on advertising, but as Ede hadn’t kept any accounts, it was difficult for the receivers to work out who was owed what. There were also suggestions he had been gambling, but he denied having done so within the last year.

A meeting of the creditors agreed to allow Mr Ede to carry on the business until they had been paid back 10s. in the pound. Bearing this in mind, his attractive new logo is so over-the-top as to have an air of desperation:

The business continued until about 1880, and Ede’s ads briefly mention an address at High Holborn, although Birmingham remained his main base. One of the last advertisements I’ve found recommends the Eye Liquid for use on horses and puppies – it seems human patients remained unimpressed.

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This device, invented by Dr Ball of Nassau Street, New York, was a small cup with a squeezy rubber balloon attached to it, as pictured left. The invention made its way to England in 1872, when Chichester minister Joseph Fletcher filed a British patent for it.

The patient had to put the cup over the eye and then pump the balloon to create a vacuum, exerting suction to change the shape of the eyeball. Presumably if you pumped really hard, there could be gruesomely spectacular results.         

I was disappointed to learn that Dr Ball’s initial was J, not I.   

               BY ROYAL LETTERS PATENT.
          THE EYES! THE EYES!! THE EYES!!!

                                                                                  ——

             SIGHT RESTORED AND SPECTACLES NO
                               LONGER NEEDED.
             All diseases of the Eyes Cured by using
            Dr. BALL’S PATENT IVORY EYE CUPS
     By  their  use  the  shrunk  and  enfeebled  eye  in  both
young  and  old  is  at  once  furnished  with  the  best  and
indispensable  animal  stimulant—Arterial  Blood.  Nature
herself does the work aided by our Ivory Eye  Cups.
Over 25,000 persons have already been cured by Dr. Ball’s
safe and simple treatment.
For   particulars   address   stamped   envelope   to  Mr.  J.
FLETCHER, Richmond-villa, Portfield, Chichester, Sussex.

Source: The Hull Packet and East Riding Times, Friday 13 October 1876

Grimstone’s Eye Snuff was widely advertised, purportedly at a cost of £5000 per year to its inventor. Testimonials were often included in the ads, and the product even inspired one satisfied customer to write a poem about it (Quoted in The Champion and Weekly Herald, 3 Feb 1839):

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From Blackwood’s Lady’s Magazine for May 1838. To Mr. W. Grimstone, on his valuable invention of the Eye-Snuff, made from British herbs, for the diseased organs of the head and eyes:—

Great was the power that did to man impart
Creative genius and inventive art;
The second praise is, doubtless, Grimstone, thine!
Wise was thine head, and great was thy design.
Our precious sight from danger now set free
Wives, widows, fathers, praises sing to thee.

19 Bell-street, Edgware-road, Marylebone.   ELIZ. ROBSON

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Here is the advert for today:

    SIGHT   RESTORED,   and   Nervous    Head-ache
cured—Numerous  testimonials  and   references   of   the   first   re-
spectability  may  be   seen   at  the  manufactory,  39,  Broad-street,
Bloomsbury, and  24,  King-street,  Long-acre,  proving  cataract,  in-
flammations, and all other diseases of the eyes and head completely
eradicated, glasses left off after using them 20 years, and the breath
rendered impervious to  contagion,  by  taking  GRIMSTONE’s  EYE
SNUFF.  Thousands  have  been  restored  by  this  delightful  com-
pound of the  most  choice  aromatic  and  odiferous  herbs.  A  fact
too well known to be doubted. Observe the signature of  the  inventor
on each canister, “with the  Patronage  of  His  late  Majesty  and the
Lords of  the  Treasury.”  Sold  in  canisters,  1s. 3d., 2s. 4d., 4s. 4d.,
and 8s. each, by almost every tobacconist in the world. All are  spuri-
ous that have not the inventor’s signature.

Source: The Times, Saturday 6 April 1833 

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Dr. A L Wigan, in his A New View of Insanity (1844) claimed (approvingly) that Grimstone’s snuff comprised nothing but black pepper. He didn’t give any evidence for this, however, and perhaps more reliable is the analysis done by Dr Hassall of the Lancet Analytical Sanitary Commission in 1855, which suggested that it contained a variety of herbs including orris-root, savory, rosemary and lavender, plus a fairly high proportion of salt. There was no actual tobacco in it and so it was not an exciseable article, but the Stamp Office nevertheless made several attempts to prosecute Mr Grimstone for selling it without tax. They also turned their attention to retailers of the snuff, with the result that Mr Grimstone was beseiged by angry stockists demanding that he take back his supplies and pay their fines. In 1850 this left him insolvent with debts of £6000. He did, however, manage to continue selling the snuff and other herbal products until his death in 1862 at the age of 71.