The Quack Doctor

I’m sure all The Quack Doctor’s readers have leapt out of bed bright and early this morning, clear-headed, sparkly-eyed and ready to go out and grab all the exciting opportunities that the New Year presents.

But if you know someone who is feeling a little more fragile right now, you could point them towards the following collection of helpful remedies.

Carter’s Little Liver Pills, from The Graphic, 23 August 1890.

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Smith’s Pineapple and Butternut Pills, The Washington Times, 3 May 1906

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Brain Salt. 1890s.

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The Neal Cure. Los Angeles Herald, 21 July 1910

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January 1 is also this blog’s second birthday. When I started it, I told myself and others that it was just a way of categorising and storing the bits of information that were floating around in my notes – a sort of external hard drive for my brain. Deep down, of course, I hoped that other people would read and enjoy it – and it seems that’s what’s happened! Thank you to everyone who has supported The Quack Doctor over the past year by reading my posts and commenting on them, following me on Twitter, joining my Facebook page or emailing me to ask questions and talk about your own research.

Wishing you all a Happy New Year!

Source: The Mills County Tribune, Iowa, 12 March 1914

Some secret remedies remain secret for centuries. Not Mayr’s Wonderful Stomach Remedy. Within about a year of it becoming famous, a Chicago newspaper was describing its promoter as a ‘comical quack’ and ‘one of the most entertaining medical fakers in Chicago.’

The Stomach Remedy was inspired by the methods of the itinerant con-artists who worked the small towns of the US in the late 1800s. In the early 20^th century, similar products began appearing in the advertising columns, and druggist George H Mayr was quick to get in on the act. Described by the A.M.A. as ‘the fake gallstone trick,’ his method provided patients with immediate, visible results so convincing that the testimonials flooded in.

Mayr was evangelical about his medicine’s properties:

I have watched sick people for years and have reached out my hand to thousands in the great depth of the Valley of Despair and brought them into the light of life and happiness. I want you, and each one suffering, to know the full joys of living with every part of your system in beautiful accord and absolute perfect harmony.

His remedy comprised a bottle of medicine and two sachets of powders. The patient had to take the first powder at about 3pm, then the whole contents of the bottle before bed, then the second powder in the morning. All going to plan, there should be spectacular results:

When the bowels operate, use a vessel and note the poisonous secretions removed by this remedy, in some cases dark green or yellow lumps varying in size from a fine bead to an olive – in severe cases even larger. In other cases quantities of thick tenacious slime or mucous.

Mayr claimed that it was an old French remedy, used for generations to ‘relieve all stomach ailments and keep the bowels free from foul, poisonous matter.’ France, he said, was ‘the nation without stomach troubles.’

Whatever the state of our Gallic friends’ alimentary canals, Mayr’s medicine bottle contained nothing more interesting than olive oil. The powders were flavoured with licorice but other than that, analyses varied. One said they were mainly Rochelle salt (potassium sodium tartrate) while another suggested that one sachet contained Epsom salts (magnesium sulphate) and the second a sodium phosphate.

Either way, the patient would expel greenish waxy globules that looked a bit like stones. The A.M.A.’s report concluded that these were a mixture of fatty acids and soap caused by the alkaline intestinal fluids operating on the oil.  Anyone taking the remedy and cheerfully rummaging through their subsequent excretions would get the same result, regardless of whether or not they had anything wrong with them.

Stones expelled by a patient using Mayr's Remedy. Pictured in Nostrums and Quackery, A.M.A, 1921

Mayr’s dodginess extended to his advertising methods too. In 1918, the New York Tribune revealed that he sent round a list of instructions to editors, giving them advertising copy like this…

………… SOLDIER UNDER FIRE
“We have had several brushes with the enemy since reaching the trenches here, which I am sure I would not have reached had it not been for Mayr’s Wonderful Stomach Remedy. It has entirely cured me of indigestion and awful gas in my stomach. Army food now digests as good as mother’s used to.”

The newspaper was supposed to fill in the blank in the headline with the name of its own town, to present the imaginary soldier as a local lad. The Tribune was quick to take the moral high ground against the papers that accepted this form of advertising, saying rather self-righteously:

But the publisher who cooperates with the quack by deliberately printing what he knows to be a lie is guilty of unspeakable treachery to those who believe what they read in his paper.

Mayr wasn’t the only one to use this advertising ploy, and not the only one promoting the oils-and-salts method. A hundred years later, a similar process called the liver cleanse or liver flush is still going strong. The difference is that now we have the internet, where people can (and do) post pictures of their poo to show off the wonderful things therein. A link to such biological delights is not necessary on a history site, but you’re big enough and ugly enough to do a bit of Googling if you desperately want to know.

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Just a quick post today while I languish on my sickbed without any useful remedies to console me.

Following on from a previous post about the Bile Beans for Biliousness, Jane Ellen, Senior Archivist at the University of Melbourne Archives kindly sent me this image, probably from the 1930s. It looks as though it was in-store advertising and, like other adverts for this product, shows an amusing juxtaposition of radiant beauty and, well… the name Bile Beans. The way the Beans acted to produce such a lovely figure is as unappealing as their title – they ‘ensure[d] that regular elimination so essential to your wellbeing.’

I’ve dug out the text of another advert for Bile Beans – this one (below) is from The Argus, Melbourne, 16 April 1945. (N.B. The original doesn’t have a question mark for the first sentence either.) Aimed squarely at women and pitched more as a food supplement than a medicine, this is a contrast to the product’s early advertising, which targeted both sexes and claimed that the Beans were effective against some quite serious diseases.

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Why shouldn’t you be Radiant & Attractive

THAT inner well-being, the bright eyes, clear complexion and the sparkle that go with it are just a matter of nightly routine – the results which Bile Beans surely bring.
Purely vegetable, Bile Beans–just one or two taken regularly at bedtime, build up good health and good digestion while you sleep. They tone you up, cleanse and regulate the system. They improve your appearance and your outlook on life.
Bright eyes, cheeriness, personal fitness are grand assets these days. They can be yours all through the year if you

Start To-night with Bile Beans

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While Bile Beans were initially pitched as a cure for biliousness, the influenza epidemic of 1899 was too good an opportunity to miss. Horrible though the ‘flu was, a lot of people would recover after a week or so anyway, and it was an easy matter for quacks to point to cases where the recovery coincided with the taking of their medicine.

A leaflet enclosed with the Beans stated that they were also a cure for cirrhosis of the liver, blackheads, and all female complaints, and later they were mainly targeted at women, using glamorous pictures that now appear incongruous with the unattractive product name. Although the leaflet said that the Beans did not include mercury, bismuth, or aloes, they did contain aloin - an aloe extract with laxative properties that is no longer considered safe because of its potential side effects. The other ingredients were cardamom, peppermint oil and wheat flour, with a black gelatine coating. (More Secret Remedies, BMA, 1912) 

THE INFLUENZA PLAGUE
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A NEW SPECIFIC

Mr. A. S. Selwyn, of No. 4 Emily-street, Warrickville, N.S.W., says that Charles Forde’s Bile Beans pulled him round from a terrible attack of influenza when all else failed. Interviewed by a representative regarding his recovery he said:— “Not long since I was attacked most severely with influenza: such a hold did it get upon me that I was obliged to leave my work, and I was confined to the house for over a week. Anyone at my place of business will verify this statement, as I have often complained to them, and they know full well that I have suffered keenly. I went through all the stages of this miserable complaint, being assailed continually with a cold and headache, pains in various parts of my body, and a general disinclination for exertion of any kind. While confined to the house I tried various remedies, but all to no effect. This was the state of things when I happened to have Charles Forde’s Bile Beans brought under my notice, and I thought I would try them. Well, Sir, I must say I was surprised at the amount of good they did me; not only did they completely cure me of influenza, but also of several other complaints, notably biliousness and indigestion, from which I suffered. Immediately after I began taking them I commenced to experience relief, and in a surprisingly short time I was completely cured. Since that time I have not had the slightest return of any of my complaints, and I ascribe my speedy and thorough cure to Bile Beans for Biliousness, and I heartily recommend them as a grand cure for influenza.”
The reader should bear in mind that what Bile Beans will do for one they will do for others. They have proved themselves an undoubted specific for biliousness, indigestion, constipation, rheumatism, sciatica, lumbago, gout, influenza, debility, dyspepsia, headache, insomnia, liver complaints, and piles. At this season of the year the liver’s action is very bad, causing chills, numbness of the hands, and in such cases Bile Beans will be found very effective. Bile Beans are obtainable from chemists generally, or the Bile Beans manufacturing Company will forward direct from their London Depot, 119 and 120, London Wall, one box for 1s 1½d or 2s 9d (large box holds three small). Please mention this paper if you are writing.

Source:  The Northern Echo, (Darlington) Thursday 16 Nov 1899

The story behind the Beans went that an Australian scientist, Charles Forde, had discovered an ancient aboriginal remedy. The actual inventor was a Canadian called Charles E Fulford (I don’t know if he was connected to the Fulfords of Dr Williams’ Pink Pills fame), and the story about the aborigines was completely made up. Although this was revealed during a 1905 court case where Fulford sued the proprietor of an imitation product, the Bile Beans became very popular in the 20th century and were still on sale in the 1980s.

Thank you to teaandcakes on Flickr for the 1940s advertising picture

Dr Ray Vaughn Pierce (pictured, courtesy of Project Gutenberg) was an über-quack whose laboratory in  Buffalo, NY, produced millions of dollars worth of patent remedies. As well as the Pleasant Pellets shown below, there were Dr Pierce’s Anuric Tablets, Dr Pierce’s Favorite Prescription, Dr Pierce’s Vaginal Tablets, Dr Pierce’s Extract of Smart-Weed and Dr Pierce’s Golden Medical Discovery – a licorice-flavoured tonic that reportedly contained quinine, opium and alcohol and was advertised as giving men “an appetite like a cow-boy’s and the digestion of an ostrich.”

Pierce ran an opulent hotel for invalids, the first incarnation of which burnt down in 1881. The rebuilt hotel is said to have included among its guests the Sundance Kid and Etta Place in 1901.

 His company, the World’s Dispensary Medical Association, gave away freebies such as calendars and notebooks to advertise the products, and Pierce’s own book, The People’s Common Sense Medical Adviser in Plain English, was a vehicle for recommending his own medicines. As well as the laboratory in Buffalo, the company had a British branch at Great Russell Street, London.

Dr Pierce was elected to the U.S. Congress in 1878 and served one term. After his death in 1914 his son, Dr Valentine Mott Pierce, continued the business and Pierce products were still available as late as the 1970s.

                    Falling Off A Log.
“As  easy  as  falling   off   a  log,”  is  an
old saying.   When  it  was  first   uttered
nobody knows.   Nothing  is  easier,  un-
less   it  is  the  taking  of  a  dose  of  Dr.
Pierce’s  Pleasant   Pellets.   These   act
like  magic.   No   griping   or   drenching
follows, as is the case with  the  old  fash-
ioned   pills.   The  relief  that  follows  re-
sembles the action of Nature  in  her hap-
piest moods; the impulse given to the dor-
mant   liver  is  of  the  most salutary kind,
and is speedily manifested  by the disap-
pearance  of  all  bilious symptoms.  Sick
headache,   wind   on the  stomach,  pain
through   the   right   side   and   shoulder-
blade,  and   yellowness of  the skin  and
eyeballs    are    all   remedied   by   the
Pellets.

Source: The Daily Gazette (Xenia, Ohio) Friday 8 April 1892

Monteet’s Medicines weren’t among the more famous of 19th-century remedies. The proprietor, R. Hodgson, advertised them quite heavily in the Northern Echo for a few months in 1880-81, but after that they disappear. There is no way to tell whether the various mixtures were all pretty much the same, but it wouldn’t be a surprise. My favourite thing about this advert is the rather bossy tone at the beginning, and the assurance that the medicines never fail (just in case we momentarily forgot what infallible means).

                             LOOK HERE!
If you are ill, try MONTEET’S INFALLIBLE
MEDICINES; they never fail. They are not the dis-
covery of a moment, but from the well-tried prescrip-
tions of some of the most eminent physicians. They
quickly remove all dangerous and unpleasant symp-
toms, prolong life in ease and comfort, and so prevent
sudden deaths. Monteet’s Heart Mixture, 2s 6d and
5s ; Monteet’s Blood Cleaner, 2s 6d and 5s ; Monteet’s
Consumptive Drops, 1s 6d, 2s 6d, and 5s; Monteet’s
Dropsy Mixture, 1s 6d, 2s 6d, 5s, and 7s 6d ; Monteet’s Mix-
ture for Fits, 2s 6d, 5s, and 7s 6d ; Monteet’s Liver
Mixture, 1s 6d, 2s 6d, and 6s ; Monteet’s Liver Pills,
6d, 1s, and 2s; Monteet’s Aperient Pills, 6d, 1s and 2s;
Monteet’s Stomachic Pills, 1s and 2s 6d; Monteet’s
Diarrhoea Pills, 6d and 1s; Monteet’s Dyspeptic Pills,
6d, 1s, and 2s 6d ; Monteet’s Teething Powders, 6d and
1s. Full directions enclosed with each, which may be
obtained of the Sole Agent in England, Mr. R. HODG-
SON, 23, Jackson-street, Brotton, Saltburn, Yorkshire.
Handbills Free.

Source: The Northern Echo (Darlington), Wednesday 26th January 1881

Page Woodcock’s Wind Pills were well-known throughout the second half of the 19th century and into the 20th. Born in Norwich and spending most of his life either there or in Lincoln, Woodcock (1820-1889) had a successful business as a chemist. He was a Methodist, and came under satirical fire from Punch in 1853 for placing long sermonising advertisements that concluded with a brazen plug for his Pills rather than with any spiritual consolation. This advert, however, is nice and short. 

“NEVER TOO LATE TO MEND,”—Pro-
crastination with many is the besetting sin. Every-
thing is put off till “to-morrow.” The torpid liver is unheeded
until jaundice, consumption, or abscess of the liver becomes
established. These maladies are curable if taken in time by
that fine tonic and alterative medicine, Page Woodcock’s
Wind Pills. Thousands are taking them for almost every
complaint, and are being cured. “It’s never too late to
mend.” Of all Chemists, at 1s 1½d and 2s 9d.

Source: The Glasgow Herald, Wednesday 7^th January 1880

Well, I would venture to suggest that there comes a point when it is too late, but otherwise one would be wise to heed the advice not to ignore the state of one’s liver until “to-morrow.” Don’t say I didn’t warn you.

 For an example of a full-colour advertising poster for Page Woodcock’s Wind Pills, have a look at The History of Advertising Trust’s 1880s image.