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

Tags: 1890s advertising, 19th century, quack remedies, quacks
Categories: Digestive System, Liver

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