Booker T Washington for Peruna

Duffy Malt Whiskey 1900

Doan's Kidney Pills 1900

SSS cures cancer

Ripans (1900)

Ipecac is used to induce vomiting and nux vomica is another name for strychnine. I can't imagine how sick people got who used this product.

1900 Ayer's Hair Vigor (this product gets rid of grey, makes hair soft, gloss, strong and fast growing) Yeah right.

Candy for your bowels, sounds yummy!

Abbey's Salt patent medicine

AYERS SASPARILLA CURES SCROFULA

Sasparilla is mostly used to make a sort of root beer that isn't very popular, but it used to be used in some patent medicines because if you take a high enough dose it causes sweating, which I guess people thought would flush out toxins?

Anyway this advertisement is basically saying that if you drink the syrup that make root beer it will cure tuberculosis.

DUFFY'S PURE MALT WHISKEY CURES CONSUMPTION

Well, it's good that there is no fusel, or amyl alchol in this product, it's a byproduct of fermentation and should not be drunk at all, so that's good. But not having poison in it doesn't make this a medicine. This is just straight up whiskey, nothing else, how would that cure consumption? One of the testimonials state a drink every two hours cured them, a drink of whiskey every two hours would do something, but not really a cure.

This seems a little unusual to me, there is no secret ingredients or recipe, it's just alcohol.

Mrs. Winslow soothing syrup (also full of that lovely opium!)

1900 Ayer's Cherry Pectoral ( full of that healthy opium!)

Londonderry Lithia Water 1900 newspaper advertisment

This was actually not a quack medicine, the water had naturally occurring lithium in the water and this type of water is still available and some people think it has health properties.

Did you know a laxative could do so much?

1900 WINE OF CARIDUI

This "vegetable compound" for female complaints sound innocent enough. It is full of various herbs but the alcohol the herbs are in is probably why the compound was so popular. Proper, upstanding women really couldn't drink, but a health elixir is something else.

WINE OF CARDUI

Wine of Cardui, manufactured by the Chattanooga Medicine Company, consisted of Black Haw, Goldenseal and Blessed Thistle dissolved in alcohol. The product was used by both men and women, but was really marketed to women as treatment for infertility, menstrual problems and menopause.

Black Haw was a folk remedy for menstrual cramps, menopause, recovery from childbirth and the prevention of miscarriages. Goldenseal aids in digestion and Blessed Thistle is used to aid in lactation in nursing mothers.

Over time the product was analyzed by physicians and the subject of a few lawsuits, which determined that the no ingredients were in large enough quantities to really be medicinal, it was the 19% alcohol that had an effect of masking the symptoms and making the patients feel better.

1900 PATENT MEDICINE WINE OF CARDUI

Back in 1900 there really weren't that many medicines available to relive menstrual cramps and pain. Aspirin had just become available as a bitter powder, but was not widely known, so there weren't too many products available. I can't imagine this contained an effective pain killer but it did have plenty of alcohol, which is a pain reliever of a sort and it was respectable to drink a medicine, maybe not so acceptable to take a drink. How much do you think was sold to people looking for a buzz rather than pain relief? Probably a lot.