OPINION — Time was, if you had an ache or were ailing, some traveling “medicine” huckster promised his special elixir would fix you right up.
Well into the 20th century, smooth-talking pitchmen would travel the country, selling tonics made of dubious ingredients, guaranteed to cure anything from acne to the effects of advanced age. Small towns and rural crossroads were their preferred venues. Sometimes they traveled with musicians, putting on a show to attract a crowd before bilking gullible customers out of their hard-earned dollars for concoctions that were little more than alcohol — often as strong as a belt of booze — infused with anything and everything from serious narcotics to ineffective herbs.
Congress responded to the problem by passing the Food and Drug Act of 1906. For the first time, federal regulators had the authority to ensure that the medicines Americans took were safe. When the FDA was established in 1930, the handwriting was on the wall for snake oil salesmen. The old traveling medicine shows and the products they promoted began going the way of kerosene lamps and Model T Fords. As their numbers dwindled, one stood out from the rest.
