Criminalia Shondaland Audio

Daffy's Elixir was one of the most popular patent medicines in Britain -- and it sold for nearly 300 years, which is amazing considering these types of products were often a flash in a pan. But what makes this product different than others we’ve talked about this snake oil season, other than its longevity, is that its ingredients list wasn’t kept secret -- it was a novel idea to publish ingredients for patent medicines at a time when most products didn’t even put that information on the label. And manufacturers seemed to be okay with that -- maybe because no one could actually prove ownership.
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According to the Vermont State Pharmacy Association in 1921, quote: "Dr. Kilmer's SWAMP-ROOT Kidney, Liver and Bladder Medicine … is a medicine of genuine merit. Thousands of letters we have received from druggists indicate that it has won the confidence of the people. We believe that the druggist who recommends it thereby helps his own reputation for reliability and truthfulness as his customer is usually satisfied with the results obtained from the use of Swamp-Root. …[The] preparation … is made upon honor and always kept up to its high standard of purity and excellence." They weren’t wrong; Swamp-Root was a very popular patent medicine product. But … made with honor? A reputation for … truthfulness? Aren’t we in snake oil season? Let’s meet this Dr. Kilmer and the Kilmer family, and talk about how Swamp-Root made them a ton of money. 
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Herbert Elijah Bucklen made himself one of the wealthiest businessmen in both Elkhart, Indiana, and Chicago, Illinois, in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. And his patent medicine business, The H.E. Bucklen & Company, had a lot to do with that -- but he didn't rise to millionaire status with just snake oil products and lies, although that was a big part of it. 
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Many patent medicines may have done more harm than good -- or at the very least, nothing at all -- and we’ve been talking about a good many of them so far this season. Ingredients in patent medicines were unregulated and manufacturers weren’t required to list ingredients on the label. Most didn’t help your problem, but there were several products that originated in that era that we still use to this day, believe it or not, although these modern versions typically don’t include exactly the same ingredients as their predecessors – which is often a good thing – and many are no longer claim to be cure-alls – which, too, is a good thing.  Let’s talk about a few of those patent medicine products that have persisted over the years. 
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Getting yourself a parasitic buddy will help you lose weight; the idea here is that the tapeworm lives in your intestines and eats whatever you’re eating, meaning you can go for seconds or thirds without feeling guilty about any of the calories. Doesn’t sound so bad, right? Until the tapeworm part, that is. Tapeworms shouldn’t be inside your body unless it’s by accident, but if you lived in Victorian England, you might have intentionally swallowed one for weight loss.
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“It’s the Hair – not the Hat That Makes a Woman Attractive,” read one ad for the Seven Sutherland Sisters’ scalp cleaner. Sisters Sarah, Victoria, Isabella, Grace, Naomi, Dora, and Mary Sutherland were performers who sang and played instruments, but what the crowds came to see was their hair; primarily because there was, collectively, 37 feet of it. By 1880, they were billed as the "Seven Wonders" – and just four years later, their patent hair tonic had made them a fortune. This is a Victorian rags-to-riches story. Well, it’s more of a rags-to-riches-to-rags story. As it goes.
 
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