Patent Medicine Evolution: No Beer? ‘Let Them Drink Sarsaparilla’

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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