Patent Medicines and Drug Laws of the 20th Century
Manufacturers produced “Patent Medicines” or “Proprietary Medicines” for self-medication by consumers. Originating in England by compounders that provided medicines to the Royal family, these unregulated and secret remedies were also sold by apothecaries and street vendors. Patent medicines were exported and sold in the American Colonies. After the American Revolution, the patent medicine industry thrived in the United States, often making and selling imitations of the best-selling English remedies.
Popular patent medicines could be found in the form of liniments, ointments, elixirs, tonics, and pills. Remedies for numerous ailments included digestive problems, liver diseases, tuberculosis, colic, female issues, and even cancer. Some of the ingredients used in these cure-alls included opiates or strong laxatives such as calomel (mercury chloride) and alcohol. Remedies touted to cure opium or alcohol addiction often contained those very drugs.
The packaging was often colorful, promised relief, or even a cure. Consumers would overlook the ingredients hoping for a cure. Native American images were common and led purchasers to believe the products were closer to nature, as many believed that Native Americans had special healing knowledge. These proprietary medicines were manufactured by entrepreneurs who produced "quack medicines" that had questionable effectiveness. Despite the name “patent medicine,” almost none of these were patented.
In the nineteenth century, liniments and ointments were often advertised as containing snake-oil, which was a common cure-all for arthritis and rheumatism. This led to the term "snake-oil salesman"—a modern-day charlatan. Many of these "quack medicines" were sold by traveling salesmen and entertainers in what became "medicine shows."
Above: Indian Herbs Laxative Tablets. Front of box and directions for use
Left: Lightin Red Chief Liniment Bottle
Right: Ma-Wan-Ka the Great Remedy for Stomach Liver and Kidneys Box
Drug Laws
There were no controls on the manufacturing of patent medicines until 1906 when the U.S. government passed the Pure Food and Drugs Act to regulate these "quack" medicines and to protect consumers from misleading information. The 1906 Act also aided in the creation of the Food and Drug Administration, which ensured more stringent labeling on drugs as well as better quality foodstuffs.
In 1911, the U.S. Supreme Court prohibited false advertising of patent medicines, a ruling that applied to the disclosure of ingredients but not to the effectiveness of the product.
In 1912, the U.S. government passed the Shirley Amendment to the 1906 Pure Food and Drugs Act, which prohibited false claims in drug advertising.
