The confusion with patent medicines starts with the name, since they were rarely ever patented; manufacturers just thought it sounded cool. Bamboozling was always part of the package: from the 17th century, concoctions of water, alcohol and herbs were sold with wild claims and exotic origin stories. In the 1630s, Anderson’s Pills were hyped with dubious claims that the recipe came from Venice and Anderson’s close ties to the King. By the 18th century, there were liniments, wafers, unguents and tonics confidently proclaiming they would cure whatever ailed you.
Indeed, claiming to cure everything – from “generalised debility” to “chafing”, “lassitude” to “weak stomach fibres” – was key to patent medicines’ success. Before anaesthesia and antibiotics, the distinction between quack and “proper” medicine was blurred anyway: why not fall for the seductive claims of a herbal panacea when your doctor is threatening blood-letting?
