There
was no actual snake oil in old timey snake oil (except when there was,
of course). Rather, most of the lotions and potions sold by early 20th
century miracle medicine salesmen actually contained mercury and lead.
Now, don't you feel better? University of Detroit Mercy chemists
recently analyzed the ingredients of several dozen patent medicine
samples from the Henry Ford Museum's collection. From Smithsonian:
Their findings, which they presented yesterday at the annual
meeting of the American Chemical Society in Atlanta, were that many of
the pills, powders and ointments tested had beneficial ingredients like
calcium and zinc—but that others had toxins such as lead, mercury and
arsenic.
Back in the day, this was a very trial-and-error kind of field,”
(chemist Mark) Benvenuto said in an interview. “The stuff that we think
of as dangerous now, though it was dangerous, was as cutting-edge as
they had at the time.”
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