Patent medicines originated in England, where a patent was granted to Richard Stoughton's
elixir in 1712. There were no federal regulations in the United States concerning the safety and effectiveness of drugs until the 1906
Pure Food and Drug Act. Thus, the widespread marketing and availability of dubiously advertised patent medicines without known properties or origin persisted in the US for a much greater number of years than in Europe. In 18th-century Europe, especially in Britain,
viper oil had been commonly recommended for many afflictions, including the ones for which oil from the
rattlesnake (pit viper), a type of viper native to America, was subsequently favored to treat
rheumatism and
skin diseases. Though there are accounts of oil obtained from the fat of various vipers in the Western world, the claims of its effectiveness as a medicine have never been thoroughly examined, and its efficacy is unknown. It is also likely that much of the snake oil sold by Western entrepreneurs was illegitimate, and did not contain ingredients derived from any kind of snake. Snake oil in the United Kingdom and the United States probably contained modified
mineral oil.
William Rockefeller Sr., the father of
John D. Rockefeller, peddled literal snake oil. At the turn of the 20th century, post American Civil War, patent medicine shows began traveling around America. Medicine shows combined a performance, advertisement, and store, all selling their own snake oils. Patent medicine shows would have upwards of 20 performers, often including black musicians, a doctor, comic sketches, advertisements for their wares, which often included narcotics or alcohol, and musical performances, performed by the black musicians, sometimes done in blackface. These medicine shows leaned on, and evoked, knowledge and iconography from many cultures, including medieval Europeans, Native Americans, African American, and Southern American cultures in order to persuade and delight audiences with their shows and products. Patent medicines, and snake oils, were sold over the counter, mail delivered, or in traveling shows in the 20th century. Products such as menstrual cure-alls, benefited from this, given it afforded the customer privacy. Alcohol, which was often a key ingredient in snake oils, allowed for the preservation of extracts, and acted as a solvent for the medicines within. is largely credited with the downfall of the snake oil salesman, and patent medicine industries in the United States. The Pure Food and Drug act "prohibited the sale of misbranded or adulterated food and drugs in interstate commerce and laid a foundation for the nation’s first consumer protection agency, the Food and Drug Administration (FDA)". == Media ==