Distinctly Montana Magazine

H E A L T H Y, W E L L & F I T S P E C I A L S E C T I O N 71 acid, which indeed both reduce inflammation. But if there were any actual snake oil in the snake oil, it was almost always rattle- snake oil, which had no particular medicinal qualities. Much later, in 1917, the Federal Government seized a shipment of a famous variety called "Stanley's Snake Oil" and test- ed it. They found that it contained no snake whatsoever, only an odd concoction then-called "mineral oil," thought to be composed of beef fat, pepper, and turpentine. Many snake oils contained lead, mercury, or ar- senic, and sometimes all three. Others had mustard oil, pine oil, oil of wintergreen, camphor, or petro- leum. It is safe to conclude that they probably all were very foul-tasting. Even so, their abiding suc- cess could not be entirely attributed to the charm of their pitchmen: many also contained opium or laudanum, cocaine, or staggering amounts of grain alcohol. Most patent medicines or snake oils were profoundly addictive, and any benefit they may (however unlikely) have wrought were trivial compared to the perils of the narcotic addictions that accompanied their use. For this reason, it may not be surprising that some of the earliest opponents of snake oils were the goodly and pious ladies of local temperance societies. The death of snake oil was sealed by a Collier's article of 1905, which decried patent medicines as so much poison and lies. In 1906, the Pure Food and Drug Act prohibited selling one thing and labeling it as another, which was the bread and butter of the entire snake-oil industry. Soon, prod- ucts had to change their names and think up new and ever-more tortured phraseology on their labels—Indian oil might replace snake oil, as surely no one would think it would contain the oil of an Indian. Many were reduced to labeling their packages with "formerly sold as rattlesnake oil," which did little to improve these dubious concoctions' reputations. They were also forced to fess up to their addictive ingredients. To this, at least, they happily complied; for some, the warning label prominently listing the narcotic ingredients became the product's most significant selling point. But by 1927, "snake oil" was enough of a by- word for bad medicine and false advertising that American poet Stephen Vincent Benet wrote, in his epic "John Brown's Body," that such traveling snake oil salesmen were "...crooked creatures of a thousand dubious trades." Cinema and televi- sion helped drive the point home: the snake- oil salesman is a familiar character to anyone who has ever seen a Western. Today, the phrase is used just as often as before, if not more so: we're guessing that during that last election, you may have heard more than a few ads claiming one or another candidate plied their trade in snake-oil. It's a lesson we still might learn every time someone comes along and promises too much for too little; if something claims to be able to solve all your problems at once, for one low, low fee, well, you might just examine that claim with a healthy dose of skepticism. BEFORE LONG, WORD OF THE MIRACULOUS SNAKE OIL CURE SPREAD, AND DEMAND FOR THE PRODUCT SKYROCKETED.

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