Course Details

This class will examine the history of health quackery in America from Colonial times through the present day. Among the topics covered will be the growth of patent medicines, which claimed to cure diseases from tuberculosis to cancer, and the coloful advertising techniques used to hawk them, from calendars and trade cards to traveling medicine shows. Many consisted of relatively harmless herbs, but some contained substantial amounts of alcohol and opiates. We will also discuss quack medical devices such as electric belts. Attention will also be devoted to the development of federal regulation of health products beginning in the 20th century. Yet, as we shall see, health quackery remains very much alive today