Customer Reviews

Quack, Quack, Quack: The Sellers of Nostrums in Prints, Posters, Ephemera, & Books

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The subject of patent medicines and quack medical cures has always been a facinating one for me. I was hesitant at first to order this book, considering it had no reviews and I couldn't find much information about what exactly was in it online. Once I got the book, I was pleased to find that it is full of advertising for quack doctors and medications ranging from the 17th century to the early 20th century.

While most of the prints are black and white, there are a few color ones scattered through the pages. Each print is accompanied by write up explaining its origin, and a bit of additional information about the medication or doctor being advertised. Also included is information about the print, such as the title, year it was published, artist or author, and other details.

Many of the advertisers used very small print for things like testimonials. All of the images in the book are very large, and it is possible to see the detail of elaborate lithographs and read all but the very smallest text (though you may need a magnifying glass for some of it).

There is a lengthy introduction on the history of quackery and its relationship to legitimate medicine (at one time, they were one and the same after all), and how the methods of these patent cure-alls are still with us today.

The chapters are arranged loosely according to the type of service being offered, though in some cases certain especially influential products/quacks have their own chapters. Everything from medical museums that were little better than carnival freak shows to electric belts to vibrating chairs to colored glass windows to cures for opium or alcohol addiction laced with stronger dosages of cocaine or morphine. Sprinkled throughout these chapters are contemporary commentary and criticism on specific products by sceptical (and often humorous) journalists.

The final chapter is devoted entirely to political cartoons and images from articles against the evils of quackery in general, everything from how the advertisments were distributed to comparisons in the amount of alcohol in patent medicines to hard liqour.

The only major beef I have with this book is that a few of the images are marked as 'color lithograph' but are not actually printed in color in the book. I think that the author may not have had access to the color originals in these cases, considering that there are images that are printed in color.

If, like me, you find the history of medicine and its dark side to be a subject of interest, I wholeheartedly endorse this book. It's well worth the price of admission.

"I can advertise dish water, and sell it, just as well as an article of merit," a 19th-century newspaper copy writer once boasted. "It is all in the advertising."

As some one who is interested in - and collects - 19th- and early 20th-century patent medicines, I found this book to be wonderful, because in addition to the bottles and packages themselves, I am also very interested in collecting ephemera.

William Helfand's collection is a legend and it was wonderful to see so much of it in this book.

The introductory text is very well done as are the very short texts that come before each section.

The reproduction of the prints is very well done, especially those in color, and I'm so pleased they included a chapter on patent medicines and personalities in literature...I found several titles I hope to add to my collection.

If there are any faults - and there are precious few - i would only say that I am disappointed that they didn;t include more American political cartoons that had a quack medicine theme...several British ones were included but I can think of several Lincoln ones that might have been.

Excellent and highly recommended.

I am the sort of person whom, when i see a "too good to be true" ad on tv, then the first thing i do is go online and research what the "scam" behind it is.

I bought this book with much the same mind, and am really enjoying it. Its not the sort of book i would sit down and diligently read page by page, but i regularly pick it up and read a page or two. So far my favorite observation was seeing an ad advertising the healing effects of putting magnets in your shoes, and their amazing ability to increase balance. Some things never change.

All in all a great addition to my skeptic library