1 00:00:04,320 --> 00:00:06,680 Speaker 1: Hey, welcome to the short Stuff. I'm Josh, and there's 2 00:00:06,800 --> 00:00:08,960 Speaker 1: Chuck and Jerry's here too, and we're all thinking of 3 00:00:09,039 --> 00:00:11,760 Speaker 1: Dave right now. So his ears are probably burning like 4 00:00:11,920 --> 00:00:17,400 Speaker 1: flames on the side of his face or in my throat. Yeah, 5 00:00:17,520 --> 00:00:20,200 Speaker 1: Chuck's got a little sore throat, but not really. What'd 6 00:00:20,239 --> 00:00:21,960 Speaker 1: you say, You've got some dust in your throat? 7 00:00:22,040 --> 00:00:23,560 Speaker 2: You know, when you just have a little coughing fit 8 00:00:23,560 --> 00:00:25,520 Speaker 2: because it feels like there's a tickle in your throat 9 00:00:25,520 --> 00:00:27,640 Speaker 2: you can't get rid of. Always call it. 10 00:00:27,680 --> 00:00:28,800 Speaker 1: You sound like you're about to cough it. 11 00:00:28,960 --> 00:00:30,160 Speaker 2: Let's call it dust in my throat. 12 00:00:31,040 --> 00:00:33,839 Speaker 1: Sure, Yeah, that's a good description. Yeah. Also, we're going 13 00:00:33,880 --> 00:00:35,120 Speaker 1: to try to muddle through everybody. 14 00:00:35,159 --> 00:00:37,360 Speaker 2: It's gonna say a great Time Waits album, but the 15 00:00:37,479 --> 00:00:38,760 Speaker 2: joke's dumb, so I'm not gonna say it. 16 00:00:39,400 --> 00:00:41,600 Speaker 1: Dust in my throat is great time. That was a 17 00:00:41,640 --> 00:00:42,120 Speaker 1: great chick. 18 00:00:42,560 --> 00:00:43,160 Speaker 2: This one's fun. 19 00:00:43,240 --> 00:00:44,080 Speaker 1: You dug this one up. 20 00:00:44,479 --> 00:00:46,440 Speaker 2: We talked, have talked over the years a lot about 21 00:00:46,560 --> 00:00:52,440 Speaker 2: snake oil and what's called patent medicines, and this is 22 00:00:52,880 --> 00:00:55,600 Speaker 2: the origin story of snake oil. 23 00:00:56,400 --> 00:00:58,920 Speaker 1: Yeah, and it kind of ties into our episode we 24 00:00:59,040 --> 00:01:05,360 Speaker 1: just released on Meat and Food before the FDA came along. Yeah, 25 00:01:05,840 --> 00:01:10,759 Speaker 1: So to quote the Oxford English diction, oh, snake oil 26 00:01:11,160 --> 00:01:15,360 Speaker 1: is quote a quack remedy or panacea. And essentially what 27 00:01:15,400 --> 00:01:18,080 Speaker 1: they're saying there, in high falutint terms, is that snake 28 00:01:18,120 --> 00:01:21,800 Speaker 1: oil is it's it's well, it's a quack remedy. It 29 00:01:21,840 --> 00:01:25,039 Speaker 1: doesn't actually work. It's something that's sold is a medicine 30 00:01:25,080 --> 00:01:28,080 Speaker 1: or a cure that that doesn't do anything like it says, 31 00:01:28,319 --> 00:01:30,720 Speaker 1: and it just has a bad association. We think of 32 00:01:30,720 --> 00:01:35,160 Speaker 1: snake oil as just something you're something you're duped by, 33 00:01:35,640 --> 00:01:38,280 Speaker 1: and the person you're duped by is a snake oil salesman. 34 00:01:38,560 --> 00:01:41,920 Speaker 1: But this is one of those really interesting stories, Chuck, 35 00:01:41,959 --> 00:01:46,600 Speaker 1: where there's an actual origin to this and as bad 36 00:01:46,640 --> 00:01:50,760 Speaker 1: as we think of snake oil today, like it actually 37 00:01:50,920 --> 00:01:53,840 Speaker 1: had a legitimate use back in the day and still 38 00:01:53,840 --> 00:01:55,000 Speaker 1: does depending on where you live. 39 00:01:55,160 --> 00:01:58,480 Speaker 2: Yeah, and that's if you're literally talking oil from a snake, 40 00:01:59,280 --> 00:02:02,680 Speaker 2: and we're talking about in China, they would use Chinese 41 00:02:02,760 --> 00:02:08,240 Speaker 2: water snakes, venomous Chinese water snakes to get their literal extract, 42 00:02:08,320 --> 00:02:11,519 Speaker 2: you know, extract oil from the snake. And that oil 43 00:02:11,600 --> 00:02:14,000 Speaker 2: is very high in omega three fatty acids, which we 44 00:02:14,080 --> 00:02:16,960 Speaker 2: all know are very good for your health. So the 45 00:02:17,000 --> 00:02:22,120 Speaker 2: original snake oil, and you know, ancient China actually had 46 00:02:22,120 --> 00:02:25,760 Speaker 2: a use. It wasn't like this this bunk medicine. You know, 47 00:02:25,800 --> 00:02:27,800 Speaker 2: it's good for your brain health, your heart health. I 48 00:02:27,800 --> 00:02:31,480 Speaker 2: think it can reduce inflammation, kind of like fish oil. 49 00:02:31,600 --> 00:02:34,839 Speaker 2: Everyone knows that omega three fatty acids are great, and 50 00:02:34,919 --> 00:02:37,160 Speaker 2: that was what the original snake oil was. 51 00:02:38,040 --> 00:02:40,560 Speaker 1: It was so high or it is so high in 52 00:02:40,680 --> 00:02:44,520 Speaker 1: omega three fatty acids that it reduces inflammation if you 53 00:02:44,639 --> 00:02:48,440 Speaker 1: just rub it on your skin. It's just really potent stuff, 54 00:02:48,480 --> 00:02:50,639 Speaker 1: which is pretty much the opposite of what we think 55 00:02:50,639 --> 00:02:53,600 Speaker 1: of a snake oil today, like not only does it 56 00:02:53,639 --> 00:02:56,880 Speaker 1: not really work, it's fake. Snake oil is original snake 57 00:02:56,919 --> 00:03:01,000 Speaker 1: oil is not fake. It was very potent. And in 58 00:03:01,040 --> 00:03:04,040 Speaker 1: the nineteenth century there were a lot of Chinese immigrants 59 00:03:04,040 --> 00:03:06,600 Speaker 1: who came over either by their own volition or as 60 00:03:06,720 --> 00:03:11,400 Speaker 1: indentured workers to work on the railroad, the Transcontinental Railroad 61 00:03:11,440 --> 00:03:14,720 Speaker 1: in particular, and they brought this snake oil with them 62 00:03:14,720 --> 00:03:17,520 Speaker 1: and it became like kind of a popular curative for 63 00:03:17,680 --> 00:03:21,400 Speaker 1: people when they wanted to relieve sore muscles or inflammation, 64 00:03:21,919 --> 00:03:24,480 Speaker 1: and it caught the attention of one guy named Clark 65 00:03:24,560 --> 00:03:28,720 Speaker 1: Stanley who became he was a cowboy, He was a 66 00:03:28,800 --> 00:03:32,640 Speaker 1: legit cowboy, but he became a patent medicine seller. And 67 00:03:33,120 --> 00:03:35,800 Speaker 1: you toss that word around, patent medicines, but there's an 68 00:03:35,800 --> 00:03:39,960 Speaker 1: actual explanation to how we got to where patent medicines 69 00:03:40,240 --> 00:03:42,920 Speaker 1: had this bad reputation. And it's in the name too. 70 00:03:42,840 --> 00:03:45,960 Speaker 2: Yeah, because you could say, I have this medicine, I 71 00:03:45,960 --> 00:03:47,960 Speaker 2: want to patent it so only I can sell it. 72 00:03:48,560 --> 00:03:51,880 Speaker 2: And part of having a patent can mean that you 73 00:03:51,920 --> 00:03:54,840 Speaker 2: don't have to tell what's in it, so you're you know, 74 00:03:54,920 --> 00:03:57,960 Speaker 2: it's proprietary, so you can have your little secret recipe. 75 00:03:58,520 --> 00:04:01,640 Speaker 2: And so patent medicines were where you know, they became 76 00:04:02,520 --> 00:04:05,640 Speaker 2: these medicines that was essentially snake oil. It's like, you know, 77 00:04:05,880 --> 00:04:08,200 Speaker 2: who knows what could be in this stuff, and these 78 00:04:08,240 --> 00:04:11,640 Speaker 2: hucksters are selling it for you know, a quarter of bottle, 79 00:04:11,720 --> 00:04:13,880 Speaker 2: ten cents of bottle, fifty cents a bottle, as we'll see, 80 00:04:13,880 --> 00:04:16,640 Speaker 2: which is like eighteen bucks today, and no one knows 81 00:04:16,680 --> 00:04:19,159 Speaker 2: what's in it. So that is where snake oil, well, 82 00:04:19,560 --> 00:04:21,919 Speaker 2: actually we're not quite there yet. That's what patent medicine was, 83 00:04:23,960 --> 00:04:25,920 Speaker 2: and maybe we should take a break then with that 84 00:04:25,960 --> 00:04:29,559 Speaker 2: cliffhanger about how snake oil as hucksterism came about. 85 00:04:42,960 --> 00:04:46,480 Speaker 1: If you want to know, then you're in luck. Just 86 00:04:46,600 --> 00:04:47,719 Speaker 1: listen up to. 87 00:04:49,240 --> 00:04:52,040 Speaker 2: Chuck selfus shoe. 88 00:04:55,760 --> 00:04:58,200 Speaker 1: So, Chuck, you left us off on the cliffhanger where 89 00:04:58,480 --> 00:05:01,520 Speaker 1: we were talking. Patent medicines were basically fraudulent and fake, 90 00:05:02,200 --> 00:05:04,880 Speaker 1: and snake oil was about to enter the realm of 91 00:05:05,040 --> 00:05:09,240 Speaker 1: from legitimate medicine to fake patent medicine, and it did 92 00:05:09,279 --> 00:05:13,200 Speaker 1: so via that cowboy turned patent medicine seller Clark Stanley. 93 00:05:13,440 --> 00:05:17,039 Speaker 2: Yeah, so he was around and he said, hey, these 94 00:05:17,080 --> 00:05:19,880 Speaker 2: Chinese people are using this snake oil or they're you know, 95 00:05:20,200 --> 00:05:23,200 Speaker 2: have stories of using this snake oil because they didn't 96 00:05:23,240 --> 00:05:26,159 Speaker 2: have those Chinese water snakes in the American West, of course, 97 00:05:26,839 --> 00:05:29,640 Speaker 2: but he heard these stories. He was into this patent 98 00:05:29,680 --> 00:05:31,359 Speaker 2: medicine thing, and he said, well, one thing we have 99 00:05:31,400 --> 00:05:37,080 Speaker 2: a lot about here is rattlesnakes. So I'm gonna well 100 00:05:37,120 --> 00:05:38,799 Speaker 2: we'll get to the little twist here in a second, 101 00:05:38,839 --> 00:05:43,119 Speaker 2: but I'm going to make patent medicine, this snake oil 102 00:05:43,279 --> 00:05:47,360 Speaker 2: liniment out of rattlesnakes. I'm gonna say I'm the rattlesnake King. 103 00:05:47,640 --> 00:05:49,960 Speaker 2: I'm going to put out a little pamphlet to really 104 00:05:50,000 --> 00:05:52,600 Speaker 2: gussy up my story called the Life and Adventures of 105 00:05:52,640 --> 00:05:55,520 Speaker 2: the American Cowboy colon Life in the Far West in 106 00:05:55,560 --> 00:05:58,880 Speaker 2: eighteen ninety seven, And it's going to have horses and 107 00:05:59,000 --> 00:06:04,239 Speaker 2: cowboy poetry and like lasso throwing advice, and I'm gonna 108 00:06:04,440 --> 00:06:07,280 Speaker 2: include this with this snake oil. Gonna charge fifty cents 109 00:06:07,279 --> 00:06:09,560 Speaker 2: a bottle, which, like I said, was eighteen bucks today, 110 00:06:10,480 --> 00:06:13,479 Speaker 2: and it's gonna cure almost anything you can think of. 111 00:06:13,920 --> 00:06:15,920 Speaker 1: Yeah. He said that it was the strongest and best 112 00:06:15,960 --> 00:06:18,480 Speaker 1: liniment known for the cure of all pain and lameness, 113 00:06:18,520 --> 00:06:24,360 Speaker 1: for rheumatism, neuralgias, sciatica, lay back lumbargo, contracted muscles, toothaches, sprain, swellings, 114 00:06:24,360 --> 00:06:27,920 Speaker 1: et cetera, cure's frost bites, chill blades, bruises, sore throat, 115 00:06:27,960 --> 00:06:31,599 Speaker 1: bites of animals, insects, and reptiles. That was on the label. 116 00:06:32,520 --> 00:06:37,400 Speaker 2: Yeah, he's like the early medical marijuana places in California, 117 00:06:38,680 --> 00:06:42,640 Speaker 2: Like can't sleep, try marijuana, too much sleep, try marijuana. 118 00:06:44,760 --> 00:06:47,880 Speaker 1: So if you notice, though, this is like laying back, 119 00:06:48,040 --> 00:06:52,680 Speaker 1: contracted muscles, like he's tying into the reputation that snake 120 00:06:52,720 --> 00:06:55,599 Speaker 1: oil already has. It's an anti inflammatory that you rub 121 00:06:55,680 --> 00:06:59,160 Speaker 1: on your skin, right, But he never gave credit to 122 00:06:59,240 --> 00:07:02,960 Speaker 1: the Chinese people who introduced him to snake oil or 123 00:07:03,000 --> 00:07:05,240 Speaker 1: who introduced it through the United States. He said that 124 00:07:05,360 --> 00:07:08,239 Speaker 1: he learned to make snake oil from rattlesnakes from years 125 00:07:08,279 --> 00:07:11,480 Speaker 1: of study with a hopey medicine man, and also because 126 00:07:11,520 --> 00:07:14,240 Speaker 1: he was a bit countless times by rattlesnakes, so I 127 00:07:14,280 --> 00:07:18,000 Speaker 1: guess that gave him some entree into it. The problem is, 128 00:07:18,840 --> 00:07:22,880 Speaker 1: rattlesnake oil has about a third of the Omega three 129 00:07:23,000 --> 00:07:27,360 Speaker 1: fatty acids that oil from Chinese water snakes too, which 130 00:07:27,440 --> 00:07:29,360 Speaker 1: makes it about a third is potent. 131 00:07:30,120 --> 00:07:32,600 Speaker 2: Yeah, and then here's the real twist that we promised. 132 00:07:33,560 --> 00:07:36,720 Speaker 2: He didn't even use rattlesnake oil, so even if he 133 00:07:36,800 --> 00:07:38,640 Speaker 2: was using it, it would have been, you know, far 134 00:07:38,800 --> 00:07:41,800 Speaker 2: less potent. But he wasn't even using that stuff, and 135 00:07:41,920 --> 00:07:43,640 Speaker 2: we know and this is how it ties into the 136 00:07:43,720 --> 00:07:47,040 Speaker 2: episode from yesterday. Because of the Pure Food and Drug 137 00:07:47,120 --> 00:07:49,840 Speaker 2: Act of nineteen oh six. In that episode yesterday, we 138 00:07:49,960 --> 00:07:51,800 Speaker 2: talked about one of the things they did was a 139 00:07:51,840 --> 00:07:55,920 Speaker 2: big crackdown on patent medicine. So he was exposed and 140 00:07:56,040 --> 00:07:59,920 Speaker 2: they tested his snake oil in nineteen seventeen and had 141 00:08:00,600 --> 00:08:05,080 Speaker 2: beef fat, red pepper mineral oil, a little bit of 142 00:08:05,160 --> 00:08:07,520 Speaker 2: camp for and a little bit of turpentine. 143 00:08:08,520 --> 00:08:12,119 Speaker 1: Yeah, that's it. That was what was in Stanley's snak 144 00:08:12,200 --> 00:08:15,000 Speaker 1: oil linament, nonake oil. He got caught red handed, and 145 00:08:15,120 --> 00:08:18,040 Speaker 1: he knew he was caught red handed. This new FDA 146 00:08:18,640 --> 00:08:20,360 Speaker 1: or I don't even think it was the FDA yet 147 00:08:20,760 --> 00:08:25,640 Speaker 1: they busted him and so for decades of selling fake medicine, 148 00:08:26,480 --> 00:08:29,000 Speaker 1: he was fined twenty dollars, yeah, which is less than 149 00:08:29,040 --> 00:08:30,360 Speaker 1: five hundred dollars today. 150 00:08:30,440 --> 00:08:31,040 Speaker 2: And that was that. 151 00:08:32,120 --> 00:08:36,240 Speaker 1: But the thing is is he single handedly gave snake 152 00:08:36,280 --> 00:08:38,880 Speaker 1: oil a bad name, like it was him. He was 153 00:08:39,000 --> 00:08:42,480 Speaker 1: the conduit through which snake oil turned legitimate. To this 154 00:08:43,160 --> 00:08:46,600 Speaker 1: umbrella term, this catch all term for any kind of fake, 155 00:08:46,760 --> 00:08:50,480 Speaker 1: fraudulent medicine, or any time somebody's trying to sell you 156 00:08:50,600 --> 00:08:54,199 Speaker 1: something that's not real or just kind of hustling you, 157 00:08:54,679 --> 00:08:57,360 Speaker 1: that's snake oil. So by a snake oil salesman and 158 00:08:57,840 --> 00:09:01,120 Speaker 1: our friends at code switch to have found the first 159 00:09:02,440 --> 00:09:04,640 Speaker 1: use of snake oil is kind of a catch all 160 00:09:04,760 --> 00:09:07,360 Speaker 1: term to deride all patent medicines in that one. 161 00:09:07,480 --> 00:09:10,360 Speaker 2: Yeah, it was about ten years afterward. It was ten 162 00:09:10,400 --> 00:09:13,560 Speaker 2: years after Clark Stanley was busted. In nineteen twenty seven 163 00:09:13,600 --> 00:09:18,480 Speaker 2: a poem by Stephen Vincent Bennet called John Brown's Body, 164 00:09:19,240 --> 00:09:21,920 Speaker 2: which is I think fairly famous. Right, I've heard of that, 165 00:09:22,040 --> 00:09:22,319 Speaker 2: haven't I. 166 00:09:23,200 --> 00:09:25,400 Speaker 1: That's where we get that John Brown's body lies a 167 00:09:25,440 --> 00:09:28,160 Speaker 1: moldering in the grape. Oh okay, but that's like two 168 00:09:28,280 --> 00:09:32,800 Speaker 1: lines of this almost book length epic poem that it's from. Yeah. 169 00:09:32,880 --> 00:09:35,240 Speaker 2: One of the lines as well was Sellers of Snake Oil, 170 00:09:35,320 --> 00:09:39,040 Speaker 2: bomb and Lucky Rings. And then also in nineteen fifty six, 171 00:09:39,720 --> 00:09:42,880 Speaker 2: it was in the very famous play The Iceman Cometh 172 00:09:42,920 --> 00:09:44,200 Speaker 2: from Eugene O'Neill. 173 00:09:44,280 --> 00:09:48,600 Speaker 1: Right, Yeah, so one character says that someone else another 174 00:09:48,720 --> 00:09:51,640 Speaker 1: character is quote standing on a street corner in hell 175 00:09:51,760 --> 00:09:54,760 Speaker 1: right now, making suckers of the damned, telling them there's 176 00:09:54,800 --> 00:09:56,640 Speaker 1: nothing like snake oil for a bad burn. 177 00:09:56,880 --> 00:09:57,320 Speaker 2: Amazing. 178 00:09:57,600 --> 00:10:01,839 Speaker 1: That's classic Eugene O'Neil. So that's it. That's where snake 179 00:10:01,840 --> 00:10:04,240 Speaker 1: oil came from, or that's where snake oil's bad reputation 180 00:10:04,400 --> 00:10:06,839 Speaker 1: came from. And you can thank Clark Stanley for it 181 00:10:07,000 --> 00:10:09,319 Speaker 1: or blame them if you're a snake oil manufacturer. 182 00:10:09,559 --> 00:10:11,520 Speaker 2: Yeah, and I love this because I'm sure we'll talk 183 00:10:11,559 --> 00:10:14,240 Speaker 2: about snake oil again and then we can reference Clark Stanley. 184 00:10:14,520 --> 00:10:18,200 Speaker 1: Yeah, for sure, Chuck. And since I said for sure, 185 00:10:18,240 --> 00:10:20,480 Speaker 1: everybody and I don't think either of us have anything 186 00:10:20,520 --> 00:10:26,800 Speaker 1: more about snake oil. Short stuff is accurt. Stuff You 187 00:10:26,840 --> 00:10:30,080 Speaker 1: Should Know is a production of iHeartRadio. For more podcasts 188 00:10:30,160 --> 00:10:33,760 Speaker 1: my heart Radio, visit the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or 189 00:10:33,800 --> 00:10:35,520 Speaker 1: wherever you listen to your favorite shows