WEBVTT - Who Really Made the Real ‘Daffy’s Elixir’ and What Was Really In It? 0:00:02.240 --> 0:00:06.559 Welcome to Criminalia, a production of Shondaland Audio in partnership 0:00:06.600 --> 0:00:13.680 with iHeartRadio. 0:00:13.960 --> 0:00:17.600 Daffy's Elixir was one of the most popular patent medicines 0:00:17.600 --> 0:00:20.640 in Britain during the eighteenth century, and it was produced 0:00:20.640 --> 0:00:23.920 for nearly three hundred years, which is amazing considering these 0:00:23.960 --> 0:00:26.520 types of products were usually often just a flash in 0:00:26.520 --> 0:00:29.960 a pan. But what makes Daffies different than others we've 0:00:29.960 --> 0:00:34.040 talked about this season, other than perhaps its longevity, is 0:00:34.040 --> 0:00:38.760 that its ingredients list was not a secret initially maybe, 0:00:38.800 --> 0:00:40.960 but it didn't stay that way for very long, and 0:00:41.000 --> 0:00:45.599 the manufacturers plural seemed to be okay with that. And 0:00:45.680 --> 0:00:49.040 then there's the question of ownership. Who thought of it 0:00:49.080 --> 0:00:53.160 and whose recipe was the original? As the story goes, 0:00:53.280 --> 0:00:57.160 it was probably created by clergyman Thomas Daffy of red Myle, 0:00:57.280 --> 0:01:01.480 Leicestershire in sixteen forty seven. They named it Elixer Salutes 0:01:01.760 --> 0:01:05.759 or Elixir of Health, and things took off from there, 0:01:05.880 --> 0:01:09.240 not only with dozens of different formulas, but also published 0:01:09.280 --> 0:01:11.559 recipes to help you make some in your own home. 0:01:12.080 --> 0:01:15.840 That's unheard of. Welcome to Criminalia. I'm a Rage Marky. 0:01:16.319 --> 0:01:19.880 And I'm Holly Fried. It was a novel idea to 0:01:19.959 --> 0:01:24.760 publish ingredients and recipes for patent medicines in newspapers and pamphlets. 0:01:25.360 --> 0:01:28.320 Most products didn't even put that information on the label, 0:01:28.920 --> 0:01:32.200 but in the nineteenth century, recipes began to be widely 0:01:32.200 --> 0:01:36.640 distributed in places like household management books, and that included 0:01:36.800 --> 0:01:41.120 Elixer salutes. But these recipes did not always have an 0:01:41.160 --> 0:01:45.640 associated name or source. So who should claim themselves as 0:01:45.640 --> 0:01:49.880 the sole manufacturer of the genuine elixir of health? Well, 0:01:50.080 --> 0:01:53.400 that's complicated, and we're going to talk about why. During 0:01:53.440 --> 0:01:57.440 this time of patent medicine popularity, there were, of course rivals, 0:01:57.600 --> 0:02:01.800 there were counterfeitters, and each reclaimed to consumers that the 0:02:01.880 --> 0:02:06.960 other was of quote spurious imitation. Ownership of a recipe 0:02:06.960 --> 0:02:11.200 could be claimed by its inventor or by anyone any relative, 0:02:11.440 --> 0:02:14.680 an employee, or a business partner in the manufacturing company. 0:02:15.120 --> 0:02:18.840 Basically legit or not. Anyone who had access to the 0:02:18.919 --> 0:02:21.720 recipe could say that they owned it, and there wasn't 0:02:21.840 --> 0:02:24.800 actually much to be done to correct those falsehoods once 0:02:24.840 --> 0:02:29.200 they happened, which makes the historical record on Elixer salutis 0:02:29.720 --> 0:02:30.920 a bit of an adventure. 0:02:32.160 --> 0:02:36.040 Manufactured and sold for roughly three hundred years. The elixir 0:02:36.160 --> 0:02:40.480 became popularly known as Daffy's Elixir and was one of 0:02:40.480 --> 0:02:43.320 the longest surviving and one of the most successful of 0:02:43.400 --> 0:02:47.679 all patent medicines. So let's start at the beginning. When 0:02:47.720 --> 0:02:51.480 Thomas Daffy died in sixteen eighty, his recipe stayed in 0:02:51.560 --> 0:02:55.119 the Daffy family, but not for long. It was such 0:02:55.200 --> 0:02:58.880 a popular product that herbalists and chemists had begun making 0:02:58.919 --> 0:03:02.000 their own versions for them their apothecary shelves, even though 0:03:02.040 --> 0:03:06.200 their ingredients often bore little to no resemblance to the 0:03:06.240 --> 0:03:10.720 Thomas Daffy original. It's believed only three people knew the 0:03:10.760 --> 0:03:14.480 original recipe after Daffy's death, his daughter Catherine, and two 0:03:14.560 --> 0:03:18.400 other family members, Anthony and Daniel Daffy. Daniel was his son, 0:03:18.440 --> 0:03:22.720 and Anthony was very likely a nephew, probably not a son. 0:03:23.400 --> 0:03:25.560 Records dating back three hundred years can be a little 0:03:25.560 --> 0:03:31.560 bit fuzzy sometimes, Both, though, were apothecaries in Nottingham. 0:03:30.800 --> 0:03:33.760 Way back in the historical timeline when the product was 0:03:33.800 --> 0:03:38.000 first introduced. Daffy's Elixir was listed in the Oxford English 0:03:38.080 --> 0:03:42.720 Dictionary as a remedy for toothaches, in particular for teething babies, 0:03:43.040 --> 0:03:46.720 and its origin was listed as seventeenth century English clergyman 0:03:47.160 --> 0:03:50.920 Thomas Daffy, and maybe he intended it to be for 0:03:51.040 --> 0:03:54.680 toothaches or not. That's actually hard to know because its 0:03:54.800 --> 0:03:57.680 usage changes over time, as we're going to talk about. 0:03:58.280 --> 0:04:01.640 By sixteen eighty though, around the same time of Thomas's death, 0:04:02.080 --> 0:04:06.680 Thomas Daffy's name was replaced with Anthony Daffy in the OED. 0:04:07.880 --> 0:04:10.880 Close to the turn of the eighteenth century, Anthony moved 0:04:10.920 --> 0:04:15.600 to London and began to advertise Elixer Salutis as Daffy's 0:04:15.640 --> 0:04:19.599 Elixir Salutis. He began to market it beyond word of 0:04:19.640 --> 0:04:23.800 mouth by distributing pamphlets listing the patent medicine as a 0:04:23.920 --> 0:04:28.359 laxative rather than a remedy for toothaches. It was nicknamed 0:04:28.440 --> 0:04:33.800 quote the famous purging cordial. Anthony's advertising brought it out 0:04:33.800 --> 0:04:37.919 of the shadows and into the national and eventually international market, 0:04:38.200 --> 0:04:41.200 and people began using it for all sorts of things. 0:04:42.320 --> 0:04:46.400 When Anthony died, the secret recipe became an open secret. 0:04:46.600 --> 0:04:49.120 It wasn't very secret before his death, though, to the 0:04:49.200 --> 0:04:50.600 chagrin of the Daffi family. 0:04:50.720 --> 0:04:51.160 Quote. 0:04:51.320 --> 0:04:54.760 Despite all the efforts of Anthony Daffy and his family 0:04:54.800 --> 0:04:58.279 to keep it to themselves, it still got out. Before 0:04:58.360 --> 0:05:01.400 seventeen hundred, there are published records of more than one 0:05:01.520 --> 0:05:04.960 version of the Elixir, but then over the next two 0:05:05.080 --> 0:05:09.320 hundred years, many versions were published in dozens of household 0:05:09.360 --> 0:05:12.799 medicine books, pharmacopeias, and books of household management. 0:05:14.240 --> 0:05:18.200 After Anthony's death, it's believed that his widow, Eleanor, continued 0:05:18.240 --> 0:05:22.000 to market the product until their daughter, also named Catherine, 0:05:22.240 --> 0:05:27.240 took over the business in seventeen oh seven. Probably this 0:05:27.279 --> 0:05:29.760 is a turn in the elixir journey that is a 0:05:29.760 --> 0:05:32.839 little bit ill defined, but we do know that in 0:05:32.880 --> 0:05:36.960 the early seventeen hundreds, the Elixir began being advertised widely 0:05:37.400 --> 0:05:41.520 in not only local pamphlets, but also in emerging national 0:05:41.560 --> 0:05:43.080 newspapers and journals. 0:05:43.920 --> 0:05:48.000 Anthony and Eleanor's daughter Katherine is considered responsible for placing 0:05:48.000 --> 0:05:50.839 an ad, well sort of an ad you'll see what 0:05:50.880 --> 0:05:54.400 we mean in the Postboy in seventeen oh seven, or 0:05:55.080 --> 0:05:59.200 maybe very early seventeen oh eight, telling the origin story 0:05:59.279 --> 0:06:02.479 of the tonic, which will paraphrase, and it went a 0:06:02.520 --> 0:06:06.800 bit like this that during the inventor Thomas Daffy's lifetime. 0:06:06.960 --> 0:06:09.840 The elixir had been sold by his son Daniel in 0:06:09.920 --> 0:06:14.840 apothecary at Nottingham. The ad claimed his kin, Anthony Daffy, 0:06:15.000 --> 0:06:19.039 also knew the secret ingredients and preparation. It's also said 0:06:19.080 --> 0:06:23.160 that at the time Anthony's widow, Eleanor, disputed Thomas Daffy's 0:06:23.240 --> 0:06:27.400 daughter's right to name herself proprietus of the elixir, though 0:06:28.040 --> 0:06:30.520 we don't know why she felt that way, or why 0:06:30.560 --> 0:06:34.640 it would even be written in marketing materials, but there 0:06:34.680 --> 0:06:35.000 it is. 0:06:36.200 --> 0:06:39.479 The new and rapidly growing medium of newspapers offered a 0:06:39.520 --> 0:06:43.120 way to expand the reach of your advertising. Patent medicines, 0:06:43.200 --> 0:06:47.960 or otherwise beyond anything that was previously available, you could 0:06:48.000 --> 0:06:53.360 reach national and international consumers at least potentially. One advertisement, 0:06:53.400 --> 0:06:56.360 placed in an addition of the Manchester Mercury in seventeen 0:06:56.440 --> 0:07:00.920 fifty seven, begins describing the product as a cure quote 0:07:01.080 --> 0:07:04.400 the original elixir so much approved of in both town 0:07:04.440 --> 0:07:07.839 and country, which has performed such number of great cures 0:07:07.880 --> 0:07:13.200 when all other medicines have failed, recommended by several eminent physicians. 0:07:14.520 --> 0:07:16.200 We're going to take a break for a word from 0:07:16.200 --> 0:07:19.440 our sponsors. When we're back. We'll talk about how many 0:07:19.520 --> 0:07:24.000 manufacturers really produced Daffy's Elixir and how many claimed they 0:07:24.000 --> 0:07:24.360 were the. 0:07:24.360 --> 0:07:41.960 Original Welcome back to Criminalia. Let's talk Diceyan Company, and 0:07:42.000 --> 0:07:45.280 how while they were definitely not the original makers of 0:07:45.320 --> 0:07:48.440 the elixir, they became its number one source. 0:07:49.880 --> 0:07:52.960 By the seventeen twenties, there were at least half a 0:07:53.000 --> 0:07:57.840 dozen different Daffi's Elixir manufacturers competing to be the number 0:07:57.920 --> 0:08:05.040 one seller, names like Ray Rock, Barclay, Bradshaw, Jackson, Swinton, Smith, Staples. 0:08:05.080 --> 0:08:08.720 Throughout the eighteenth and early nineteenth centuries, all of these 0:08:08.800 --> 0:08:11.880 names came and went as producers of the elixir, but 0:08:12.200 --> 0:08:16.160 one company dominated the others, William and klud Dicey and 0:08:16.240 --> 0:08:20.240 Company of Bow Churchyard in London. By seventeen seventy five 0:08:21.000 --> 0:08:24.360 ish they claimed they had the soul rights of manufacture 0:08:24.440 --> 0:08:28.040 of what was now being called true Daffy's Elixir, though 0:08:28.320 --> 0:08:32.960 there's no official record of anyone having soul rights. There 0:08:33.000 --> 0:08:36.640 is though record that the Daffy family knew there were 0:08:36.679 --> 0:08:40.600 fake versions out there. An advertisement as early as seventeen 0:08:40.679 --> 0:08:44.839 hundred featured the warning quote reader, beware of counterfeiters, for 0:08:45.040 --> 0:08:47.960 they swarm. 0:08:47.360 --> 0:08:52.000 Let's talk about this dominating producer, Dicey in Company, from 0:08:52.040 --> 0:08:55.480 at least the early nineteenth century until the mid twentieth century, 0:08:55.480 --> 0:08:59.160 when it disappears from the market. Most of Daffy's elixir 0:08:59.280 --> 0:09:03.360 sold is thought to have been manufactured by Dices. The 0:09:03.440 --> 0:09:06.760 company saturated the market so well that what had always 0:09:06.800 --> 0:09:13.040 been nicknamed Daffi's was now popularly known as Dicey's, Daffy's, Dicey's, Daffy's. 0:09:13.200 --> 0:09:16.320 The Daffies that became Diceys seems to have first appeared 0:09:16.360 --> 0:09:19.959 during the seventeen twenties, so that's about twenty to thirty 0:09:20.040 --> 0:09:25.439 years after all of those allegedly secret recipes were first produced. DICE's, 0:09:25.480 --> 0:09:28.760 as we mentioned, was just one of many producing the product, 0:09:29.320 --> 0:09:33.160 and people were okay with this. It was generally accepted 0:09:33.160 --> 0:09:35.719 that there was more than one version of their go 0:09:35.800 --> 0:09:39.320 to patent medicine. For an analogy, think of it the 0:09:39.360 --> 0:09:42.040 way we have different brands of say aspirin on the 0:09:42.080 --> 0:09:43.160 market today. 0:09:44.520 --> 0:09:47.680 But by the turn of the nineteenth century, two names 0:09:47.880 --> 0:09:50.520 show up repeatedly when it comes to the elixir and 0:09:50.559 --> 0:09:56.240 its preparation, Dicey Yes and also a brand named Swinton. 0:09:57.240 --> 0:10:01.080 Consumers may not have noticed a difference, but there actually 0:10:01.160 --> 0:10:04.640 was one. Dicey's version was based in senna leaves, while 0:10:04.800 --> 0:10:08.120 Swinton's elixir base was jolip root, and we'll talk about 0:10:08.120 --> 0:10:12.240 how both are part of an early ingredients list. But 0:10:12.400 --> 0:10:16.360 Swinton's Daffy's elixir had one thing in its favor. It 0:10:16.440 --> 0:10:19.760 had a direct link to the Daffy family. And here's how. 0:10:20.440 --> 0:10:24.920 A man named Peter Swinton married Mary Acton around seventeen 0:10:25.000 --> 0:10:29.320 sixty three, and Mary was the niece of Anthony Daffy. 0:10:29.360 --> 0:10:32.560 This Anthony Daffy was the grandson of the Anthony who 0:10:32.600 --> 0:10:37.040 was Thomas Daffy's nephew. It's somewhat confusing because we have 0:10:37.160 --> 0:10:39.600 a lot of similar names, but hang in there with us. 0:10:39.600 --> 0:10:43.439 We'll try to figure it all out. According to records, 0:10:43.679 --> 0:10:46.400 Mary seems to have been the maker of the elixir 0:10:46.400 --> 0:10:49.400 for the Swinton brand until her death in seventeen eighty, 0:10:49.520 --> 0:10:54.240 after which Peter claimed proprietorship of the product. Peter died 0:10:54.280 --> 0:10:56.439 a few years after his wife and left the rights 0:10:56.480 --> 0:10:59.960 to the elixir to his son, who was another Anthony, 0:11:00.400 --> 0:11:05.160 Anthony Daffy Swinton. This Anthony continued to produce and sell 0:11:05.280 --> 0:11:10.800 Swinton's original Daffy's Elixir until roughly eighteen fourteen, and after 0:11:10.840 --> 0:11:13.960 which writes to produce the product appeared to have gone 0:11:13.960 --> 0:11:15.520 to Smith and Company. 0:11:16.880 --> 0:11:21.319 Manufacturing later turned over to Messrs W. Sutton in Company 0:11:21.360 --> 0:11:24.719 of Enfield, Middlesex, who continued to market it throughout the 0:11:24.800 --> 0:11:28.880 later nineteenth century. It remained in production in a similar 0:11:28.920 --> 0:11:31.600 form as in previous years, and we'll get into how 0:11:31.640 --> 0:11:35.400 its ingredients and preparations varied by manufacturer in just a bit. 0:11:36.200 --> 0:11:39.360 Eventually it made its way to the American market, most 0:11:39.480 --> 0:11:44.199 likely through Diceian Company. Prior to the American Revolutionary War, 0:11:44.400 --> 0:11:48.200 the elixir was exported from Britain to colonial America, but 0:11:48.320 --> 0:11:52.160 after eighteen hundred it was manufactured. It appears in Pennsylvania 0:11:52.320 --> 0:11:57.080 by the Diattville Glassworks. Thomas W. Diot, owner of said 0:11:57.120 --> 0:12:00.320 glass works in the eighteen thirties, was well known for 0:12:00.440 --> 0:12:03.920 tempering the bottles for patent medicines that he sold around 0:12:03.920 --> 0:12:04.520 the country. 0:12:05.600 --> 0:12:07.440 We are going to take a break for a word 0:12:07.480 --> 0:12:10.600 from our sponsors now, and when we return, we'll talk 0:12:10.640 --> 0:12:14.360 about the ingredients used to make this elixir and how 0:12:14.400 --> 0:12:17.640 some differed from what was considered the original. 0:12:29.200 --> 0:12:33.760 Welcome back to Criminalia. Let's talk about ingredients like senna 0:12:33.800 --> 0:12:37.120 and jalap and how manufacturers of the elixir over the 0:12:37.200 --> 0:12:39.679 years changed its health claims. 0:12:40.559 --> 0:12:43.760 As we mentioned earlier in the episode, the top two 0:12:43.840 --> 0:12:48.240 producers of this elixir were the Dicey and the Swinton brands. 0:12:49.160 --> 0:12:53.560 Most published recipes that actually had attribution were associated with 0:12:53.600 --> 0:12:57.800 these two specific manufacturer names as well, But one common 0:12:57.880 --> 0:13:01.679 observation of the recipes from the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries 0:13:02.280 --> 0:13:05.680 was that Daffy's Elixir was very similar to a product 0:13:05.760 --> 0:13:09.000 called tincture of Senna, which was sold by apothecaries and 0:13:09.080 --> 0:13:13.360 druggists during that time. Sena tincture was an herbal remedy 0:13:13.559 --> 0:13:18.360 used to relieve constipation and contained generally the leaves of 0:13:18.400 --> 0:13:23.000 Senna alexandrina in an alcohol base. Its use went way 0:13:23.040 --> 0:13:25.680 back before the time of a patent medicine's craze, but 0:13:25.760 --> 0:13:28.640 it was available around the time many of these wannabe 0:13:28.720 --> 0:13:33.199 Daffy's Elixir manufacturers were busy being wannabes. They could have 0:13:33.280 --> 0:13:36.559 easily read about it, for instance, in Nicholas Culpeper's English 0:13:36.600 --> 0:13:40.680 Physician and Complete Herbal which was written in seventeen eighty nine. 0:13:42.080 --> 0:13:45.960 An early recipe for what was called true Daffy, dating 0:13:45.960 --> 0:13:50.240 to seventeen hundred lists the following ingredients. This was only 0:13:50.320 --> 0:13:55.440 twenty years, mind you, after Thomas Daffy died. Quote aniseed, brandy, 0:13:55.679 --> 0:14:05.440 coconeel ella, campaign, fennel seed, jalla, manna, parsley seed, raisin, rhubarb, saffron, senna, 0:14:05.480 --> 0:14:10.080 and Spanish liquorice. Modern analysis suggests, though they were mostly 0:14:10.080 --> 0:14:13.680 made from alcohol, many forms of the elixir could function 0:14:13.880 --> 0:14:19.160 as a laxative of note. Other older recipes included guwackened 0:14:19.200 --> 0:14:23.440 wood chips, caraway seeds, and on occasion, coriander seeds. 0:14:24.680 --> 0:14:31.760 So laxative that seems plausible toothaches debatable. Let's break down 0:14:31.760 --> 0:14:36.440 these ingredients a bit. Using an alcoholic distillation as an 0:14:36.600 --> 0:14:40.160 ingredient would have helped to preserve the elixir. Aniseed is 0:14:40.200 --> 0:14:43.720 a folk remedy often used for indigestion, so that's on 0:14:43.800 --> 0:14:47.480 brand for a purgative. Jollip, mana, and senna all have 0:14:47.600 --> 0:14:53.400 laxative qualities. Raisins would have added sweetness, but also fiber. Rhubarb, 0:14:53.720 --> 0:14:56.480 like raisins, would also have been a good source of fiber. 0:14:56.800 --> 0:15:00.240 Those other ingredients, some of them may or may not 0:15:00.440 --> 0:15:05.680 have anti inflammatory benefits. Coconeil does not have laxative properties, 0:15:05.720 --> 0:15:08.120 but it's long been used to give things a really 0:15:08.240 --> 0:15:12.760 deep red color. Add those alternative ingredients we mentioned too, 0:15:13.080 --> 0:15:18.760 Guiacum wood chips were historically used to treat syphilis, not constipation, 0:15:19.560 --> 0:15:23.880 and caraway and coriander may have helped with digestive conditions 0:15:24.040 --> 0:15:24.920 like heartburn. 0:15:26.400 --> 0:15:29.840 In later years, the ingredients list differed depending on which 0:15:29.920 --> 0:15:34.560 manufacturer you got your tonic from, but most often contained 0:15:34.560 --> 0:15:37.560 a similar list to that one from seventeen hundred. It 0:15:37.600 --> 0:15:43.120 was really amazingly consistent. The whole thing doesn't sound very tasty. Well. 0:15:43.160 --> 0:15:46.600 It was said to be an acquired taste. Any alcohol 0:15:46.720 --> 0:15:49.160 could be used, but the alcohols of choice for a 0:15:49.280 --> 0:15:53.880 true elixir salutis were gin or brandy. In fact, in 0:15:53.960 --> 0:15:57.320 the eighteen hundreds, when the product was at peak popularity, 0:15:57.840 --> 0:16:00.560 gin was so popular as an ingredient that the name 0:16:00.640 --> 0:16:03.960 Daffies became British slang for Jim. 0:16:04.160 --> 0:16:09.160 Antique. Bottle Collector's ABC magazine published in twenty nineteen that 0:16:09.240 --> 0:16:13.880 they had discovered, at least so far nearly thirty recipes 0:16:13.920 --> 0:16:18.960 for Daffy's elixir across the seventeenth, eighteenth, and nineteenth centuries, 0:16:19.040 --> 0:16:24.360 including one that was handwritten, and unlike most other proprietary medicines, 0:16:24.400 --> 0:16:28.200 you could if you wanted to just make them at home. 0:16:28.520 --> 0:16:32.840 There were multiple recipes available to make small batches. The 0:16:32.960 --> 0:16:37.120 Lady's Friend and Family Physical Library, published in seventeen eighty eight, 0:16:37.200 --> 0:16:40.480 notes that quote this is an agreeable purge if there 0:16:40.560 --> 0:16:42.920 is such a thing, and nothing more can be useful 0:16:42.920 --> 0:16:46.400 than to keep it ready made for family use. Modern 0:16:46.480 --> 0:16:50.440 Domestic Cookery and Useful Receipt Book from eighteen twenty nine 0:16:50.640 --> 0:16:55.040 printed another version from William Augustus Henderson called quote the 0:16:55.160 --> 0:16:59.360 true Daffy's elixir, and this was considered by many to 0:16:59.400 --> 0:17:02.720 be the true do it yourself recipe. 0:17:03.840 --> 0:17:07.960 So what's in that homebrew? Henderson's was as follows, quote 0:17:08.119 --> 0:17:12.280 take five ounces of aniseeds, three ounces of fennel seeds, 0:17:12.840 --> 0:17:17.200 four ounces of parsley seeds, six ounces of Spanish liquorice, 0:17:17.520 --> 0:17:21.760 five ounces of senna, one ounce of rhubarb, three ounces 0:17:21.800 --> 0:17:26.000 of ella campaign root, seven ounces of kiln, twenty one 0:17:26.080 --> 0:17:31.000 DRAMs of saffron, six ounces of manna, two pounds of raisins, 0:17:31.160 --> 0:17:33.560 a quarter of an ounce of cocaine, eel and two 0:17:33.600 --> 0:17:37.439 gallons of brandy stone the raisins, slice the mots and 0:17:37.520 --> 0:17:41.399 bruise the jallab, then mix the hole together, and after 0:17:41.560 --> 0:17:45.600 letting them stand close covered for fifteen days, strain out 0:17:45.640 --> 0:17:49.400 the elixir. If you look closely at it, that ingredient 0:17:49.440 --> 0:17:53.639 list isn't too different from what manufacturers were producing, and 0:17:53.800 --> 0:17:56.920 other make it yourself versions that we found contained spirit 0:17:57.000 --> 0:18:02.080 of malt, sac or white wine, and liquorice shred. When 0:18:02.080 --> 0:18:04.520 it came to method, of course, it varied a bit 0:18:04.560 --> 0:18:07.240 among the home recipes as well. 0:18:07.400 --> 0:18:10.960 Analysis of those recipes dating from as early as the 0:18:11.040 --> 0:18:16.000 sixteen eighties, which is shortly after Thomas Daffy's death, through 0:18:16.440 --> 0:18:20.480 eighteen fifty shows there are some ingredients that often overlap, 0:18:20.760 --> 0:18:25.080 but there are three primary ingredients in common. And no, 0:18:25.280 --> 0:18:27.840 it's not the fennel, the raisins and the rhubarb. It's 0:18:27.880 --> 0:18:32.520 the senna, the jallab and the copious amounts of alcohol. 0:18:33.440 --> 0:18:37.600 All of the Daffy's Elixir recipes have a high alcohol content, 0:18:37.800 --> 0:18:41.320 ranging from around twenty five percent to more than fifty 0:18:41.320 --> 0:18:45.720 percent by volume. Among the twenty seven recipes uncovered by 0:18:45.800 --> 0:18:50.760 Antique Bottle Collector, twenty six are different versions, although some 0:18:50.800 --> 0:18:54.400 of those recipes have identical ingredient lists with just differing 0:18:54.680 --> 0:18:59.919 proportions and maybe slightly differing method and also sure transcre 0:19:00.040 --> 0:19:02.959 ryption errors and other mistakes could have been made when 0:19:03.040 --> 0:19:07.359 recipes were transferred between people and over generations. That's certainly 0:19:07.440 --> 0:19:10.240 a really common problem with documents in general, as they're 0:19:10.280 --> 0:19:11.440 shared and they evolve. 0:19:12.840 --> 0:19:16.159 We can't talk about a patent medicine without talking about 0:19:16.240 --> 0:19:20.160 its dubious medical claims. And as there were many variations 0:19:20.160 --> 0:19:24.960 of Daffy's elixir, there were also many claims it was 0:19:25.000 --> 0:19:29.360 originally designed for toothaches, as we said, or maybe stomach ailments, 0:19:29.359 --> 0:19:32.840 depending on what you read, but it doesn't matter. Daffy's 0:19:33.000 --> 0:19:36.280 wasn't a single source remedy for long. By the early 0:19:36.359 --> 0:19:39.840 nineteenth century, it was advertised as an elixir intended to 0:19:39.960 --> 0:19:43.400 help the following ailments. And you should brace yourself because 0:19:43.400 --> 0:19:46.320 this is going to take a minute. Quote the stone 0:19:46.480 --> 0:19:51.040 in babes and children convulsion fits, consumption and bad digestives, 0:19:51.520 --> 0:19:55.520 agus piles, surfeits, fits of the mother, and vapors from 0:19:55.520 --> 0:20:00.439 the spleen, green sickness, children's distempers, whether the worms, rickets, 0:20:00.480 --> 0:20:04.720 stones convulsions, gripes, king's evil, joint evil, or any other 0:20:04.800 --> 0:20:10.160 disorder proceeding from wind or crudities, doubt and rheumatism, stone 0:20:10.280 --> 0:20:13.920 or gravel in the kidneys, colic and griping of the bowels. 0:20:14.520 --> 0:20:18.240 The this stick, both as cure and preventative, provided always 0:20:18.520 --> 0:20:21.440 that the patient be moderate in drinking, have a care 0:20:21.520 --> 0:20:25.119 to prevent taking cold, and keep to good diet. Dropsy 0:20:25.280 --> 0:20:29.200 and scurvy. The frequent use of the medicine to treat colic, 0:20:29.280 --> 0:20:33.760 gripes or fret in horses was deplored in early veterinary manuals. 0:20:34.040 --> 0:20:36.919 Oh yeah, that's right. There were at least two recipes 0:20:36.960 --> 0:20:39.560 found that were intended for veterinary use. 0:20:40.440 --> 0:20:44.639 That is a long list, and as that long list shows, 0:20:44.920 --> 0:20:49.639 in the end, it became, characteristically as most other quack medicines, 0:20:50.080 --> 0:20:53.760 a product promoted as a cure all and a general 0:20:53.800 --> 0:20:57.359 pick me up. Popular as it was while it was 0:20:57.400 --> 0:21:02.240 claimed it could cure everything. This elixir probably couldn't cure anything. 0:21:02.840 --> 0:21:05.119 But what it could do was get you drunk. 0:21:06.080 --> 0:21:07.920 And on that note, would you like a little sip 0:21:07.960 --> 0:21:09.439 of curious what ails you? Well? 0:21:09.520 --> 0:21:12.320 Yes I would. 0:21:16.240 --> 0:21:19.359 Okay, this one gave me such a delicious inspiration and 0:21:19.440 --> 0:21:21.680 I'm very glad and happy to report that it turned 0:21:21.720 --> 0:21:26.959 out really well. So once we mentioned there's an ingredient, 0:21:27.000 --> 0:21:29.520 we mentioned that's not any of the primaries that I 0:21:29.760 --> 0:21:33.000 literally did the meerkat set up and went, let's put 0:21:33.000 --> 0:21:36.159 that in a drink, and that is saffron. 0:21:35.920 --> 0:21:37.520 Oh, one of the alternatives. 0:21:37.600 --> 0:21:40.919 Yeah, yes, And once that came up, I knew exactly 0:21:40.960 --> 0:21:44.159 what I wanted to do. And because gin was so 0:21:44.320 --> 0:21:47.000 prominent in it and it was very alcohol forward, I 0:21:47.080 --> 0:21:49.280 was like, we need to do a spirit forward drink 0:21:49.600 --> 0:21:52.480 that features gin and saffron, And I thought, ooh, we 0:21:52.520 --> 0:21:55.320 could mess with a gimlet and make something new. First 0:21:55.320 --> 0:21:57.480 of all, you got to do a little infusion before 0:21:57.480 --> 0:21:59.480 you're ready to make your drink. This is a prep 0:21:59.520 --> 0:22:02.760 the day before situation. As an aside, I thought when 0:22:02.760 --> 0:22:06.880 I was a kid that saffron was like for millionaires, 0:22:06.960 --> 0:22:10.919 because every time my mom would make saffron bread, she 0:22:10.960 --> 0:22:14.000 would make sure we knew how expensive that saffron had 0:22:14.000 --> 0:22:15.600 been and we better appreciate it. 0:22:15.680 --> 0:22:16.840 I felt the same way. 0:22:18.240 --> 0:22:22.240 It is pricey compared to some other ingredients or herbs 0:22:22.359 --> 0:22:24.720 or any kind of mix in you might use. But 0:22:25.440 --> 0:22:27.520 it's also a nice case where a little goes quite 0:22:27.560 --> 0:22:29.919 a long way. So for this, you need a pinch 0:22:29.920 --> 0:22:32.200 of saffron, like I would say, less than a third 0:22:32.240 --> 0:22:35.199 of a teaspoon. I get mine, and it comes in 0:22:35.320 --> 0:22:38.800 like pre set little mini envelopes, and so I just 0:22:38.880 --> 0:22:41.199 use it as in the envelope. It averages out to 0:22:41.240 --> 0:22:43.760 like maybe a third of a teaspoon. Maybe you're being 0:22:43.880 --> 0:22:47.000 very generous. You're gonna put that into an airtight container 0:22:47.400 --> 0:22:50.199 with six ounces of gin, so you're gonna make a 0:22:50.200 --> 0:22:53.359 lot more gin than you actually need. But if you, 0:22:53.720 --> 0:22:56.879 as we've said before, if you shrink your amounts a 0:22:56.920 --> 0:22:59.639 lot smaller, you start to mess with the proportions and 0:22:59.680 --> 0:23:01.520 it doesn't quite work as well. So put those in 0:23:01.560 --> 0:23:03.960 your eartight container. Give it a good shake. You'll notice 0:23:04.040 --> 0:23:06.960 right away it starts to turn yellow. Leave it overnight 0:23:07.600 --> 0:23:09.840 if you don't want to wait overnight six to eight hours. 0:23:09.880 --> 0:23:12.720 You can shake it more if you want optional, but 0:23:12.760 --> 0:23:15.240 it's fun to do. Then when you're done, you're still 0:23:15.240 --> 0:23:17.919 gonna have those kind of little spindly threadlike pieces of 0:23:17.960 --> 0:23:21.480 saffron that you'll strain out, and the gin will be 0:23:21.520 --> 0:23:24.879 a beautiful golden yellow color. And it is time to 0:23:24.960 --> 0:23:27.680 get ready to make your drink. So into your shaking tin, 0:23:28.359 --> 0:23:31.560 you're gonna put two ounces of this saffron infused gin, 0:23:32.480 --> 0:23:36.000 three quarters of an ounce of lime juice, three quarters 0:23:36.000 --> 0:23:38.439 of an ounce of simple or vanilla syrup, and then 0:23:38.480 --> 0:23:41.119 we're gonna add another ingredient that came up, which is 0:23:41.600 --> 0:23:45.680 a half ounce of cognac. Shakey, shaky, shake with ice. 0:23:46.440 --> 0:23:50.040 Strain it into a pre chilled cocktail glass. You will 0:23:50.080 --> 0:23:53.920 not have ice in that glass. And then note how 0:23:53.960 --> 0:23:58.440 absolutely beautiful it turns out and how absolutely beautiful it tastes. 0:23:59.040 --> 0:24:02.280 I am obsessed with drink now. I gotta have saffron 0:24:02.280 --> 0:24:05.760 all the time. I'm calling this one open secret since 0:24:06.160 --> 0:24:10.359 Daffy's recipe was gonna open secret. I love this. I 0:24:10.880 --> 0:24:13.000 love a spirit forward drink once in a while, and 0:24:13.040 --> 0:24:16.639 this one was like exceptional. And what's really cool is 0:24:16.640 --> 0:24:18.879 that there's a ton of gin in it, which a 0:24:18.920 --> 0:24:22.000 lot of people don't like. And I really think people 0:24:22.000 --> 0:24:24.560 that don't like gin might like this drink. So I 0:24:24.680 --> 0:24:29.120 tested it on people that don't like gin and they 0:24:29.320 --> 0:24:29.680 liked it. 0:24:29.800 --> 0:24:30.679 That's in its favor. 0:24:31.119 --> 0:24:34.520 The mocktail is you're gonna use the same proportions for everything, 0:24:35.040 --> 0:24:38.400 But instead of that two ounces of gin, you're gonna 0:24:38.480 --> 0:24:42.160 use flat tonic to do your saffron and fusion. Make 0:24:42.200 --> 0:24:44.480 sure it is very flat before you seal your thing 0:24:44.520 --> 0:24:47.120 and shake it because you don't want any surprise explosions. 0:24:47.119 --> 0:24:51.080 It's never fun. And then in lieu of kognac, you'll 0:24:51.119 --> 0:24:52.840 only use half an ounce. But again this is a 0:24:52.840 --> 0:24:55.760 proportion game. You're gonna use four ounces of white grape 0:24:55.840 --> 0:24:58.920 juice and you're gonna soak it with a tea bag 0:24:58.960 --> 0:25:01.600 of black tea. If you want to heat up your 0:25:01.600 --> 0:25:04.200 white grape juice, that is totally fine. You really only 0:25:04.240 --> 0:25:06.600 need to steep it for like ten minutes. You can 0:25:06.640 --> 0:25:09.040 also cold steep it and give it more like forty 0:25:09.040 --> 0:25:11.439 five minutes or an hour. That also works fine. But 0:25:11.520 --> 0:25:13.840 you basically just want to give that white grape juice 0:25:13.880 --> 0:25:16.400 a fuller body and a bigger flavor than it has 0:25:16.440 --> 0:25:19.040 on its own, because that is going to help balance 0:25:19.040 --> 0:25:21.479 out all those other ingredients. And that is you make 0:25:21.520 --> 0:25:23.919 it exactly the same. So it's a two ounces of 0:25:23.960 --> 0:25:27.520 your saffron infused fluid, whether that be gin or flattonic, 0:25:27.800 --> 0:25:29.879 three quarters of an ounce of lime juice, three quarters 0:25:29.880 --> 0:25:32.359