WEBVTT - Spoiler! Dr. Williams Pink Pills for Pale People … May Have Worked 0:00:02.240 --> 0:00:06.559 Welcome to Criminalia, a production of Shondaland Audio in partnership 0:00:06.600 --> 0:00:07.520 with iHeartRadio. 0:00:14.120 --> 0:00:17.800 Doctor Williams Pink Pills for Pale People were marketed as 0:00:17.800 --> 0:00:21.159 a remedy for lots of things, as we'll see. But 0:00:21.560 --> 0:00:24.720 one of those things was how it promised to cure anemia, 0:00:25.320 --> 0:00:30.880 specifically the symptoms of iron deficiency anemia and chlorosis. Chlorosis 0:00:31.000 --> 0:00:33.760 is actually a type of iron deficiency anemia, and its 0:00:33.800 --> 0:00:38.159 hallmark is a greenish tint to your skin. Anemia was 0:00:38.240 --> 0:00:41.919 commonly diagnosed in adolescent girls and women in the nineteenth century, 0:00:42.280 --> 0:00:48.240 and common symptoms include pale skin, weakness, fatigue, dizziness, heart palpitations, 0:00:48.280 --> 0:00:52.440 and sort of a general malaise. The pink in the name, 0:00:52.520 --> 0:00:55.320 by the way, that was a nod to the rosy 0:00:55.360 --> 0:00:58.760 complexion of all the cured patients who'd use the product. 0:00:59.200 --> 0:01:02.360 And here's the thing, ballot, these pink pills, they may 0:01:02.400 --> 0:01:07.560 have actually worked, maybe a little bit. Welcome to Criminalia. 0:01:07.640 --> 0:01:12.360 I'm Maria Tremarky and I'm Holly Frye. Doctor Williams. Pink 0:01:12.440 --> 0:01:15.479 pills for Pale People were advertised as a cure all 0:01:16.200 --> 0:01:20.080 here's what they actually were coated in a pink colored 0:01:20.160 --> 0:01:23.000 jacket of sugar, and analysis of the pills conducted in 0:01:23.080 --> 0:01:26.760 nineteen oh nine for the British Medical Association revealed that 0:01:26.800 --> 0:01:30.080 the pills were a combination of an iron compound and 0:01:30.160 --> 0:01:35.280 magnesium sulfate and some sugar and a pinch of powdered licorice. 0:01:35.959 --> 0:01:39.200 You might know magnesium sulfate as epsom salt. It's a 0:01:39.280 --> 0:01:43.399 chemical compound made up of magnesium, sulfur and oxygen, and 0:01:43.440 --> 0:01:47.319 today it's used for potential health benefits like relieving muscle pain. 0:01:48.120 --> 0:01:52.280 The iron component is the star here. We've seen the 0:01:52.320 --> 0:01:56.680 included iron listed in different forms on different pink pill labels, 0:01:56.720 --> 0:01:59.960 in related pamphlets, and even in the results of government 0:02:00.120 --> 0:02:06.320 chemical analysis. Iron oxide, citrated iron chloride, sulfate of iron, 0:02:06.400 --> 0:02:10.760 and ferrous fumerate are all the potential forms. These forms 0:02:10.800 --> 0:02:14.639 of iron are, by the way, everywhere. You'll find them 0:02:14.720 --> 0:02:19.840 used as a colorant in cosmetics, food, personal care products, ink, paint, 0:02:19.880 --> 0:02:25.440 and plastics, even sometimes concrete. Some sunscreens contain it for 0:02:25.520 --> 0:02:29.120 its photoprotective properties, and you will also find it in 0:02:29.160 --> 0:02:36.799 the pharmaceutical industry, including as treatment for iron deficiency anemia. Basically, 0:02:37.240 --> 0:02:41.400 the pills were an iron supplement, which theoretically could have 0:02:41.520 --> 0:02:45.560 benefited people with iron deficiency anemia. Though the iron content 0:02:45.560 --> 0:02:50.480 we're talking about here was notably pretty low. Because approximately 0:02:50.520 --> 0:02:53.160 one third of the iron in the pills had oxidized 0:02:53.160 --> 0:02:56.520 in the samples that chemists used during the nineteen oh 0:02:56.639 --> 0:03:00.400 nine analysis, they concluded that the pills had been quote 0:03:00.680 --> 0:03:05.799 very carelessly prepared. The formula went through several changes over 0:03:05.800 --> 0:03:08.800 the years, and one late in the game version included 0:03:08.880 --> 0:03:12.680 ALO for its laxative properties. Like the health benefits of 0:03:12.680 --> 0:03:17.880 an iron supplement for someone with anemia, This isn't bunk information. Today, 0:03:17.960 --> 0:03:20.200 alo is used as a stimulant laxative. 0:03:21.840 --> 0:03:25.080 When we talk about patent medicines, it's easy to lump 0:03:25.120 --> 0:03:28.840 them all together under an umbrella of substances that contained 0:03:29.000 --> 0:03:34.240 dangerous ingredients. There were mostly two types of ingredients lists 0:03:34.280 --> 0:03:38.680 for these unregulated drugs in their heyday. Some were simply 0:03:38.760 --> 0:03:42.360 a combination of flavoring, coloring, and aromatics, and while they 0:03:42.400 --> 0:03:47.480 didn't work, they weren't harmful. But others contained dangerous opiates 0:03:47.560 --> 0:03:51.360 alcohol or strychnine, for instance, and those could be lethal 0:03:51.440 --> 0:03:54.640 if the dosage was too high. The so called remedy 0:03:54.840 --> 0:03:58.160 was often worse than the disease in those cases. But 0:03:58.200 --> 0:04:01.120 those products that didn't injure or kill you, like the 0:04:01.160 --> 0:04:04.600 Pink pills, were problematic in a different way, and that's 0:04:04.640 --> 0:04:09.400 how they were advertised. Often patent medicine manufacturers did not 0:04:09.560 --> 0:04:12.920 follow through on their health promises, and that's ultimately it. 0:04:13.320 --> 0:04:15.560 That is what got a lot of people in trouble, 0:04:15.880 --> 0:04:18.680 those big promises with no delivery. 0:04:20.960 --> 0:04:24.719 Originally produced and patented in eighteen sixty six by doctor 0:04:24.760 --> 0:04:28.880 William Frederick Jackson, who was a real physician in Ontario, Canada, 0:04:29.480 --> 0:04:32.200 the Pink pills were promoted and marketed as a cure 0:04:32.240 --> 0:04:37.880 for digestive problems, malaria, wound healing, and general poor mental health. 0:04:38.880 --> 0:04:42.080 The remedy picked up more healing promises over the years 0:04:42.160 --> 0:04:44.920 and was advertised in the Ventura Free Press in eighteen 0:04:45.000 --> 0:04:48.919 ninety six as a tonic that would also cure quote 0:04:49.040 --> 0:04:53.200 the blood and nerves to treat anemia, lack of energy, depression, 0:04:53.279 --> 0:04:57.120 and poor appetite. By the end of the decade, advertisements 0:04:57.120 --> 0:04:59.239 for the pills began to claim they had a lot 0:04:59.320 --> 0:05:02.479 more benefit. They were claimed to be a restorative for 0:05:02.520 --> 0:05:08.920 partial paralysis, sciatica, neuralgia, rheumatism, tension, headaches, influenza, heart palpitations, 0:05:09.360 --> 0:05:13.320 pale and sallow complexions, all forms of weakness, either in 0:05:13.360 --> 0:05:17.160 male or female, and all diseases resulting from the quote 0:05:17.400 --> 0:05:21.560 pitiated humors in the blood. And that transformation of the 0:05:21.600 --> 0:05:24.360 Pink Pills into a cu ale is due to a 0:05:24.400 --> 0:05:26.320 man named George Fulford. 0:05:28.200 --> 0:05:32.719 George Taylor Fulford of Brockville, Ontario, Canada bought the patent 0:05:32.800 --> 0:05:36.119 for the pills in eighteen ninety and turned them into 0:05:36.160 --> 0:05:41.040 an international brand and a sensation. Fulford had attended business 0:05:41.080 --> 0:05:44.640 school before apprenticing at his brother William's drug store. He 0:05:44.720 --> 0:05:47.279 took over that business when he was twenty two years old. 0:05:48.000 --> 0:05:50.400 Five years later, he was elected to the first of 0:05:50.440 --> 0:05:53.880 what would be twelve terms as an Alderman. He didn't 0:05:54.080 --> 0:05:56.440 enter the patent medicine trade until he was in his 0:05:56.520 --> 0:06:00.840 mid thirties, and he certainly made an entrance. The international 0:06:00.880 --> 0:06:03.560 success of the Pink Pills is due to the marketing 0:06:03.680 --> 0:06:10.000 prowess of this Canadian politician, Senator George Fulford. Fulford formed G. T. 0:06:10.080 --> 0:06:13.400 Fulford and Company in eighteen eighty seven to manufacture and 0:06:13.520 --> 0:06:18.880 distribute patent medicines. Three years after opening, that company acquired 0:06:18.880 --> 0:06:21.880 the rights to Doctor Williams Pink Pills for Pale People, 0:06:22.279 --> 0:06:26.480 allegedly paying fifty three dollars and one cent to doctor 0:06:26.480 --> 0:06:30.800 William Jackson for the recipe. Fulford was listed in the 0:06:30.880 --> 0:06:33.599 Chemist and Druggist Journal as the owner of the Doctor 0:06:33.640 --> 0:06:38.240 Williams Medicine Company, having purchased the patent. In fact, he 0:06:38.360 --> 0:06:41.520 marketed the Pink Pills through the Doctor Williams Medicine Company, 0:06:41.560 --> 0:06:44.520 which he had turned into the trading arm of G. T. 0:06:44.680 --> 0:06:50.039 Fulford and Company, and he made a fortune within five years. 0:06:50.080 --> 0:06:53.560 He expanded the Doctor Williams Medicine Company not only throughout 0:06:53.560 --> 0:06:57.320 North America, but into Europe, including the United Kingdom and 0:06:57.480 --> 0:07:01.359 all across the British Empire and all. He advertised the 0:07:01.400 --> 0:07:04.240 Pink Pills and all of their healing glory in more 0:07:04.279 --> 0:07:07.039 than eighty countries from Canada to Australia. 0:07:07.880 --> 0:07:09.480 We're going to take a break for a word from 0:07:09.480 --> 0:07:12.600 our sponsors. When we're back, we'll be sharing examples of 0:07:12.680 --> 0:07:16.720 marketing and advertising copy for the Pink Pills and how 0:07:16.800 --> 0:07:28.800 first hand testimonials were plentiful and super important in these campaigns. 0:07:34.520 --> 0:07:38.440 Welcome back to Criminalia. Let's talk about how the marketing 0:07:38.480 --> 0:07:42.680 and advertising of Doctor Williams pink pills worked. 0:07:42.800 --> 0:07:46.280 Beginning in the early eighteen nineties, the publicity for the 0:07:46.320 --> 0:07:50.360 pink pills was written by one guy, John Mackenzie, a 0:07:50.440 --> 0:07:54.800 Canadian businessman who also had journalism experience. In eighteen ninety 0:07:54.800 --> 0:07:57.320 two he was made manager of the medicine company and 0:07:57.400 --> 0:08:00.360 held the position until his retirement in nineteen twenty nine. 0:08:01.480 --> 0:08:04.040 When it comes to the pink pills, he may as 0:08:04.080 --> 0:08:08.320 well have been the chemist. His copy and campaigns were 0:08:08.760 --> 0:08:12.160 of most importance to the bottom line under his and 0:08:12.200 --> 0:08:15.160 Fulford's watch. An early advertisement in The Venturer of Free 0:08:15.160 --> 0:08:19.600 Press went like this. It described two men walking down 0:08:19.640 --> 0:08:24.480 the street. One quote has a vigorous, firm, elastic step, 0:08:24.560 --> 0:08:28.000 his head well up, his eyes bright, while the other 0:08:28.240 --> 0:08:31.560 appeared to be a man quote broken in health who 0:08:31.600 --> 0:08:35.559 had to quote whip himself to every task. Claim to 0:08:35.600 --> 0:08:38.600 the ad, the first man had healthy nerves because they 0:08:38.600 --> 0:08:42.959 were quote stimulated by feeding them with Doctor Williams pink pills. 0:08:44.720 --> 0:08:47.760 It would be remiss to not mention that Fulford launch 0:08:47.840 --> 0:08:51.679 date huge marketing campaign for the pink pills and spent 0:08:51.760 --> 0:08:55.800 upwards of two hundred thousand pounds on advertising in the 0:08:55.880 --> 0:08:59.800 year nineteen hundred alone, and that is just in Britain. 0:09:01.040 --> 0:09:03.840 The tale of this patent medicine company is less about 0:09:03.880 --> 0:09:06.760 the ingredients of the product being a problem. It was 0:09:06.840 --> 0:09:10.640 that over the top marketing and advertising campaign of lies 0:09:10.720 --> 0:09:14.800 that finally caught the attention of federal authorities. And of 0:09:14.840 --> 0:09:16.479 course we have examples. 0:09:17.120 --> 0:09:20.920 So another advertisement for the pills comes from the Maryborough Chronicle, 0:09:20.960 --> 0:09:23.760 which recommended they be taken as a blood and energy 0:09:23.800 --> 0:09:28.480 restorative for flu sufferers. Quote the blood is the most 0:09:28.520 --> 0:09:31.320 dependable weapon in the fight against disease, and when the 0:09:31.440 --> 0:09:34.520 enemy is as violent as influenza, there is no better 0:09:34.600 --> 0:09:38.960 blood builder than Doctor William's pink pills. It was a 0:09:39.040 --> 0:09:42.120 perfect time to market the pills as a cure against flu, 0:09:42.480 --> 0:09:46.080 as the global flu pandemic of nineteen eighteen to nineteen twenty, 0:09:46.360 --> 0:09:50.440 also known by the common misnomer Spanish flu, was raging 0:09:50.840 --> 0:09:54.440 and deadly. While it made for great marketing campaigns, the 0:09:54.480 --> 0:09:56.679 pills sure didn't cure the flu. 0:09:57.640 --> 0:10:01.800 Advertisements were carefully crafted to invey all sorts of important 0:10:01.840 --> 0:10:05.360 information to the consumer, from what these things could cure 0:10:05.520 --> 0:10:08.959 to how to get some for yourself. One such example 0:10:09.040 --> 0:10:12.440 is as follows quote doctor Williams Pink Pills for Pale 0:10:12.440 --> 0:10:18.960 People have cured countless men and women of anemia, indigestion, ezema, rheumatism, sciatica, 0:10:19.040 --> 0:10:24.479 Saint Vitus's Dance now known as Sydenham's qorea, neuralgia, nervous disorders, 0:10:24.520 --> 0:10:29.480 paralysis and locomotive at taxi sold at shops. But avoid 0:10:29.559 --> 0:10:32.560 substitutes and take care that the full name doctor Williams 0:10:32.679 --> 0:10:36.120 Pink Pills for Pale People is on every package sold 0:10:36.160 --> 0:10:41.040 by all chemists and druggists. An interesting illustrated pamphlet describing 0:10:41.120 --> 0:10:45.200 many cures will be sent post free on application. Yes, 0:10:45.600 --> 0:10:49.319 you could get a whole pamphlet outlining the alleged benefits 0:10:49.320 --> 0:10:50.400 of the pink pills. 0:10:51.520 --> 0:10:55.800 Advertisements also claimed the pills purified the blood by well 0:10:56.120 --> 0:10:59.439 by making new blood, and this happened, it was explained 0:10:59.559 --> 0:11:03.960 by quote, enriching the existing weak or anemic blood supply. 0:11:04.800 --> 0:11:07.560 The pills would the copy promised quote, tone up the 0:11:07.600 --> 0:11:10.880 nerves and increase the patient's power of using the food 0:11:10.960 --> 0:11:11.560 he takes. 0:11:12.920 --> 0:11:17.520 Fulford and Mackenzie's advertisement campaigns also began to target women 0:11:17.679 --> 0:11:20.960 specifically and claimed that the pills were a remedy for 0:11:21.080 --> 0:11:26.040 many quote female ailments. One stated that men seek quote 0:11:26.240 --> 0:11:29.559 wholesome looking women with rosy cheeks and good health as 0:11:29.600 --> 0:11:33.560 their future wives. The advertisement warned that without help, a 0:11:33.600 --> 0:11:37.679 woman's quote regular monthly uterine action could result in a 0:11:37.800 --> 0:11:41.640 quote pale and sallow complexion and a feeling of exhaustion. 0:11:42.800 --> 0:11:45.720 This ad also claimed that continued use of the pills 0:11:45.760 --> 0:11:49.320 would quote fortify the system against the ravages of the 0:11:49.400 --> 0:11:51.319 symptoms attending menopause. 0:11:52.240 --> 0:11:55.800 Claims of these exaggerated benefits were almost constantly in the 0:11:55.840 --> 0:11:59.520 face of consumers, whether seen in newspapers or other print media, 0:11:59.760 --> 0:12:05.400 or promoted by salesmen and even sometimes physicians. Another advertisement 0:12:05.440 --> 0:12:09.240 focused on women, for instance, read quote many thin, anemic 0:12:09.400 --> 0:12:13.679 girls and women have been wonderfully transformed by doctor Williams 0:12:13.679 --> 0:12:18.280 brand pink pills. Instead of being weak, flat chested, pale 0:12:18.400 --> 0:12:21.600 and lacking in charm, they are now bright and bonni, 0:12:21.720 --> 0:12:26.400 with sparkling eyes, rosy cheeks, and a graceful, well proportioned form, 0:12:26.559 --> 0:12:29.360 full of life and vitality. They are now the envy 0:12:29.360 --> 0:12:33.760 and admiration of their friends. These happy results are easily explained. 0:12:34.280 --> 0:12:37.800 Doctor Williams Pink pills contain the necessary vital elements that 0:12:37.880 --> 0:12:42.280 create new, rich red blood. So lose no time, improve 0:12:42.320 --> 0:12:44.720 your health and regain your lost weight. By taking a 0:12:44.760 --> 0:12:48.080 course of Doctor Williams Pink pills, you too can gain 0:12:48.120 --> 0:12:49.520 a graceful figure. 0:12:50.400 --> 0:12:54.959 Fulford and Mackenzie relied quote heavily on testimonials submitted by 0:12:54.960 --> 0:12:59.240 customers of Miraculous Recoveries printed in newspapers in such a 0:12:59.240 --> 0:13:02.640 way that it was different dificult to differentiate news articles 0:13:02.679 --> 0:13:07.120 from the advertisements. They kind of were early forebears of 0:13:07.160 --> 0:13:11.240 the advertorial. For instance, Reverend Enoch Hill of the First 0:13:11.360 --> 0:13:15.200 United Methodist Church of Grand Junction, Iowa, endorsed the product 0:13:15.280 --> 0:13:19.440 in many nineteen hundreds advertisements, claiming that the pink pills 0:13:19.520 --> 0:13:22.640 boosted his energy and cured his chronic headaches. 0:13:23.720 --> 0:13:27.440 Another printed testimonial, this one in a British paper, read 0:13:27.520 --> 0:13:32.040 as quote said missus Hatch, I was sickly, pale and 0:13:32.080 --> 0:13:35.200 anemic when I was approaching the age of twenty. In 0:13:35.240 --> 0:13:37.840 spite of all treatment, I could get no real relief. 0:13:38.360 --> 0:13:41.560 My sister insisted I tried Doctor Williams Pink pills for 0:13:41.600 --> 0:13:45.480 pale people, and at last I did it. Took several 0:13:45.520 --> 0:13:48.600 boxes of these pills before I obtained any real relief. 0:13:49.000 --> 0:13:52.360 Then I was encouraged by signs of improvement, and as 0:13:52.400 --> 0:13:55.960 I continued the pills, all signs of anemia vanished. The 0:13:56.040 --> 0:13:59.920 rheumatic pains left me, and my strength was gradually built up. 0:14:00.440 --> 0:14:03.640 I felt younger and was in sound health. Today, I 0:14:03.679 --> 0:14:06.600 am free from all pain, with no fears of illness. 0:14:08.200 --> 0:14:13.439 Inside and outside the United States, marketing materials were very boasty, 0:14:13.679 --> 0:14:17.000 and not just from satisfied customers who picked up some 0:14:17.080 --> 0:14:21.480 pills at the local druggists. Testimonial from doctor Giuseppe Laponi, 0:14:21.560 --> 0:14:24.960 who was chief physician to Pope Leo the thirteenth, was 0:14:25.040 --> 0:14:28.440 held up as an example of a medical professional using 0:14:28.520 --> 0:14:32.800 doctor Williams's pink pills in his practice with quote good results. 0:14:34.120 --> 0:14:37.560 The pink pills, it was also claimed, were a quote 0:14:37.720 --> 0:14:41.840 miracle cure for consumption which we now know as tuberculosis. 0:14:42.520 --> 0:14:46.160 A British advertising pamphlet for the pills, called The Queen's Gift, 0:14:46.240 --> 0:14:49.240 published in nineteen hundred and give or take a year, 0:14:49.360 --> 0:14:53.880 there was aimed at British colonists around the world. The 0:14:53.920 --> 0:14:58.720 pamphlet claimed that because of quote an inspiring entrepreneurial environment, 0:14:58.840 --> 0:15:02.360 doctor Williams was a to develop his pink pills a 0:15:02.560 --> 0:15:08.400 miracle of modern medicine. The pamphlet also provided several testimonials, 0:15:08.440 --> 0:15:12.680 of course, from grateful patients cured by the pills. Among 0:15:12.720 --> 0:15:16.240 them was a mister Rogers, the quote first Englishman to 0:15:16.240 --> 0:15:21.120 be cured of tubercular consumption. Knowing the ingredients those pink 0:15:21.160 --> 0:15:25.520 pills were not likely what cured him, but potential customers 0:15:25.800 --> 0:15:26.360 didn't know that. 0:15:28.280 --> 0:15:30.040 We're going to take a break here for a word 0:15:30.080 --> 0:15:32.920 from our sponsors, and when we return, we'll talk more 0:15:32.920 --> 0:15:37.080 about the big promises that patent medicine companies made and 0:15:37.120 --> 0:15:40.960 why the pink pills may have may have worked a 0:15:41.000 --> 0:15:55.560 little bit, possibly, but only if you had anemia. 0:15:56.640 --> 0:16:00.560 Welcome back to Criminalia. Let's talk about what happened when 0:16:00.600 --> 0:16:03.720 the pink pill's product went up against the United States 0:16:03.800 --> 0:16:07.480 Pure Food and Drug Act. It's probably not a spoiler 0:16:07.800 --> 0:16:10.440 that the company lost, but maybe not for reasons you 0:16:10.520 --> 0:16:11.080 might think. 0:16:12.680 --> 0:16:16.480 Fulford became a wealthy man selling patent medicine around the world, 0:16:16.560 --> 0:16:20.120 but he's sometimes remembered for quite a different and very 0:16:20.160 --> 0:16:24.480 tragic story. Rather than hawking harmless pills. At the age 0:16:24.520 --> 0:16:27.600 of fifty three in nineteen oh five, Fulford's vehicle was 0:16:27.680 --> 0:16:30.320 hit by a street car and he was ejected from 0:16:30.320 --> 0:16:35.240 the automobile on Walnut Street in Newton, Massachusetts. Fulford was 0:16:35.280 --> 0:16:38.640 fatally injured, and he became the first Canadian known to 0:16:38.720 --> 0:16:42.880 have died in an auto accident. After his death, Fulford's son, 0:16:43.240 --> 0:16:46.720 also named George, became involved in the business. 0:16:50.760 --> 0:16:54.040 Shortly after Fulford's death. The Pure Food and Drug Act 0:16:54.080 --> 0:16:57.360 of nineteen oh six, also known as Wiley's Law, was 0:16:57.400 --> 0:17:01.160 signed by United States President Theodore Roosevelt, and, as we've 0:17:01.200 --> 0:17:04.520 seen happen in other stories of snake oil sales this season, 0:17:05.240 --> 0:17:09.440 its very existence dimmed the popularity of many patent medicines 0:17:09.480 --> 0:17:13.320 in the United States, including the pink pills, or it 0:17:13.359 --> 0:17:17.600 made the so called medicines impossible to purchase. The Act's 0:17:17.640 --> 0:17:22.080 purpose was to prevent the quote, manufacture, sale, or transportation 0:17:22.200 --> 0:17:28.760 of adulterated or misbranded or poisonous or deletorious food, drugs, medications, 0:17:28.800 --> 0:17:33.159 and liquors, with patent medicines coming under increasing scrutiny in 0:17:33.200 --> 0:17:36.720 the early twentieth century. The law also required that active 0:17:36.880 --> 0:17:40.000 ingredients be displayed on labels and a standard of purity 0:17:40.080 --> 0:17:42.760 levels for ingredients to be set by the United States 0:17:42.800 --> 0:17:46.879 Pharmacopeia or the National Formulary. If they didn't get you 0:17:46.920 --> 0:17:50.280 for problematic ingredients, they could and would bring you down 0:17:50.320 --> 0:17:53.239 for false or fraudulent advertising. And it was also a 0:17:53.359 --> 0:17:57.040 truth in labeling law, and misbranding was a very big deal. 0:17:58.200 --> 0:18:01.600 The label on one still remained package of Doctor Williams 0:18:01.600 --> 0:18:04.840 Pink Pills for pale people reads as a mail order 0:18:04.880 --> 0:18:08.320 ad and it read quote safe and effective tonic for 0:18:08.400 --> 0:18:12.520 the blood and nerves anemic conditions, diseases caused by or 0:18:12.560 --> 0:18:16.920 dependent on thin, impoverished blood, and for nervous disorders resulting 0:18:16.920 --> 0:18:22.280 from malnutrition. Useful wherever a nerving or digestive tonic is required. 0:18:22.800 --> 0:18:27.159 These pills are guaranteed to contain no opiates or narcotics contents. 0:18:27.560 --> 0:18:31.960 Forty pills price fifty cents, six boxes for two fifty 0:18:32.400 --> 0:18:36.959 The Doctor Williams Medical Company Sconnectedy, New York and Brockville, Ontario, WT. 0:18:37.080 --> 0:18:43.879 Hansen Company Sconnectedy, New York, US distributors. Directions inside in English, French, German, Spanish, Italian. 0:18:44.760 --> 0:18:47.520 The pink pills were also sold in small numbers and 0:18:47.600 --> 0:18:51.040 over the counter, and that helped increase both Fulford's profits, 0:18:51.359 --> 0:18:54.240 and it made the pills available to poorer consumers who 0:18:54.280 --> 0:18:58.199 weren't able to afford a whole expensive package all at once. 0:18:58.760 --> 0:19:02.720 Before the new law, the proprietors did not at all 0:19:02.840 --> 0:19:05.920 have to prove their patent medicines were effective, nor did 0:19:05.920 --> 0:19:08.159 they have to prove anything they claimed on the label, 0:19:08.960 --> 0:19:11.399 and to be honest, most of them didn't bother with 0:19:11.440 --> 0:19:15.520 that after the law was enacted either, instead hedging their 0:19:15.520 --> 0:19:18.760 bets that the government wouldn't catch up with them. In 0:19:18.840 --> 0:19:22.240 nineteen sixteen, the United States government caught up with the 0:19:22.440 --> 0:19:24.360 Doctor Williams Medical company. 0:19:25.359 --> 0:19:28.600 Doctor Williams Pink pills were targeted not because people were 0:19:28.680 --> 0:19:32.159 sick or dying from them, they were pretty benign, but 0:19:32.359 --> 0:19:36.359 because of the company's outrageous claims and promises regarding the 0:19:36.400 --> 0:19:41.560 medicine's curative qualities. Many patent medicines claimed to cure everything 0:19:41.680 --> 0:19:47.080 from quote generalized debility to other complaints like lassitude and 0:19:47.240 --> 0:19:50.919 weak stomach fibers, and all of those promises were the 0:19:51.000 --> 0:19:54.720 key to patent medicine's success. They were the hook. What 0:19:54.840 --> 0:19:57.159 were your other choices? If you were someone with a 0:19:57.200 --> 0:20:01.400 health complaint waited out may a doctor for a round 0:20:01.400 --> 0:20:05.240 of blood letting. No thank you, said many people, while 0:20:05.240 --> 0:20:08.639 consumers didn't seem to mind the ridiculous claims that a 0:20:08.680 --> 0:20:11.480 product could cure your acne and bring you back to 0:20:11.560 --> 0:20:16.399 life and essentially put dinner on the table. Exaggerated promises 0:20:16.480 --> 0:20:19.960 got a lot of patent medicine peddlers in trouble, a 0:20:20.080 --> 0:20:23.719 jury found in favor of the United States government, and 0:20:23.840 --> 0:20:27.560 all the dreams that Pink Pills promised were shattered because 0:20:27.600 --> 0:20:30.240 shipments of the product were ordered to be destroyed. 0:20:31.560 --> 0:20:35.520 So did they work? Though the Pink Pills couldn't stand 0:20:35.600 --> 0:20:38.360 up to the wild marketing claims that they were a cure, 0:20:38.400 --> 0:20:43.480 all the pills were actually potentially medically helpful to some 0:20:43.560 --> 0:20:48.440 people living with anemia who took them. In theory maybe, Hey, 0:20:48.480 --> 0:20:51.480 we're not doctors here, but while the ingredients were weak, 0:20:51.760 --> 0:20:54.920 they were iron supplements, which we do know is important 0:20:54.920 --> 0:20:58.440 for the management and treatment of iron deficiency anemia. Those 0:20:58.520 --> 0:21:01.560 testimonials may not have all been total bs. 0:21:03.200 --> 0:21:05.600 Some people may have felt a little bit better, a 0:21:05.720 --> 0:21:10.040 little less pale. You know what makes me feel better? Well, cocktail, 0:21:10.600 --> 0:21:13.280 are you ready for some Cure's? What ails you, little. 0:21:13.080 --> 0:21:15.399 Cocktail without a little rosy cheeks to my life. What 0:21:15.440 --> 0:21:16.320 are you doing right? 0:21:17.160 --> 0:21:26.199 Right? Obviously I'm not reinventing the wheel. We're calling this 0:21:26.240 --> 0:21:29.840 the pink pill. Thinking about this, it immediately put me 0:21:29.960 --> 0:21:33.840 in mind of a drink that cracks me up and 0:21:34.240 --> 0:21:37.080 is one that I can't imagine many people really enjoying 0:21:37.520 --> 0:21:41.280 unless you just really love gin, and that is a 0:21:41.320 --> 0:21:45.680 pink gin. A pink gin. You can buy pink gin 0:21:45.760 --> 0:21:48.520 on the shelves now in your local liquor store. They 0:21:48.560 --> 0:21:50.840 just have pink gins. They've gotten very popular because people 0:21:50.880 --> 0:21:53.560 like pink things. But a pink gin was actually a 0:21:53.640 --> 0:21:57.879 drink that was invented in the mid eighteen hundreds, which 0:21:57.920 --> 0:22:01.760 is literally just two out of gin and like three 0:22:01.840 --> 0:22:06.800 dashes of angusterra bitters, and some bartenders would thin it 0:22:06.880 --> 0:22:10.680 a little bit with water. But unless you'd love gin, 0:22:11.320 --> 0:22:13.399 which some people do, but I don't think a whole 0:22:13.400 --> 0:22:16.880 lot like street gin, this is probably not a delicious drink. 0:22:17.760 --> 0:22:20.320 But I thought that might make a good start for 0:22:20.440 --> 0:22:24.600 another drink. And of course there's also that little mention 0:22:24.680 --> 0:22:27.520 of licorice the very beginning of this episode that was 0:22:27.560 --> 0:22:29.280 in the pills. Yeah, so I thought, how is a 0:22:29.280 --> 0:22:34.240 way we can just low grade include some licorice flavor 0:22:34.280 --> 0:22:37.040 in here without getting two out of control. We're gonna 0:22:37.040 --> 0:22:39.680 start with that pink gin base. We're not gonna buy 0:22:39.720 --> 0:22:41.959 pink gin. You don't have to. You got bitters. If 0:22:42.000 --> 0:22:44.239 you don't have bitters, we have an option. It'll come 0:22:44.320 --> 0:22:47.040 up at the mocktail. But we're gonna start with two 0:22:47.080 --> 0:22:51.080 ounces of gin, three to four dashes of angusterra bitters. 0:22:51.160 --> 0:22:53.600 That's what turns it pink. It has bitters have a 0:22:53.640 --> 0:22:56.600 reddish quality to them. Angoster it does anyway, and so 0:22:56.720 --> 0:22:59.480 that's what gives it a pink look. And then you're 0:22:59.520 --> 0:23:02.040 gonna add, oh, just a kiss, like an eighth of 0:23:02.080 --> 0:23:06.320 an ounce of anissets to get that liquorice flavor in there. 0:23:06.640 --> 0:23:09.639 You don't want a lot more than that. It's not yummy. 0:23:09.960 --> 0:23:13.040 It just it becomes a different drink. Then you're gonna 0:23:13.080 --> 0:23:15.960 do between a quarter and a third of an ounce 0:23:16.000 --> 0:23:18.240 of simple syrup or vanilla syrup, and that is to 0:23:18.400 --> 0:23:21.360 your taste. There's no wrong way. You were gonna give 0:23:21.400 --> 0:23:26.560 this a nice good shake with ice, make it super cold, 0:23:26.800 --> 0:23:28.920 pour it over ice in like a rocks glass or 0:23:28.920 --> 0:23:32.240 whatever glass you wish, whatever serving vessel makes you happy. 0:23:32.480 --> 0:23:34.960 And then you'll top it with ginger ale. And the 0:23:35.040 --> 0:23:37.639 ginger ale is the reason that I say there's not 0:23:37.800 --> 0:23:41.920 a one right measure for the syrup, because if you're 0:23:42.000 --> 0:23:44.360 using like a regular sugar ginger ale, you might want 0:23:44.359 --> 0:23:46.440 to pull it back. If you're using a sugar free 0:23:46.640 --> 0:23:48.760 you might want to pour a little more syrup in there. 0:23:49.160 --> 0:23:52.560 But this fixes the problem for me of just straight gin, 0:23:52.760 --> 0:23:56.040 and it makes it quite lovely, and that little kiss 0:23:56.080 --> 0:23:59.040 of liquorice flavor is really quite nice, and it just 0:23:59.040 --> 0:24:01.320 just gets a little more depth that brings out some 0:24:01.400 --> 0:24:03.520 of the more floral notes. This is also one that, 0:24:03.640 --> 0:24:08.439 in my opinion, this went through an uncharacteristically large number 0:24:08.520 --> 0:24:12.080 of tests. For me, usually I'm pretty fast, I can 0:24:12.119 --> 0:24:15.080 whip out a couple and I figured out this one. 0:24:15.840 --> 0:24:17.720 Some of it was ab testing. I was like, Okay, 0:24:17.800 --> 0:24:20.080 what if we use this gin versus this gin? What 0:24:20.119 --> 0:24:22.880 if we made it with absinthe instead of aniset. Don't 0:24:22.920 --> 0:24:25.199 do that, is my advice. I did not like it 0:24:25.240 --> 0:24:28.879 at all, and I tried it with club soda instead 0:24:28.880 --> 0:24:31.720 of ginger reel, and it just tasted a little too thin. 0:24:31.840 --> 0:24:34.120 You need a little more flavor in there to make 0:24:34.160 --> 0:24:36.040 it all work, but it is quite yummy. If you 0:24:36.080 --> 0:24:38.919 would like to make an alcohol free pink pill, that 0:24:39.040 --> 0:24:41.520 is very easy. We're going to do what we've been 0:24:41.560 --> 0:24:44.960 doing for a while now and use flatonic water as 0:24:45.000 --> 0:24:49.000 your gin substitute. Two ounces of that if you're go 0:24:49.000 --> 0:24:51.159 okay with bitters, because some people that don't drink are 0:24:51.160 --> 0:24:53.359 still okay with bitters because it is a tiny amount, 0:24:53.600 --> 0:24:55.080 you can put those in. If you don't want to 0:24:55.119 --> 0:24:59.560 do bitters, literally a drop of whatever red syrup you 0:24:59.560 --> 0:25:01.359 have on hand, and if you have grenadine, great. If 0:25:01.400 --> 0:25:04.199 you have hibiscus grade, there's not enough of it that 0:25:04.240 --> 0:25:06.640 it's going to shift the flavor around too much, especially 0:25:06.640 --> 0:25:09.000 when you consider that volume to the amount of gin 0:25:09.400 --> 0:25:11.640 or fake gin in this case you have, so you're good. 0:25:12.400 --> 0:25:15.080 Aniset syrups or liquorice syrups are pretty easy to get 0:25:15.080 --> 0:25:17.440 a hold of, and then your simple syrup and then 0:25:17.600 --> 0:25:19.760 your ginger ale. Everything is the same. So again, that's 0:25:19.800 --> 0:25:23.520 two ounces of gin or your flattonic three to four 0:25:23.600 --> 0:25:26.479 dashes of anguster, a bitters or one drop of the 0:25:26.520 --> 0:25:29.960 red syrup of your choice, one eighth of an ounce 0:25:30.000 --> 0:25:34.800 of aniset or a licorice syrup one quarter to one 0:25:34.800 --> 0:25:37.679 third of an ounce of simple or vanilla syrup and 0:25:37.720 --> 0:25:42.680 then shake it over ice, top it with ginger ale delicious. 0:25:43.200 --> 0:25:45.280