Lincoln and the politics of medicine

Let me guess.  Three things you are growing extraordinarily tired of seeing or reading about are politicians, advertisements for erectile dysfunction and commercials for what marketers like to call "regularity." I share your fatigue. But, as a historian, I'd like you to know two things: this isn't part of our modern condition; it has a long history.  And, politics and medical cures don't belong in separate categories. Consider this: In the late 19th century Americans encountered advertisements featuring the image of deceased President Abraham Lincoln on two medical remedies: Lincoln Tea and Lincoln Sexual Pills.  Yes, really. Check out this Smithsonian Institution website on advertising and the Presidency for a sample advertisement for Lincoln Tea:

Lincoln Tea promised to "move the bowels" and also claimed to treat diseases of the stomach, liver, and kidneys, as well as scrofula (tuberculosis).  Like many proprietary remedies sold with no regulation and no list of contents, Lincoln Tea aimed to reach the largest possible consumer base with a long list of ailments it cured.  And, the advertisement point out, it was economical, costing only 25 cents unlike what it called "a vile compound which contains no merit" and for which consumers paid a dollar.  Going negative on the competition but without naming names—does that sound familiar? (You'll have to hunt on the internet to see some of the best Lincoln Tea advertisements, which appear to be under copyright)

But wait, there was more!  The Lincoln Tea Company of Fort Wayne, Ind., which produced and sold Lincoln Tea, gave away a copy of Humorous and pathetic tales of Abraham Lincoln: A collection of anecdotes and Stories told by and of President Lincoln many of them heretofore unpublished.  Gift with purchase is yet another old advertising tradition that remains with us today. You can read a digitized copy of the Lincoln tales here.

Don't expect accuracy.  If you want to know more about the real Lincoln legacy (not involving any cures, sexual or otherwise) take a look at the recently released prizewinning book Mourning Lincoln.

Lincoln Sexual Pills, sold by the same company, was just for men. It promised that the "thousands of young and middle-aged men growing prematurely old because of the practice of vices or excesses" would be restored to perfect strength.  The individual taking the pills would, the advertising copy proclaimed, surprise himself and his friends by "becoming a strong, manly man."  Naturally, it cost more to remedy sexual problems than those of the guts, and the product sold for a dollar a box.  You could buy it at the drugstore or purchase it by mail and receive it, of course, in a plain wrapper.  As with the many 19th century medicines promising to cure diseases, take off weight, or quiet colicky babies, Lincoln Sexual Pills did not deliver on its promise.  You can read more about the medicines and the company here.  Patent medicines of the time ranged from the useless to the dangerous to the addictive (thanks to the opiates and alcohol they contained) to the deadly (with substances like arsenic and mercury).  They wouldn't cure you and they might kill you but they did produce some beautiful advertising copy. Take a look here.

Patent medicine advertisements filled the back pages of 19^th century newspapers and magazines much the way sales pitches for quack cures fill up our modern spam folders.  Political vitriol spilled over the pages as well, just as it continues to this day in all forms of electronic and print media.  So, next time you reach for the remote to mute a commercial for a laxative, hit delete to get rid of spam promising to increase your sexual prowess, or roll your eyes at politicians invoking the names of presidents honored by members of their party, know this: you are experiencing a not-so-great American tradition.

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