Patent Medicines

During the 1800s and early 1900s a number of companies marketed cure alls in the form of pills, lotions and ointments. These Patent Medicines were said to cure impotence, restore hair, make you strong an healthy. For the most part these cures did not work and were likely dangerous or at best placebos. A cynic might say that there is a parallel between today's health food industry and some of the more audacious claims made by these patent medicines.