Hamlin’s Wizard OilDuring the later half of the 19th century Hamlin’s Wizard Oil was a popular

Hamlin’s Wizard OilDuring the later half of the 19th century Hamlin’s Wizard Oil was a popular cure-all, a panacea for the ages that was sold all over the United States.  Found in 1861, the Hamlin’s Wizard Oil John Austin Hamlin, a man with no medical training whatsoever who made a living as a magician.  Together with his brother, Lysander Hamlin, they would travel the country selling their snake oil, journeying from town to town in a big covered wagon while wearing silk top hats and striped suits.  Often they were joined by musicians, singers, and entertainers as part of a traveling medicine show.  After a few decades the popularity of Hamlin’s Wizard Oil spread until eventually the company grew into a business empire, making the Hamlin brothers millionaires.Originally Hamlin’s Wizard Oil was sold as a topical liniment to soothe rheumatism and sore muscles, a use which it actually had some benefits.  However it wasn’t long before the Hamlin brothers advertised it as a cure for various ailments such as ulcers, headache, pneumonia, earache, toothache, diphtheria, and cancer.  Treatment of such diseases required ingestion of the liniment, a problem as it contained among various herbals chemicals such as 65% alcohol, ammonia, chloroform, turpentine, and formaldehyde.  Anyone with any common sense would know that it probably isn’t very healthy to ingest such chemicals. In 1916 the Hamlin company came under investigation by the Federal Government under the Food and Drug Act. Lawrence B. Hamlin, son of Lysander Hamlin, was personally fined $200 for false advertising and forced to publish the ingredients of his liniment.  Once the ingredients of Hamlin’s Wizard Oil became public knowledge, it quickly lost popularity causing the Hamlin company to go out of business. -- source link

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