Imbalance of Bodily Humors
This early ad from the 1860’s was for a pretty well known brand of medications. Thomas Holloway was quite the entrepreneur of his time. He produced ointments and digestive pills that were world famous as a result of his amazing advertising. It was thanks to his good marketing and publicity that he became a multi-millionaire. But not all of those that marketed medicines at this time were as truthful as Holloway.
“It cures what ails you” was a popular phrase but was far from fact. It’s the lack of information on the advertisements along with the wild claims and false promises of medicinal properties, at this time in history, which makes it all very amusing nowadays. It all reminds me of the ‘Theodoric of York, Medieval Barber‘ SNL comedy sketches with Steve Martin.
