Medicine shows were traveling horse and wagon teams which peddled "miracle cure" medications and other products between various entertainment acts. Their precise origins unknown, medicine shows were common in the 19th century United States

United States

The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...

 (though they continued up to World War II

World War II

World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...

). They are most commonly associated with "miracle elixirs" (referred to as snake oil

Snake oil

Snake oil is a topical preparation made from the Chinese Water Snake , which is used to treat joint pain. However, the most common usage of the phrase is as a derogatory term for quack medicine...

), which, it was claimed, had the ability to cure any disease, smooth wrinkles, remove stains, prolong life or cure any number of common ailments. Entertainment often included a freak show

Freak show

A freak show is an exhibition of biological rarities, referred to as "freaks of nature". Typical features would be physically unusual humans, such as those uncommonly large or small, those with both male and female secondary sexual characteristics, people with other extraordinary diseases and...

, a flea circus

Flea circus

A flea circus refers to a circus sideshow attraction in which fleas are attached to miniature carts and other items, and encouraged to perform circus acts within a small housing...

, musical act

Musical ensemble

A musical ensemble is a group of people who perform instrumental or vocal music. In classical music, trios or quartets either blend the sounds of musical instrument families or group together instruments from the same instrument family, such as string ensembles or wind ensembles...

s, magic trick

Magic (illusion)

Magic is a performing art that entertains audiences by staging tricks or creating illusions of seemingly impossible or supernatural feats using natural means...

s, jokes, or storytelling

Storytelling

Storytelling is the conveying of events in words, images and sounds, often by improvisation or embellishment. Stories or narratives have been shared in every culture as a means of entertainment, education, cultural preservation and in order to instill moral values...

.

Origins

While showmen pitching miraculous cures have been around since classical times, the advent of mixed performance and medicine sales in western culture originated during the Dark Ages of Europe after circuses and theatres were banned and performers had only the marketplace or patrons for support. Medicine shows flourished in the late 19th century, particularly in the midwestern United States and the rural South. They had their origin in the patent medicine vendors who set up booths at local fairs in Colonial America. As early as 1773 laws were being passed against their excesses.

20th Century

The last of these traveling shows was the Hadacol Caravan, sponsored by Louisiana

Louisiana

Louisiana is a state located in the southern region of the United States of America. Its capital is Baton Rouge and largest city is New Orleans. Louisiana is the only state in the U.S. with political subdivisions termed parishes, which are local governments equivalent to counties...

 State Senator Dudley J. LeBlanc

Dudley J. LeBlanc

Dudley Joseph "Coozan Dud" LeBlanc was a colorful and popular Democratic and Cajun member of the Louisiana State Senate whose entrepreneurial talents netted him a fortune through the alcohol-laden patent medicine known as "Hadacol." He is also considered the "father of the old age pension" in...

 and his LeBlanc Corporation, makers of the dubious patent medicine

Patent medicine

Patent medicine refers to medical compounds of questionable effectiveness sold under a variety of names and labels. The term "patent medicine" is somewhat of a misnomer because, in most cases, although many of the products were trademarked, they were never patented...

/vitamin tonic

Vitamin

A vitamin is an organic compound required as a nutrient in tiny amounts by an organism. In other words, an organic chemical compound is called a vitamin when it cannot be synthesized in sufficient quantities by an organism, and must be obtained from the diet. Thus, the term is conditional both on...

 "Hadacol

Hadacol

Hadacol was a patent medicine marketed as a vitamin supplement. Its principal attraction, however, was that it contained 12 percent alcohol , which made it quite popular in the dry counties of the southern United States. It was the product of four-term Louisiana state Senator Dudley J...

", known for both its alleged curative powers and its high alcohol content. The stage show, which ran throughout the Deep South

Deep South

The Deep South is a descriptive category of the cultural and geographic subregions in the American South. Historically, it is differentiated from the "Upper South" as being the states which were most dependent on plantation type agriculture during the pre-Civil War period...

 in the 1940s with great publicity, featured a number of notable music acts and Hollywood

Cinema of the United States

The cinema of the United States, also known as Hollywood, has had a profound effect on cinema across the world since the early 20th century. Its history is sometimes separated into four main periods: the silent film era, classical Hollywood cinema, New Hollywood, and the contemporary period...

 celebrities, and was used to promote Hadacol (which was sold heavily during intermission

Intermission

An intermission or interval is a recess between parts of a performance or production, such as for a theatrical play, opera, concert, or film screening....

 and after the show). Admission to the show was paid in boxtop

Boxtop

A boxtop, in the context of being a proof of purchase, is understood to be the upper portion of a product box, detached, and mailed as part of a claim for a radio premium or other advertising offer...

s of the vitamin tonic, sold in stores throughout the southern United States. The Caravan came to a sudden halt in 1951, when the Hadacol enterprise fell apart in a financial scandal. The swan song for medicine shows came in the summer of 1972 when the two man show of Chief Thundercloud (pitchman Leo Kahdot, a Potawatomi

Potawatomi

The Potawatomi are a Native American people of the upper Mississippi River region. They traditionally speak the Potawatomi language, a member of the Algonquian family. In the Potawatomi language, they generally call themselves Bodéwadmi, a name that means "keepers of the fire" and that was applied...

 from Oklahoma

Oklahoma

Oklahoma is a state located in the South Central region of the United States of America. With an estimated 3,751,351 residents as of the 2010 census and a land area of 68,667 square miles , Oklahoma is the 28th most populous and 20th-largest state...

) and Peg Leg Sam (harmonicist/singer/comedian Arthur Jackson) played at a carnival in Pittsboro, NC. It was the last show of the year for them; Kahdot/Thundercloud died that winter.

Use in popular culture

Several modern musical acts have named themselves after this old-time phenomenon, including Old Crow Medicine Show

Old Crow Medicine Show

Old Crow Medicine Show is an old-time string band based in Nashville, Tennessee. Their music has been called bluegrass, Americana, and alt-country, in addition to old-time. Along with original songs, the band performs many pre-World War II blues and folk songs...

, Dr. West's Medicine Show & Junk Band, Blues,funk rock band "Moondog Medicine Show -http://www.moondogmedicineshow.com, Dr. Hook & The Medicine Show

Dr. Hook & The Medicine Show

Dr. Hook & the Medicine Show was an American pop, country and soft rock band, formed around Union City, New Jersey in 1967 as The Chocolate Papers. They enjoyed considerable commercial success in the 1970s with hit singles including "Sylvia's Mother", "The Cover of the Rolling Stone", "A Little Bit...

, and MV & EE Medicine Show. It also lent its name to The Dream Syndicate's album Medicine Show

Medicine Show (album)

Medicine Show is the second album by The Dream Syndicate released in 1984.The Dream Syndicate, one of the pioneers of American indie rock, left Slash Records, small company that released the band's popular and highly influential first album The Days of Wine and Roses and signed new contract with...

, to Big Audio Dynamite

Big Audio Dynamite

Big Audio Dynamite are a British musical group formed in 1984 by the ex-guitarist and singer of the Clash, Mick Jones. The group are noted for their effective mixture of varied musical styles, incorporating elements of punk rock, dance music, hip hop, reggae, and funk...

's song "Medicine Show," and The Band

The Band

The Band was an acclaimed and influential roots rock group. The original group consisted of Rick Danko , Garth Hudson , Richard Manuel , and Robbie Robertson , and Levon Helm...

's "W.S. Walcott Medicine Show". Throughout 2010, the hip hop artist Madlib

Madlib

Otis Jackson Jr. in Oxnard, California, known professionally as Madlib, is a Los Angeles-based DJ, multi-instrumentalist, rapper, and music producer...

 released a 12-part mix series (one album each month) with the title "Madlib Medicine Show."

The alternative rock

Alternative rock

Alternative rock is a genre of rock music and a term used to describe a diverse musical movement that emerged from the independent music underground of the 1980s and became widely popular by the 1990s...

 artist Placebo

Placebo

A placebo is a simulated or otherwise medically ineffectual treatment for a disease or other medical condition intended to deceive the recipient...

 refers to a medicine show in their song "Twenty Years" on the album Once More With Feeling.

Science fiction

Science fiction

Science fiction is a genre of fiction dealing with imaginary but more or less plausible content such as future settings, futuristic science and technology, space travel, aliens, and paranormal abilities...

 author Orson Scott Card

Orson Scott Card

Orson Scott Card is an American author, critic, public speaker, essayist, columnist, and political activist. He writes in several genres, but is primarily known for his science fiction. His novel Ender's Game and its sequel Speaker for the Dead both won Hugo and Nebula Awards, making Card the...

 titled his online sci-fi journal "The Intergalactic Medicine Show

Intergalactic Medicine Show

InterGalactic Medicine Show is an American online fantasy and science fiction magazine. It was founded by multiple award-winning author Orson Scott Card. An anthology also called Orson Scott Card's InterGalactic Medicine Show was published by Tor in August, 2008, featuring selected stories from...

".

British comedy trio The Goodies

The Goodies

The Goodies are a trio of British comedians who created, wrote, and starred in a surreal British television comedy series called The Goodies during the 1970s and early 1980s combining sketches and situation comedy.-Honours:All three Goodies now have OBEs...

 performed a scene as part of "The Goodies Travelling Medicine Show" in an episode of their series entitled Hospital For Hire. The scene included a plant from the audience (Tim) being pulled from the audience to 'prove' that the mystery elixir cured all ailments.

In Rockstar's

Rockstar Games

Rockstar Games is a major video game developer and publisher based in New York City, owned by Take-Two Interactive following its purchase of UK video game publisher BMG Interactive. The brand is mostly known for Grand Theft Auto, Max Payne, L.A...

 videogame Red Dead Redemption, one of the main characters plays the role of a early 20th century hustler peddling what John Marston refers to as snake oil.

On the album Everything You Know Is Wrong

Everything You Know Is Wrong

Everything You Know Is Wrong is a comedy album by the Firesign Theatre released in October 1974 on Columbia Records.-Detailed track information and commentary:...

by the comedy troupe The Firesign Theatre

The Firesign Theatre

The Firesign Theatre is an American comedy troupe consisting of Phil Austin, Peter Bergman, David Ossman and Philip Proctor. Their brand of surrealistic humor is best known through their record albums, which acquired a cult following in the late 1960s and early '70s.The troupe began as live radio...

, the recording's narrator plays a wire recording of a medicine show featuring a "Dr. Firesign" promoting "Chief Dancing Knockout's Pyramid Pushover Paste" and "Don Bruhaha's Inca Hell-Oil Tonic".

In The Simpsons

The Simpsons

The Simpsons is an American animated sitcom created by Matt Groening for the Fox Broadcasting Company. The series is a satirical parody of a middle class American lifestyle epitomized by its family of the same name, which consists of Homer, Marge, Bart, Lisa and Maggie...

episode, "Grampa vs. Sexual Inadequacy," Homer and Grampa Simpsons travel across country, giving medicine shows for their aphrodisiac, "Simpson and Son's Tonic."