Clark Stanley
Clark Stanley (b. c. 1854 in Abilene, Texas, according to himself; the town was founded in 1881), the self-styled "Rattlesnake King," marketed snake oil as a patent medicine.
Stanley claimed that he, after 11 years as a cowboy, studied for more than two years with a Hopi medicine man at Walpi, Arizona, from 1879.[1][2] This supposedly included learning the secrets of snake oil. With the help of a Boston druggist he began marketing his product at Western medicine shows. In 1893 he and his rattlesnakes became gained attention at the World's Columbian Exposition in Chicago, Illinois.[3]. Later he went on to establish production facilities in Beverly, Massachusetts and Providence, Rhode Island.
In 1916, subsequent to the passage of the Pure Food and Drug Act in 1906, Stanley's concoction was examined and found to be of no value (it contained mineral oil, a fatty compound thought to be beef, capsaicin from chili peppers, and turpentine).[4] He was fined $20.00 (corresponds to $443 in 2017[5]). The term snake oil was well established as a worthless concoction sold as medicine.
References
- ^ https://books.google.com/books?id=Aiw-KntGPrgC&lpg=PA75&dq=hopi%20indians%20clark%20stanley&pg=PA75#v=onepage&q=hopi%20indians%20clark%20stanley&f=false
- ^ https://www.npr.org/sections/codeswitch/2013/08/26/215761377/a-history-of-snake-oil-salesmen
- ^ https://www.npr.org/sections/codeswitch/2013/08/26/215761377/a-history-of-snake-oil-salesmen,
- ^ https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:SnakeOilDecision.jpg
- ^ "Inflation Calculator". In2013dollars.com. February 2017. Retrieved February 19, 2017.
- Hurley, Dan (2006). "The Rattlesnake King. Natural Causes: Death, Lies and Politics in America's Vitamin and Herbal Supplement Industry". Archived from the original on July 9, 2011.
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