Snake oil cures pain and disease
| Snake oil cures pain and disease | |
|---|---|
| FALSE | |
| "Clark Stanley's Snake Oil Liniment, made from rattlesnake oil, cures rheumatism, neuralgia, sciatica, sprains and other aches and ailments." | |
| Domain | Health & Medicine |
| Tactic | Fraud or Scam Pseudoscience / Junk Science |
| Era | Historical |
| First seen | 1893 |
| Origin | Promotions by Clark Stanley, "the Rattlesnake King," including at the 1893 World's Columbian Exposition in Chicago |
| Last reviewed | 2026-10-26 |
| Further reading: books on Health & Medicine | |
Clark Stanley's Snake Oil Liniment was a patent medicine sold in the United States in the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries. Its seller, a showman who called himself "the Rattlesnake King," claimed it was made from rattlesnake oil and could cure a long list of ailments. When federal investigators finally tested it in 1917, they found that it contained no snake oil at all. The case gave the English language one of its most durable phrases: "snake oil" now means any product, idea or promise sold through bold claims and no substance.
The claim
Stanley's advertising promised relief from rheumatism, neuralgia, sciatica, lame back, frostbite, toothache, sore throat, sprains, bruises and insect bites, among many other complaints. Labels described the product as "the strongest and best liniment known for the cure of all pain and lameness." Its power, Stanley said, came from oil extracted from rattlesnakes, using a secret remedy he claimed to have learned from Hopi medicine men.
Origin
Stanley, who described himself as a former cowboy, became known for theatrical sales demonstrations. In his own account, at the 1893 World's Columbian Exposition in Chicago he publicly killed a rattlesnake, boiled it and skimmed off the oil before an audience, then sold bottles of liniment to onlookers. He published a pamphlet mixing tales of frontier adventure with testimonials for his product, and established manufacturing operations in Rhode Island and later Massachusetts.
Snake oil itself had a real history. Chinese laborers who came to the United States to build railroads in the nineteenth century brought a traditional remedy made from the oil of the Chinese water snake, which is rich in omega-3 fatty acids and was rubbed on joints to ease pain. Whether or not that remedy was effective, it was at least made from snakes. American imitators borrowed the name and reputation, then substituted cheaper ingredients, or rattlesnakes, whose oil is far lower in those fatty acids.
How it spread
Patent medicines were a huge business in nineteenth-century America. There was little regulation, newspapers depended on medicine advertising, and traveling "medicine shows" combined entertainment with sales pitches. Products promised to cure nearly everything and often contained alcohol, opium, cocaine or other active substances that made buyers feel something, whether or not the product treated their condition. Stanley's liniment was one of many such products, distinguished by his showmanship and memorable claims.
How it was exposed
The Pure Food and Drug Act of 1906, passed after years of campaigning by journalists and reformers, made it illegal to sell mislabeled or adulterated foods and drugs across state lines. In 1916, federal officials seized a shipment of Stanley's liniment. Government chemists tested it and found that it consisted mainly of mineral oil, with a small amount of a fatty oil believed to be beef fat, along with red pepper and turpentine. There was no detectable snake oil.
In 1917, Stanley was charged with misbranding his product and with making false and fraudulent claims about its effects. He did not contest the charges and was fined $20, a trivial sum even then. But the case became a symbol, and by the early twentieth century "snake oil salesman" was already shorthand for a fraud.
What the evidence shows
Stanley's liniment did not contain snake oil, and there was no evidence that it cured the conditions it claimed to treat. Its warming ingredients, red pepper and turpentine, could produce a tingling sensation on the skin, which may have convinced buyers it was working, but that is not the same as treating rheumatism or sciatica.
Why it matters
The snake oil case illustrates patterns that persist in health fraud today:
- Miracle breadth. A single product claims to treat many unrelated conditions. Real treatments usually have specific uses.
- Exotic origins. Claims of ancient or secret wisdom, often borrowed from other cultures, lend mystique.
- Showmanship and testimonials. Dramatic demonstrations and satisfied customers substitute for testing.
- Something you can feel. A sensation, such as warmth, tingling or a buzz, persuades people that a product works.
- Weak enforcement. Even when caught, sellers often faced penalties far smaller than their profits.
Modern supplements, wellness products and online health influencers frequently follow the same script, often in spaces that regulators still struggle to police.
Lessons for readers
- Be wary of any product that claims to cure many unrelated conditions.
- A story about where a remedy came from is not evidence that it works.
- Feeling an effect is not the same as being treated.
- Ask whether a product's ingredients have been independently tested.
See also
- Radium water cures disease
- The Big Con (Maurer)
- Trick or Treatment (Singh and Ernst)
- Fads and Fallacies in the Name of Science (Gardner)
Sources
- US Department of Agriculture, Bureau of Chemistry, Notice of Judgment under the Food and Drugs Act concerning Clark Stanley's Snake Oil Liniment (1917).
- Clark Stanley, The Life and Adventures of the American Cow-Boy (promotional pamphlet, c. 1897).
- Lakshmi Gandhi, "A History of 'Snake Oil Salesmen,'" NPR Code Switch, 26 August 2013.
- James Harvey Young, The Toadstool Millionaires: A Social History of Patent Medicines in America Before Federal Regulation (1961).