PATENT MEDICINES: The Money Cure

Hadacol, in the words of its concocter, Dudley J. LeBlanc, is a dark brown patent medicine that tastes bad. Until the Federal Trade Commission told him to tone down, Medicine Man LeBlanc spent millions of dollars in advertising to imply that his mixture of B vitamins, minerals and honey, all bathed in alcohol, would cure almost everything. He also has a corps of gagsters turning out jingles and jokes insinuating that Hadacol is an aphrodisiac. In dry southern states, Hadacol has another virtue; its 24-proof alcoholic content makes it just the thing for...

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